Article: Boost Worker Engagement in Tough Times

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Boost Worker Engagement in Tough Times
by Kevin Oakes

Although he's awkwardly avoided the dreaded "R" word so far, even President Bush admits these are tough economic times. And in challenging environments, when resources become leaner and employees are asked to do more with less, stress levels often climb dramatically. That's when employee engagement levels typically begin to nosedive. Developing effective strategies to keep the workforce engaged may be one of the most critical areas for an organization to focus on in times like these.

Talent managers have heard a lot about employee engagement during the past few years, and regardless of the economic outlook, it continues to be challenge for organizations. A recent survey conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) found only about a third of the average respondents' workforces are highly engaged. More disturbing: Nearly a quarter are disengaged or minimally engaged.

The survey, which included 776 participants, found more than four out five respondents said engagement is of high or very high importance. Yet many organizations don't seem to know how to get started. "Engagement" can seem like a nebulous term that's difficult to gauge and even more difficult to influence. But there are some simple and achievable steps to boost engagement, providing two things take precedence: culture and leadership.

Promoting an Engaging Culture
Organizations reporting more highly engaged workers differed most from their more poorly engaged counterparts in a very obvious area: actively promoting a culture of engagement. Respondents overwhelmingly said having a good relationship between employees and immediate supervisors is a top driver of employee engagement. Engaged companies ensure organizational leaders - especially immediate supervisors - are skilled in the area of engagement improvement.

Unfortunately, most corporate leaders are lacking in this area. A meager 15 percent of respondents think their leaders are skilled at engaging the workforce. Less than a third (29 percent) said their leaders take effective actions to improve employee engagement to a high extent, but 79 percent said they should do so.

The chasm between "should" and "do" is large. For example, less than a quarter said their organizations train managers in how to engage employees to a high extent. But 86 percent said their organizations should do so. The bottom line is many leaders and managers need considerably better engagement-building skills than they currently possess.

The difference seems to lie in how proactive or inactive organizations are. Less engaged organizations are not as likely to take strong actions to deal with disengaged employees. That is, they're relatively passive even when staring in the face of low engagement. The study showed clearly organizations with less engaged workers tend to use engagement-building strategies to a lesser extent.

Conversely, highly engaged companies work at it. They implement programs and initiatives to increase engagement, and they focus on building supervisor skills to do. But this isn't just in the form of training programs; improvement initiatives often take shape using different formats such as peer coaching, stretch assignments and communities of practice. These organizations emphasize a more holistic learning culture more than less engaged peers.

Holding Leadership Accountable
While the skills deficit is one of the most widely cited barriers to engagement, the notion that leaders and supervisors are not held accountable for engagement was the second primary reason for low engagement. Accountability can be measured in different ways, though the traditional performance review is the most natural place to review the engagement quotient of a supervisor's direct reports. Tied to compensation, measurement of engagement can be a very powerful motivator to encourage supervisors to pay attention to employee engagement day-to-day and to actively work to improve it to enhance performance.

The survey found higher reported levels of engagement correlate with higher levels of market performance, as gauged by self-reports in the areas of revenue growth, market share, profitability and customer satisfaction. Companies that perform better in the marketplace tend to have a higher level of worker engagement (or is it vice versa?).

During stressful financial conditions, however, some managers and senior executives might be tempted to shift engagement issues to the back burner. Talent managers may reason that engagement will increase when things get better, and voluntary turnover rates are less of a problem during a general economic downturn. Besides, how can an individual supervisor overcome a down economy?

Stress Is a Lesser Factor
Stressful working conditions are a barrier to engagement. About a third of respondents said such conditions inhibit engagement to a high or very high degree. But respondents said stressful situations are not nearly as much of a problem as a lack of accountability and skills among senior leaders and supervisors.

The message: Employees can weather bad storms as long as their leaders are doing the right things. As far as barriers to engagement go, stressful conditions are ranked below several other items such as a lack of advancement opportunities and a lack of an engagement connection to performance assessments.

Engagement isn't likely to "just happen." Managers at all levels of the organization need to be held responsible for improving engagement if companies expect to change. This means not only rewarding them for engaging employees but also evaluating them in terms of their ability to coach workers in ways that boost engagement.

Engagement levels can be boosted, even during tough times, if organizations proactively focus on it.

Senior leaders should see the ROI since higher engagement levels are, according to the study, linked to enhanced customer service, improved productivity and a healthier bottom line.

[About the Author: Kevin Oakes is the founder and CEO of the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), a global, vendor-free network of corporations focused on improving workforce productivity.]