Give and Take, Quid Pro Quo - Do Your Part

Google employee engagement and you get millions of results – I got about 6.5 million initially. Employee Engagement isn’t a new concept, but it’s a topic that’s been leading the business news cycle for an unbelievably long time given the speed with which stuff moves in and out of the short-attention-span psyche these days.

According to Aon Hewitt, high (employee) engagement firms had total shareholder value that was 19% higher than average in 2009. In low-engagement organizations, total shareholder value was actually 44% below average. For those data geeks, it’s not just these guys; there is a ton of research out there to back this up.

I think a big reason for that is that companies are looking to gain an edge in an improving economic marketplace, and all the research – and there are mountains of it – point to increased profitability with increased engagement. You can attribute some that profitability to reduced turnover, sick time and training, but the real payback for organizations is in increased innovation, customer satisfaction and productivity. The payback for workers? They get to love what they do AND who they do it for.

According to ModernSurvey’s 2012 Spring National Norms Survey conducted last month (March 2012), the two things employees want most are senior leadership’s clear vision of where their organization is going, and the opportunity to personally learn and grow. Remember Maslow’s  Hierarchy of Needs? Take care of the basic needs and then let me grow personally.

The really cool part? The company gets what they want – shareholder return. And the employee gets what they want – self actualization.

O.K., so engagement is great for everyone. What is it?

Within those millions of Google search results, you’ll find many definitions too. In its simplest terms (which is best for me), engagement is employees giving extra effort with the company’s best interest in mind. They work for and think about what’s best for the organization. You know why? Because the organization has demonstrated that they work for and think about what’s best for the employee. Quid pro quo.

Here’s another interesting little tidbit: According to BlessingWhite’s 2011 Employee Engagement Report, executives have a greater potential impact on engagement than manager actions. I touched on that in my last post when Greg Smith torched Goldman on his way out and blamed it on the CEO and the President. But it makes sense, doesn’t it? The tone is set by the big guys, and hopefully their people will follow their example.

A manager can make a tough situation tolerable, or a great situation horrible. But if the executives are promoting a high-engagement organizational culture managers typically follow. Not all the time, but usually.

Here’s another cool by-product of employee engagement emphasis: It IS your culture. So you’re knocking out two birds with one stone. And you know what that stone is, right? Effective communication. Employee engagement and corporate culture are inextricably tied to effective communication because in order to engage and develop that type of organization, you must have transparency – open communication.

I’ve said it before (I’ll probably say it again): Effective, transparent communication is a conversation. That means it flows back and forth, up and down, side to side. If you want the type of organization I’m describing here, do your part and join the conversation.