50 Activities for Employee Engagement

50 Activities for Employee Engagement Peter R. Garber HRD Press, Inc. • Amherst • Massachusetts © 2007 Peter R. Garbe...

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50 Activities for Employee Engagement Peter R. Garber

HRD Press, Inc. • Amherst • Massachusetts

© 2007 Peter R. Garber

The materials that appear in this book, other than those quoted from prior sources, may be reproduced for educational/training activities. There is no requirement to obtain special permission for such uses. This permission statement is limited to reproduction of materials for educational or training events. Systematic or large-scale reproduction or distribution—or inclusion of items in publications for sale—may be carried out only with prior written permission from the publisher.

Published by: HRD Press, Inc. 22 Amherst Road Amherst, MA 01002 800-822-2801 (U.S. and Canada) 413-253-3488 413-253-3490 (fax) www.hrdpress.com

ISBN 978-1-59996-066-1

Composition by Anctil Virtual Office Edited by Sally M. Farnham Cover design by Eileen Klockars

Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................

v

Part I:

1

Understanding Employee Engagement.................................................................... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Defining Employee Engagement......................................................................... Getting Engaged .................................................................................................. Engagement Exercises......................................................................................... Engaging Questions............................................................................................. Mission Engagement ........................................................................................... Engaging Principles............................................................................................. No Engagement Zones ........................................................................................ Engaging Intangibles...........................................................................................

3 7 11 15 19 23 27 31

Part II: Getting Started to Engage Employees ..................................................................... 35 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

The Engagement Proposal................................................................................... In Search of Engagement..................................................................................... Five Steps to Engaging Your Workforce ............................................................ Employee Engagement: It’s Common Sense ...................................................... The Engagement Process Model ......................................................................... The Engagement Journey ....................................................................................

37 41 45 49 53 57

Part III: Leading Employee Engagement ............................................................................... 59 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Coaching Engagements ....................................................................................... From Boss to Coach ............................................................................................ Motivating Engaged Employees.......................................................................... Engagement Obstacles ........................................................................................ How Would Famous Leaders Lead Engagement? .............................................. 50 Ways to Lead Engagement.............................................................................

61 65 71 75 79 83

Part IV: Measuring Employee Engagement........................................................................... 87 21. The Price of UnEngagement ............................................................................... 89 22. Engagement Scorecard ........................................................................................ 95 23. Engagement Accountability ................................................................................ 101 Part V: Creating an Engaged Workplace ............................................................................. 103 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29.

To Engage or Not to Engage ............................................................................... 105 Engagement Happens .......................................................................................... 109 Engagement and the Egg ..................................................................................... 113 Engaging Up and Down the Organization........................................................... 117 In Search of Engagement..................................................................................... 121 Lasting Engagements .......................................................................................... 125 iii

50 Activities for Employee Engagement

30. Emotional Engagement ....................................................................................... 129 31. Past Engagements................................................................................................ 133 32. Engagement Gifts ................................................................................................ 137 Part VI: Employee Engagement Communications ................................................................ 141 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

Picturing Engagement ......................................................................................... 143 Name that Engagement........................................................................................ 145 Organizing for Engagement ................................................................................ 147 Engaging Knowledge Experts ............................................................................. 153 Transitioning to Engagement .............................................................................. 161 Pressures to Succeed............................................................................................ 165 Engagement Measures......................................................................................... 169 Managing the Change to Engagement................................................................. 173 Engaging Principles and Behaviors..................................................................... 179 Engagement Formula........................................................................................... 185 The Engagement Game ....................................................................................... 189 Engagement Ambassadors................................................................................... 199 Engagement Milestones....................................................................................... 203 The Employee Engagement Map ........................................................................ 207 The Sounds of Engagement................................................................................. 211 The Engagement Chronicles................................................................................ 215 Engagement Road Show...................................................................................... 217 The Engagement Puzzle ...................................................................................... 219

iv

Introduction There is much being written and discussed about employee engagement. These activities can be beneficial to anyone interested in helping create and maintain an engaged culture in the organization. Managers, supervisors, and even engaged employees can gain new perspectives and understanding of how to make this cultural transition. These activities can be used as part of training and development programs designed to teach the concepts of employee engagement. The activities can also serve as a workshop or even as the subject matter of a seminar on this popular topic today. They will serve to stimulate discussion, planning, and actions designed to enhance employee engagement in your organization. These 50 employee engagement activities are designed to help you better understand what employee engagement is all about and how it can help an organization. There are activities that will help you begin this process and others that help you sustain and grow employee engagement once it is established. Each of these activities has a special focus on a different aspect of employee engagement. Each will help you achieve a particular object or goal in your employee engagement process. These activities are organized into six sections to facilitate finding the appropriate activity: I. II. III. IV. V. VI.

