Employee Engagement: Turning a High Level Concept into Reality for Business Results

Most CEOs and HR EVPs agree that employee engagement is a crucial element of business success.  At Ceridian Canada, we pride ourselves on the strength of our culture and commitment to fulfilling the same human resource best practices.

Our practices and policies are a result of two-way communication and constant re-evaluation based on employee feedback and performance.  We strive to implement programs that not only meet the needs of our workforce, but also help us connect with our employees in a meaningful way.  Our end goal is to create brand ambassadors who re-enforce that Ceridian is not only a great company, but also a great place to work.

"Engagement is encouraging employees to live the organization’s values." - John Cardella

Here are a few best practice principals that I believe provide a good starting point to engagement success.

Articulate Your Visions and Values

Organizations need to clearly communicate their vision and values to all employees in a way that helps drive their behaviours and actions.  Engagement is about encouraging employees to live the organization’s values on a daily basis.  Culture is shaped by corporate values.  Employee behaviours drive corporate action and ultimately results.  At Ceridian, our values represent not only who we are as an organization, but also as individuals. 

Lead By Example

Business leaders need to make a cognizant effort to “walk the talk” and lead by example, encouraging all employees to do the same.   Don’t just tell people to get involved, get in the game.  Active participation, whether as a mentor, executive sponsor or team participant will set the stage for culture within an organization. 

Communicate

One of the ways leaders can help drive engagement is through open, transparent two-way communication and responsiveness.  Leadership teams need to make sure all employees have an opportunity to ask questions about any topic, at any time.

Regular, executive and town hall meetings where open discussion is encouraged  is an opportunity to directly connect with staff at all levels, ask questions, listen to concerns and learn how your organization can adjust or create new policies and best practices that address employee feedback.

In the age of Twitter and Facebook many organizations, including Ceridian, encourage social media usage for business purposes among employees. These types of mediums allow employees to follow their company, blog with the leadership team and contribute to relevant discussions with customers, prospects, industry analysts, media and partners.

Measure, Adjust, Apply

Measuring engagement provides opportunities for valuable feedback and strategy development.  In order to measure the employee engagement rate, survey employees on their opinions pertaining to workplace opportunity, teamwork, learning, development, career path opportunities and leadership effectiveness.  Better yet, go one step further. Conduct employee focus groups to gain further insight into the results, comments and recommendations, and drill down in areas of concern.   The real value of measuring engagement rates is that you can learn how to become a top employer just by asking your own employees what they value. 

Once you listen to employees, put actions in place that leverage the opportunities that you have uncovered.  Action plans from survey and focus groups results should be incorporated into departmental and organizational goals for the year.  For example, at Ceridian our employees told us they would prefer to wear jeans throughout the week, not just on Fridays as our dress code dictated.  Many of our employees do not deal with clients in a face-to-face environment, and felt that this change in dress would enable them to be more comfortable and productive.  We heard the message and recently approved a change in dress code to allow employees the option to wear denim throughout the week.  To keep policies and practices current, relevant and meaningful to employees, you need to listen, act and communicate change.

Recognize and Reward

Recognition is a huge part of engagement.  According to Ceridian’s Pulse of Talent survey, revealing the changing attitudes and perceptions of Canadian workers, 44% of respondents said they were either not satisfied (22%) or indifferent (22%) with the level of recognition they currently receive at work.   Praise plays a significant part in motivating employees to achieve.  Personalized recognition - whether given privately or publicly - assures employees that good work is appreciated and reinforces the type of performance needed to drive results. 

Reward and recognition initiatives should integrate with the culture and values of the organization and ensure that employees are recognized for their contributions to the organization at a variety of levels. Employers should not only think about recognizing employees for delivering on a project, but also for making a difference to customers, colleagues or to the business process.

Encourage Professional and Personal Growth

Providing employees with opportunities to evolve their skill set is a vital element of employee engagement.  Investing in your people is always good business.  Create opportunities for internal learning and development, but also encourage external training to further the careers of employees.

To engage and evolve your top most performers consider offering them the opportunity to work on a cross-functional team, tackling some key business issues within your organization.  This type of initiative effectively accelerates employee career development.  Employees gain leadership experience and exposure to other parts of the business and organizations.  Employers gain potential “new managers” with a solid understanding of the business, coupled with a fresh outlook on problem solving.

"Encourage external training to further the careers of employees." - John Cardella

Be Socially Responsible

For many organizations, including Ceridian, Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are a key element of business culture.  Not only should organizations be socially responsible, they should also encourage employees to act in socially responsible ways and recognize and support them when they do.  Most individuals believe in “giving where they’re living.”  Providing employees with opportunities to give their time and make a difference can go a long way in establishing mutual good will – not just between employee and employer but between employee, employer and the community at large. On top of the usual corporate donations, consider offering employees a paid volunteer day each calendar year so they can roll up their sleeves and get involved with a local charity of their choice in their community. 

Bottom Line

An organizations best asset is its people, and that is where leaders should be investing.  High retention, increased longevity, higher productivity even lower absentee rates have been tied to engagement.  When leaders make an effort to understand the needs of employees, everyone wins.