Infographic: Shocking Employee Engagement Statistics

An interesting infographic by Officevibe captures popular misconceptions regarding employee engagement in the workplace. It stresses the importance of having committed employees and the overall impact they have on the success of the company. 

We can see that many employees quit because they don’t like their boss, while only a fourth of managers try to engage their employees. Surprisingly, 90% of bosses agree that engaging employees is crucial to the company’s success. As long as this gap exists, companies will suffer from a brain drain of their most talented and motivated employees. With the knowledge that 87% of employees are less likely to leave if they are happy with their organization, the time is right for companies to focus on creating innovative employee engagement strategies that include feedback mechanisms and communications tactics that clearly articulate the company’s strategic goals. 

Five Myths of Employee Engagement Infographic

This infograph created by Michael C Fina accurately depicts many misconceptions in the workplace today. While debunking the myths, it also simultaneously highlights the importance of employee engagement and its key role for maintaining a powerful staff. Having intangible rewards that give employees incentives makes for a higher return on investment and creates an environment of happy campers. Treating each individual equally and applauding their accomplishments are just a few suggestions to becoming an effective and amiable boss. 

This is especially true with millennials, who are often depicted as unmotivated and uncommitted. As the fifth graph shows, a millennial’s dream boss is a mentor who is open minded and treats others equally. If that is done, millennials will look up to their boss in admiration and respect and want to impress them. An effort put in on the boss’s side will result in having a mutually beneficial and effective work relationship with his/her employees. Finding the perfect balance of when to be socially equal and when to be a leader will create an ambiance that everyone looks forward to entering daily. An employee who continually shows respect will naturally reciprocate that, both on and off the clock.

We would like to hear from you. What do you think are some good ways to engage the millennial workforce? 

How Leadership and Culture Impact Employee Engagement

Why is culture powerful? What specific criterion is necessary for developing a strong, strategically relevant culture that is likely to enhance your organization's performance? Before delving into this question, it is important to have a firm grasp on what culture is. According to California Management Review, "Norms—legitimate, socially shared standards against which the appropriateness of behavior can be evaluated—are the psychological bases of culture.” It is undeniable that company values are a key factor in developing a successful culture within an organization.

Strong cultures depend on two characteristics within the value category. The first being high levels of agreement among employees about what is especially valued. If each and every employee has a firm grasp on what values the company holds above all else, they are less likely to fumble through day to day activities, unsure of what to give the most attention to in order to succeed at whatever mission they have been tasked with.

The second characteristic is the high level of intensity felt by employees about these values. It is pretty obvious that if an employee honestly believes in the values held by the organization, their efforts are going to reflect it. If both of these characteristics are high, the end result is a strong culture, and vise versa.

So how does leadership fit into all of this? Creating and honoring corporate culture is a responsibility held by the leadership team. While leading through culture is a highly effective method, it is the leadership team’s responsibility to act on this strategy, and it is their responsibility to make the most important values clear and unwavering. If you are interested in learning more about how you can engage your employees through strong leadership, visit our website at www.inwardconsulting.com.

Managing and Inspiring the Multi-Generational Workforce

“Historically, today’s workplace is the most diverse with respect to age that has ever existed,” according to TriNet.com. What exactly does this mean? To begin, this means that for the first time in modern history the typical workplace consists of four generations. Newly hired 20-year-olds are working alongside colleagues who are their senior by 30 years or more. It also means that the managers of today must be prepared to lead multiple generations with different work ethics and who are motivated by different things.

With this drastic change in the workplace, Trinet.com poses four questions that we think are worth asking to make sure your organization is on the right track.

First, what will this mean for your organization? The four main generations, Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials are all so drastically unique that heads are bound to butt. How will your organization handle this? And what will the overall effect of this conflict be?

The next question to be considered is what is the generational mix of your organization? Does your workplace consist mainly of two or three of these groups? Or is it an equal distribution of all four? Whatever it may be, your leadership should be tailored to best fit your employees.

How will you leverage the unique strengths of each generation in order to retain your key players, improve productivity, and maximize teamwork? Traditionalists are known for their loyalty while Baby Boomers are known for being optimistic. Members of Generation X are incredibly independent while those who fall under the Millennial category tend to challenge the status quo and want their work to have meaning. Each generational trait can be strategically leveraged to improve your organization.

Lastly, are your managers prepared to lead multiple generations? As leaders, your manager’s are responsible for understanding the personality of each generation, and each individual. If your managers are able to understand and value what each generation has to offer, your employees will feel more connected to the organization, thus maximizing the individual strengths you have at your disposal.

Ask your employees what they need in order to be most productive on the job. Ensure that your leaders have the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate with every employee. We believe that if you learn more about your employees, you will learn what makes them perform at their highest levels. To read more about our approach on employee engagement visit our Articles page on our website.

How Leaders Kill Meaning at Work

The way we feel at work is a powerful determinant to how we perform. Our creativity, productiveness, commitment, and collaboration all depends on our attitude and emotions. This phenomenon, called the inner work life, is formally defined as the constant flow of emotions, motivations, and perceptions that constitute people’s reactions to the events of the workday. Even small boosts in inner work life can have substantial results- a more engaged work force, increased corporate momentum, and growth of the bottom line.      

So what factor has the biggest impact on the inner work life of employees? According to a study published by writer/research duo Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer in their book, The Progress Principle, it is a sense of progress in meaningful work that adds the most fuel to the fire. However, the study also finds that many senior executives don’t take their roles in enabling the ongoing engagement of their employees seriously. Instead, these leaders routinely fall into one or more of the following traps and inadvertently drain meaning from the work of their subordinates:  

Trap 1: Signals of mediocrity

Achieving greatness is an overarching goal of most organizations- their mission statements reflect the importance of innovation and their strategic goals embody the desire to always stay on the cutting edge. In theory, yes, all of this is good. However, in practice, many senior executives continue to prioritize cost savings and risk aversion above all else. When projects are continuously shut down and development is placed on the back burner, organizations exhale an air of mediocrity. Employees lose any sense of pride the once had for the company and everyday work feels frustrating and meaningless.   

Trap 2: Flip-flopping strategic direction 

Jumping between different strategic initiatives creates confusion for employees. When senior executives can’t seem to decide what direction to point the company, people have a difficult time understanding what exactly they are working toward.

Trap 3: Lack of awareness about corporate chaos

Coordination and support between management is crucial. When senior executives are not on the same page, chaos ensues below. Mixed messages eventually lead to employees believing that they simply cannot produce something of quality and their sense of purpose disappears.  

Trap 4: Poorly designed BHAG- A BHAG, short for “big, hairy, audacious goal”, is a bold strategic vision statement that carries powerful emotional appeal. Management gurus Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, who coined the term, encourage organizations to develop BHAGs as a way to help infiltrate work with meaning. When the organization’s goals are connected to personal values, employees feel their work serves a greater, more meaningful, purpose. A poorly constructed BHAG, however, can be a serious detriment. If it’s unattainable, it will seem irrelevant. And when the BHAG is too vague, it feels empty. The result is a lost sense of purpose and meaning and a cynical, unproductive workforce. 

The view from the top can often be deceiving. It takes understanding the employee’s perspective from below to recognize these traps, and more importantly, to avoid them. By establishing strategic clarity, communicating with employees, and understanding the importance of progress and purpose, senior executives can make the greatest impact on the inner work lives of others.