Five ways to Engage your People Building and maintaining employee engagement is ultimately the key to success for any organisation and its ongoing programs for change. Over more than three decades, everything we have done at Leaderskill Group has been aimed at engaging people in organisations. We have focused on five ways that are successful. Below we summarise the Whys and Whats of each one. 1. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) 2. Appreciative 360 degree Feedback 3. Sustainability & Mega Planning 4. Building Trust 5. Interpersonal Communication Skills For more, see: Statistics on Employee Engagement

1. Appreciative Inquiry

Why do it?
What we focus on grows. When people focus on problems, they get caught in the neurology of the ‘fight/flight’ reaction, which limits their ability to see creative solutions. When each person's contribution is appreciated, with focus on the positive, innovative ways to more forward are found.

Where can I get further resources?
Appreciative Inquiry Commons:
http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/

Corporation for Positive Change - Video:
http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/practice/toolsFilmDetail.cfm?coid=2366

Australia and John Loty & Associates:
http://www.appreciativeinquiry.net.au

2. Appreciative 360 Feedback

Why do it?
When people want to give feedback but can’t, it blocks their contribution and desire to participate. By providing a safe environment to give and receive feedback, ideas can be shared that promote positive culture change and performance improvement.

What is it?
The model of 360 feedback we use is ‘needs-based’, combined with an Appreciative Inquiry strengths-based method of facilitation. This can be individual debriefing and coaching, or a full manager & team AI-inspired workshop.

How do you do it?
Peter R. Farey (originator of ‘Upward Feedback®’ in 1974) defined good practice in 360 feedback. Adding in AI, we have:

• A questionnaire that asks about the needs of Respondents but does not judge the Participant/Manager
• A holistic model that covers all aspects of leadership and management
• The information in an easy to read graphic report
• Careful and sensitive debriefing of the Participant

• A professional development plan around the feedback, along with action plans to implement change.

• Where possible, an Appreciative Inquiry-based session facilitated with the Participant and his/her Staff/Team (direct reports).

How can I apply it?
Start at the top and initiate a program of Appreciative 360 Feedback that welcomes and acts on feedback. Define measures of ROI that will demonstrate the results. Ensure that feedback is welcomed and acted upon at all levels.

Where can I get further resources?
http://www.360facilitated.com
http://www.360facilitated.com/articles.html

3. Sustainability & Mega Planning

Sustainability Planning is mainly concerned with preserving the environment and/or use of non-renewable resources. Triple Bottom Line adds in societal metrics.

Mega Planning. This is Roger Kaufman’s holistic approach that goes beyond the above two planning approaches. It starts from a Vision of the Future that can be shared and is measureable.

Why do it?

• If your organisation aims to help create the world that people want for their children and their children’s children, then you know that the organisation will still have a role to play in that world
• People get excited and contribute more when they know they are part of an organisation that is doing good while doing well! They are happy to belong, and to contribute through their work

We call this Kaufman’s Question:
“What is the future you want for Tomorrow’s Child?
If your organisation is not contributing to create that, then what is it doing?”
Roger Kaufman

What is it?
Strategic Planning that goes beyond organisational success to start with a Vision for Tomorrow’s Child. The organisation selects which part of this Vision they want to help create (the Mega level) by their activities, and then determines the goals and objectives necessary to be successful (Macro and Micro levels) while achieving this. It clearly separates Ends (what you want to achieve) from Means (how you are going to get there), and sets up measurable objectives at every level.

How do you do it?
Most organisations start from Kaufman’s Minimum Ideal Vision (or our Extended Minimum Ideal Vision). Add to it anything that is ‘local’ and inspiring to you.
Select the part that your organisation will help create (Mega). Then define the objectives for the organisation to be successful, profitable, etc. (Macro) within Mega. Then define the goals that teams and individuals have to achieve for the organisation to achieve its goals (Micro). These are all Ends. Then select the Means: Processes (activities) and Inputs (resources) required to make the above happen.

How can I apply it?
You can apply the Mega Planning methodology, as published by Roger Kaufman (see www.megaplanning.com), or use the ‘easy start’ methodology developed from Kaufman’s work by Dylan Forbes and Ronald Forbes, published in the article: 'Start up Mega', via: www.360facilitated.com/megaplanning

How it fits with Appreciative Inquiry: Once Mega has been defined, you can use AI to define Macro and Micro objectives, Processes and Inputs. Ask us for details.

Where can I get further resources?
http://www.360facilitated.com/pdfs/WorldofTomorrowChild.pdf
http://www.360facilitated.com/pdfs/StartupMega.pdf
http://www.megaplanning.com

If you would like a copy of our article of 4 April, 2009, 'Creating a Compelling Vision' published in the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), please ask us.

