Employee Engagement Archives

January 13, 2014 — Jerry Holtaway

For Employees, Employee Engagement Starts With The Letter “C”

If one thing marks the companies with highly engaged employees, it is that the top people of the company – the “C-suite” – are in sync with the idea that “people matter”. Working together, these leaders put forth ideas, hopes and aspirations which their employees, in turn, use to fuel their personal desire to create more meaning in their lives. The leadership “walks the talk” by acting and speaking in ways that demonstrate their intent, their positive attitudes and their shared purpose. What sets these engaged workplaces apart is that the...

January 5, 2014 — Thom Elkjer

Going Beyond The Numbers of Employee Engagement

We were reminded about the sign Albert Einstein had hanging in his office: “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” We’re not here to say that the measurable dynamics of employee engagement don’t count. But we do believe that what really counts in employee engagement can’t really be counted. That’s because employees are inevitably driven by how they feel. There’s nothing strange in that; all rational thought and action is driven by emotions. So what drives how employees feel? More important, what...

January 5, 2014 — Jerry Holtaway

The Goal is to Align Employees – But the Key Question is Not “How?”

Nothing slows down an enterprise more than a workforce that is working at cross purposes, unmotivated and uncaring. And nothing dims the prospects of an enterprise more than having a workforce that fails to innovate, isn’t inspired to be creative, and which just checks in and checks out day after day. The eternal question is “how” to align employees to what the business needs and there are many methods, tools and professionals devoted to getting employees to shift their attitudes and behaviors. But, even these efforts are not producing the desired result. We believe this is...

December 2, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Why Every CEO Should Pursue a “Purpose Beyond Profit”

It’s textbook management practice to formalize a company’s “mission, vision, and values.” And while these are important steps in helping form a direction and way of being for a company, many CEOs are nonetheless challenged with a litany of business issues: Unengaged employees An inability to attract the new talent needed Customer defection Lack of marketplace differentiation Dissatisfied shareholders This list goes on and on, doesn’t it? Behind each of these business challenges is a big question: How can my business matter more to people? When your business...

November 7, 2013 — Tracy Lloyd

How Leading Companies are Winning Through Meaningful Brand Strategies: The Employee’s Perspective

According to Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace study, “in 2010, 28% of American workers were engaged.  By the end of 2012, as the U.S. inched toward a modest recovery, that number increased slightly to 30%, matching the  all-time high since Gallup began tracking the employee engagement levels of the U.S. working population in 2000.” “These latest findings indicate that 70% of American workers are ‘not engaged’ or ‘actively disengaged’ and are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces and less likely to be productive. Currently, 52% of workers are not engaged, and worse,...

April 7, 2013 — Thom Elkjer

Socializing Sustainability

We hear a lot that companies are struggling with creating the right strategies for socializing sustainability and to get employees even engaged in sustainability. One of the most common complaints is, “They won’t even read our sustainability report!” No, really? Expecting employees to read a sustainability report is like expecting them to read patent applications. No one does that unless they have to, because patent applications are written by lawyers for other lawyers. It’s the same with most sustainability reports: they’re written by sustainability geeks for other sustainability geeks....

April 1, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Employee Engagement: Turn Low Morale Into Purposeful Behavior

High morale. High energy. High interest. High collaboration. High innovation. Why not? Just ask, “What is standing between what our company needs and what our people really want?” You’ll see there’s a lack of balance. Your company needs your employees’ blood and sweat. Whereas, your people need better reasons than you now provide to invest their energy in helping your business succeed. The way to create a purposeful workplace balance is to evolve your brand’s intent, attitude and behavior: Make it your brand’s intent to matter to the people you...

June 2, 2012 — Jerry Holtaway

Employees Love Brands That Truly Matter

Brands that truly matter It’s amazing how a focus on emotion and meaning can change the way employees approach their work. They feel like doing more. Employees are eager, motivated and driven. They wake up looking forward to their work day, and return home feeling a sense of purposeful accomplishment. They care more for one another. The workplace is civil, considerate and supportive. Employees are empathetic and compassionate about their bosses, their peers, their reports and everyone in the business. They work better together. Employees are more open to collaboration, teamwork and sharing....

November 3, 2011 — Tracy Lloyd

If You Believe Your People Are Engaged, Think Again

We recently came across an old, but provocative article in The Economist entitled, “Corporate culture: The view from the top, and bottom”. It detailed findings from the “National Governance, Culture and Leadership Assessment”, a survey based on thousands of American employees “from every rung of the corporate ladder”. Key findings from our perspective: “41% of bosses say their firm rewards performance based on values, only 14% of employees swallow this.” “27% of bosses believe their employees are inspired by their firm. Also only 4%...

May 24, 2011 — Tracy Lloyd

Strong Brands Give Employees an Idea to Rally Around

How to give employees something to believe in Take a moment to think about the employees working for your brand right now: They are in elevators, at desks, in conference rooms, in home offices, on the phone. They are in cars, on planes, in taxis, on a teleconference. They are closing deals, answering questions, presenting ideas, pitching prospects, processing orders, producing goods, answering phones, inventing products, serving customers, designing packaging, building factories, budgeting projects, balancing the books, convincing investors, meeting community leaders, hiring...

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Employee Engagement