Harvard Business Review Analytic Reveals Challenges and Best Practices of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is increasingly a top strategic priority for executives. In an increasingly competitive global marketplace businesses are finding that they must maximize performance and productivity to remain one step ahead of their competition. While employee engagement has long been recognized as a key component of overall performance, many senior executives are finding that they lack the tools they need to connect with their workforce in a meaningful way.  This is according to a recent study by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services. Based on data collected from more than 550 industry-leading executives, the study contains key insights into the employee engagement dynamic.

Lack of Information Hinders Strategy

A key finding of the report was that many senior executives reported having disengaged employees despite their efforts to create a dynamic of high engagement. As many as three quarters of executives interviewed expressed frustration with a lack of success in engagement and described their workforce as generally disengaged. Another significant finding was a prevailing disconnect between the opinions of top management verses middle management. Specifically, top-level executives tended to hold a more positive view of engagement efforts and successes while middle management reported lackluster results. This disconnect indicates a need for cross-sectional communication between top-level, mid-level, and front-line employees.

Best Practices and the Tools for Success

The report makes a series of recommendations for engagement best practices based on the strategies of one group of companies identified as “high prioritizers.” These groups, which made engagement a top priority, had developed innovative and effective methodologies to engage the workforce and measure results. Of the best practices reported the top three were:

Avoid rote surveys – Workers don’t want a questionnaire on employee satisfaction that feels perfunctory.  Questions should be specific to the nature of the job and include elements that will yield substantive answers. Beyond gauging basic satisfaction, these surveys should provide information that managers may then review to identify obstacles and opportunities in the workplace.

Ensure goal alignment at every level – Overall communication is essential to a well-functioning, highly engaged workforce. An effective communications strategy will link the business objectives established by top-level executives to the directional imperatives of middle management, to employees who are well-informed and empowered as to the company’s overall goals.

Use data to leverage engagement initiatives— Instituting protocols and establishing methodology for data collection and analysis can help identify winning strategies and yield opportunities for employee recognition. Analyzing feedback collected from a range of sources, such as an employee opinion survey, customer service feedback, and mid-level management reports will create a comprehensive, accurate, and insightful picture of opportunities and obstacles for operations optimization.

It is clear that effective engagement  –from the top-level management to the front-line of operations – requires thoughtful, strategic, and measurable survey and analysis tactics. From conducting in-house surveys and analysis to contracting with a third-party vendor, there is a wealth of options for creating the framework for a robust employee engagement program. Cultivating a highly engaged workplace requires diligent and persistent efforts but the rewards –specifically a better bottom line – are well worth it.

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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