Employee engagement: A competitive advantage

Editor’s Note:John Williams is a human resource consultant to RCR Wireless News and TelecomCareers who is blogging on HR matters that impact the wireless industry, including hiring and retaining employees as the economy improves.
In a tight labor market, will your employees jump ship? May’s unemployment uptick to 9.1% recently dampened the economic hopes of many U.S. business leaders about the global economy, but individually the expectation for hiring, profit and customer demand remain strong, according to McKinzey Quarterly report. Executives still expect their companies to perform.
For the wireless industry a bright spot came in Rep. Fred Upton’s (R-Mich.) recently published report in “The Hill” stating wireless broadband, spectrum policy is expected to play a key role in future job creation and deficit reduction. The House subcommittee on Communications and Technology “is engaging in a thoughtful discussion with economists and industry experts to determine how we can fulfill this need (for spectrum) while encouraging private-sector investment, creating jobs and reducing the deficit.”
The wireless industry has been besieged by America’s insatiable and growing appetite for wireless technologies and applications. This is already creating more opportunity for skilled workers in this sector and the demand does not seem to be slowing down. But oddly enough, while more telecommunications professionals are out of work, wireless businesses are having a harder time finding the right skills to deliver on infrastructure development, research, content, and other highly specialized disciplines. Businesses have to perform absent having all of the right skills. So, in the meantime, what do business leaders do to deliver and exceed customer and shareholder expectations?
Engage your organization to higher productivity
Employee engagement is becoming one of the single most important competitive advantages businesses can employ to thrive in a difficult economy and labor market. According to Scarlett Surveys, “Employee engagement is a measurable degree of an employee’s positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, colleagues and organization, which profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform at work.” Engagement is different than employee satisfaction, motivation, and culture. Engagement is about enlisting employees to perform at their full potential, all of the time.
A wealth of knowledge and tools are available on the market to assist management in building a more engaged organization, but the following simple technique can go a long way to driving employee commitment and performance that comes right out of the “common sense” tool chest.
“Enlist” your employees as owners of the business. What do we mean by enlist? Help and encourage employees to proactively communicate with management to share their ideas and issues as if they are owners. Create a bottom-to-top communication culture. This may sound easy, and you may be a manager who fosters open communication, but how many of your employees are really willing to share with you what is on their mind? And do they all communicate openly and regularly? Does an environment of trust exist such that an employee can tell you anything, even if it is to your department’s or to your own detriment? For example, how often do employees volunteer information that would be beneficial to company performance, customer satisfaction, or operational excellence while shedding a negative light on the status quo?
Employees want to contribute to their employers in a meaningful and rewarding way. Most employees want to be associated with quality and success and given the opportunity to be influential, will step up to the plate. By welcoming and soliciting their input on a regular basis, you are encouraging them to take a level of ownership in the business and for many employees, this means taking risk by stepping out of their comfort zone to communicate difficult information. Remember, no business ever advanced without some personal risk at stake.
So how can you as a manager enlist your employees to a greater level of ownership and freedom to communicate openly? Build trust and build the skill into your employees of open communications by practicing communicating. The following exercise can accelerate building trust and building employee skills for “ownership-level” communication:
• Sit down privately with each of your employees and ask them the following questions. You must be prepared to take tough feedback and your employees need to practice giving it. Let them know that there will be no retaliation and no further dialogue. Just give them the opportunity to speak and practice being open. You just listen. Ask your employees:
o “What would you say is your biggest complaint or criticism of me?”
o “What are some things you are working on that you are not being recognized for?”
o “In what ways do you not feel open to communicate with me and what do I do to cause this?”
• Tips:
o Deliver questions individually and discuss thoroughly before moving to the next question.
o When you delivered each question, give the employee time and room to talk. It will feel awkward, but encourage them to be open; that you want the feedback. Be ready to repeat the question.
o You should probe their feedback further if you have questions but don’t defend yourself or appear defensive. How the employee sees you is how they see you. Step up to it.
o Thank them for their candor. If you believe the employee is uncomfortable and holding back, plan to have a similar session a few weeks later so the employee has continued opportunity to speak.
o View the feedback as an opportunity for your own improvement, then take specific steps to address the opportunities presented to you in a way that employees will see you taking action, further demonstrating that you value their input.
o Find opportunities to recognize your employees for the contributions they make and that you are learning about. Continue to openly thank employees and sprinkle recognition around.
You may have to go through this exercise a few times to develop the environment you seek. Or you may want to hold regular sessions to solicit any kind of tough or important information, until information starts flowing upward on a more voluntary and regular basis. You will also notice that employees will become more forthcoming with thoughts as their ideas and insights are valued. They become more emotionally invested due to the relationship you are developing. This results in more meaningful contributions, higher energy level, and for you as a manager, a better understanding of what is going on in the business and how your employees will handle it.
This simple exercise, while tough for most managers and employees, is a good step toward enlisting employees to step out of their comfort zone and discuss business issues that are not different than what business owners want to know and discuss. In time, ownership becomes part of the culture.
John Williams, SPHR, is a Human Resource Consultant to RCR Wireless News, www.rcrwireless.com, a leading wireless industry news service, and TelecomCareers, www.telecomcareers.net, a leading telecommunications industry job board. Williams recently served as VP HR for ITC Deltacom and previously held executive and HR leadership positions with Clearwire Technologies, MCI Systemhouse and EDS. Williams is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources and an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management.