4. Building Trust

Why do it?
Trust is at the core of every human relationship. Trust and Engagement are very closely related. When trust becomes broken, dissatisfied individuals can actively undermine the efforts of everyone else in the organisation.

What is it?
In Vanessa Hall’s model, Trust is a combination of the Expectations and Needs a person has from a relationship combined with the Promises (explicit or implicit) made to them by the other party (ENP). If these are met and kept, Trust is high. If any of these are not met or kept, Trust is weakened and may collapse completely. It is very hard to rebuild trust.

How do you do it?
Find out the Needs and Expectations people have from their work environment

How can I apply it?

• Run trust workshops (and the Building Trust survey) throughout teams and departments in the organisation to make people aware of Trust, what it is, how to build it, and how this can help them.
• Identify and repair Trust where it has been damaged or broken.
• Set up employer/employee agreements that state the Expectations, Needs and Promises of both parties.

Where can I get further resources?
http://www.entente.com.au
Hall, V. The Truth about Trust in Business. Entente Pty Ltd, 2007.

5. Communication Skills

Why do it?
Good communication gets people motivated and onside, it resolves conflicts and prevents situations from getting out of hand. Bad communication undoes all the good work you are doing in your organisation. One poorly chosen sentence can have a lifetime of consequences.

What is it?
Accurately listening; expressing appreciation clearly, expressing needs in a non-aggressive way, and resolving conflicts in a Win-Win manner.
And keeping your cool!

How do you do it?
Develop the active listening, appreciation, assertiveness, and win-win conflict resolution communication skills of employees at all levels of the organisation.

How can I apply it?
Usually requires a consultant to run programs within the organisation
Ensure that managers at all levels are trained and can communicate effectively with others in the organisation

Where can I get further resources?

1. www.gordontraining.com
2. Gordon, T. Leader Effectiveness Training. Berkley Publishing Group, 2001.
3. http://www.towerswatson.com/research/670 – December 2009 2009/2010 Communication ROI Study Report: Capitalizing on Effective Communication

Some useful Statistics on Employee Engagement

Quotes from Michael Lee Stallard of E Pluribus Partners:

1. Emotional factors impact employee engagement four times as much as rational factors.
2. Engaged employees are 20% more productive than ‘not engaged’ employees.

http://www.encompasseducation.com/blog/bid/18428/Employee-Engagement-Statistics-Bank-on-Emotions

Towers Perrin/ISR Employee Engagement Report
ISR studied the engagement of 664,000 employees from 71 companies around the world:

• Operating income was up 19.2% in high engaged companies versus a decline of 32.7 percent in companies with low engagement.
• 13.2% improvement in net income growth over a one-year period for companies with high employee engagement.
• 27.8% improvement in EPS (Earnings per share) growth in companies with high engagement.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1021257/employee-engagement-model/

GALLUP Management Journal, 2006:
Who's Driving Innovation at Your Company? Krueger, J. and Killham, E.

• 23% of employees are engaged

• 60% of employees are not-engaged
• 17% of employees are actively-disengaged

http://gmj.gallup.com/content/24472/whos-driving-innovation-your-company.aspx

Testimonials

"The Leader/Manager model is very, very good and has benefits well beyond the obvious and advertised purpose. Coachees really value its ‘face validity', its power and ease of use..."

Eddie Paterson FAIM, internal executive coach, telecommunications company, Australia.

“All team members who participated found it easy and commented how well it worked. The process of customising was seamless and perfect. Feedback from all team members has been positive and extremely useful for their future development plans. I have recommended the department continues running the 360 survey..."

Victoria Elgott, HR Project Manager of a major Australian bank

“Great site - with a lot of articles that helped me understand what a 360 can really be."

Kate Simpson, Program Manager, Fortinberry & Murray. Australia.

"Leaderskill Group has assisted our strategic planning with their Mega Planning methodology for over seven years. In the article we co-wrote, I estimated that Defence Consulting had saved between 5 and 8 million dollars – without counting the savings of our stakeholders, including government – just on the redevelopment of the historical Randwick Barracks site in Sydney."

Peter Hoskins, Principal, Woods Bagot 

(See published article: ‘Profit and Benefits from Planning for Sustainability’).

“I now use 360faciliated profiles as an integral part of my executive coaching work at the Australian Institute of Management [AIM, Qld]”

Gary Cox, New Directions Career Consultants, Qld, Australia.

“We were extremely impressed with the tools that you have available and very much appreciated the flexibility you showed in adapting to our needs”

Dr Julie Stockton, HR Manager, University of British Columbia, BC, Canada.

“The most significant intervention we have undertaken. Influenced the growth and learning of our managers as leaders ...”

Snr Manager, SADAF Petrochemical Co., Saudi Arabia.

News