The Value of Employee Engagement in Your Organization

Presented by Lisa Barrington, BCC, ACC, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, at the 2018 WACUBO Leadership Symposium

“You’re wasting your time with employee engagement surveys.”
 
That’s what Barrington Coaching’s Lisa Barrington, BCC, ACC, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, told executives at the Western Association of College and University Business Officers Leadership Symposium in Newport Beach on January 18, 2018.
 
Why would a workplace and engagement strategist say something so heretical?

“Because,” explains Lisa, “if you don’t have the right elements in place to engage your employees, all the surveys in the world won’t help.”

Lisa illustrated this by comparing the hiring of a new employee with buying a new car. When you first get the car, it works great. But if you don’t invest in maintaining the car, it will stop working and cost more in both time and money to fix. 

Just as we often get too busy to maintain our cars for optimal performance, Lisa notes that it’s also common to be “too busy” to do the same for our employees. And it costs us.
 
Lisa shared a Gallup study showing that only 33 percent of employees are engaged at work. What does that mean in financial terms? Best Buy discovered that for every one-tenth of a percent increase in their engagement scores at one store, they saw a $100,000 increase in annual operating income (HBR October 2010). Multiply those results across thousands of companies, and we’re leaving billions of dollars on the table.

So, what is a leader or company to do? The task seems daunting. How do we know if what we’re doing makes a difference? Is there a short list of recommendations we can follow?   
                                                                                       
Turns out there is.

Seven Key Elements

Through Lisa’s experience as a workplace and engagement strategist, as well as her research of more than 250 studies on employee engagement, she learned that employee engagement is defined as 1) psychological involvement in the job and tasks, 2) connection to colleagues and leaders, and 3) commitment to the organization.

She also discovered seven key elements that are necessary for employee engagement to thrive:

1. Providing roles and experience that add value & provide meaningfulness for employees
2. Supplying employees with ample tools and resources
3. Leveraging employee strengths in their roles and assignments
4. Allowing as much autonomy in jobs as possible
5. Building authentic relationships with employees
6. Giving regular recognition and feedback
7. Ensuring opportunities for ongoing development

Lisa provided further insight into “adding value/meaningfulness” with a story about an airline mechanic who moved from third shift to first shift. When he was on third shift, he never interacted with passengers. Despite his love for fixing planes, he felt no particular loyalty to his company. And, as a union member with a defined role and a wage that didn’t change if he was more or less efficient than other mechanics, he didn’t see the value in discretionary effort.  
 
Then he moved to first shift. He started to regularly interact with passengers. He realized how important it was to avoid delays when he saw, firsthand, how delays affect passengers, crew, and the system of connections. This led to a newfound commitment to the organization, a renewed sense of purpose, and discretionary effort that went beyond his job description.
 
Lisa pointed out that this mechanic now understands what’s expected of him, clearly sees how his work supports his company’s vision, and feels a sense of purpose in his work.
 
Lisa closed her presentation by emphasizing the importance of regular one-to-one meetings, which are key to clarifying expectations, connecting daily tasks to a larger vision, and creating a sense of purpose. This regular recognition and feedback also builds relationships that deepen commitment to an organization.

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Lisa Barrington is a certified coach, speaker, and workplace strategist. She helps organizations excel through their people, and she partners with individuals who want to achieve more in their careers and lives. Lisa is studying employee engagement through her dissertation work as part of the requirements for a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology.

Contact Lisa to have her present “Drive Results Through Employee Engagement” exclusively to leaders in your organization.