Understanding Employee Engagement Getting Started to Engage Employees Leading Employee Engagement Measuring Employee Engagement Creating an Engaged Workplace Employee Engagement Communications

Good luck as you use these activities to achieve your employee engagement goals in the future.

v

Part I Understanding Employee Engagement

Part I–Understanding Employee Engagement

1 Defining Employee Engagement Activity Description

Time Guideline: 20 minutes

Purpose To help participants understand the meaning and concept of employee engagement

Description A number of descriptions of employee engagement are provided to help participants better understand employee engagement.

Resources Handout 1.1

Presentation •

Begin the activity by emphasizing that defining employee engagement is not easy.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 1.1 to participants.

•

Present to participants the 10 Employee Engagement Key Factors in the handout, explaining that learning about each of these factors can help an individual better understand the concept.

Debrief Ask participants what they believe are the common themes found in each of the 10 key factors. Discuss how these themes would both create and support employee engagement in an organization. Ask participants what their concept and definition of an engaged employee would be and if it is consistent with the definition presented in the activity.

3

Handout 1.1 Defining Employee Engagement Defining employee engagement is not that easy to do. There are many possible definitions and interpretations of this concept. Employee engagement can mean different things in different organizations or work environments. Most important is for you to define employee engagement for your own purposes and applications in your organization. The following 10 employee engagement key factors will help you begin to define this concept for yourself.

10 Employee Engagement Key Factors 1. Commitment Employee engagement describes the level of commitment that employees have toward the organization. 2. Attitude An engaged employee has a positive attitude toward his/her organization and its values, goals, and operating principles. In an engaged workplace, the employee and the organization mutually respect each other’s values. Both parties see mutual benefit to the employment relationship. Employee development is an important part of the organization’s overall growth objectives. Employees receive the support they need to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities and potential. 3. Alignment The recognition and reward systems are viewed as being fair and just and are aligned with the goals of both the employees and the organization. Employees actively work toward achieving the organization’s success. Engaged employees understand and support the organizational strategy. They understand the connection between individual performance and organizational achievement. 4. Communications There are effective, consistent, and trusted two-way communications between the organization and employees. 5. Goals An engaged employee understands the organization’s business objectives and works together with coworkers to support the achievement of these goals. In an engaged work environment, everyone is on the same team, focusing their energies on the same end results. 6. Customer Focus Everyone is dedicated to meeting the needs and expectations of the customer in any way they can. (continued)

Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.

Handout 1.1: Defining Employee Engagement (concluded) 7. Commitment Employees on all levels of the organization are willing to exert that extra effort to ensure that their job is performed to the best level possible. Employee commitment is not just to short-term goals, but to the longterm success of the organization. 8. Loyalty For engaged employees, loyalty goes beyond just staying for a paycheck or other benefits that accompany employment with the organization. They exceed what is required and expected of them by the organization because they want to, not because they have to. 9. Involvement Engaged employees do extra things, put in extra effort, and become emotionally and intellectually involved in supporting the organization without expectation of additional compensation or even recognition, although they appreciate compensation and recognition when it is given. Engaged employees are emotionally committed and tied to the organization, its goals and objectives, and its ultimate success. They internalize these goals and objectives of the organization with their own. 10. Ownership Engaged employees behave as if they were the owner of the organization, putting forth the same effort and commitment that someone who owns the business would in every situation.



2 Getting Engaged Activity Description


Purpose To help participants understand the complexity and commitment needed to successfully introduce the concept of employee engagement in an organization

Description The idea of introducing employee engagement in an organization is compared to proposing a marriage engagement.


Presentation Review Handout 2.1 with participants, explaining the similarities between proposing marriage and asking your organization to sponsor or endorse the concepts of employee engagement. Either read the handout to participants or have them read it to themselves.

Debrief After presenting Handout 2.1, ask participants how they feel about the analogy made in the activity between a marriage engagement and employee engagement. Don’t be afraid to have some fun with this analogy and allow participants to express humorous comments about these similarities as well as differences.

7

Handout 2.1 The Engagement Question Trying to get employees more engaged can be a daunting task. There are so many variables you need to consider. You need to look holistically at the organization to understand how and where to begin this process—nothing operates in a vacuum, and this is especially true of an organization. Employee engagement is not something that lends itself well to a “grass roots” approach. Rather, employee engagement is more a function of the entire organization, including its systems, policies, rules, processes, norms, expectations, principles, values, and perhaps most importantly its leadership. Beginning an employee engagement initiative is really like getting engaged to be married in many ways. Both involve a long-term commitment, trust, sharing of values and goals, and compromise. Like getting engaged to be married, getting engaged with your employees is something that you shouldn’t undertake unless you are totally committed and “in it” for the long-term. Employee engagement isn’t something you should enter into lightly. So before you “pop” the engagement question in your organization, think carefully about what you are asking for and what it means to everyone involved. You may not have to exchange vows with your employees, pledging a lifetime of love and devotion to them, but you do need to be serious about this commitment. If you fail to meet this commitment, you will have a difficult—if not impossible—time ever regaining the trust and respect of your employees. Don’t get engaged unless you are totally committed to the process.



3 Engagement Exercises Activity Description


Purpose To demonstrate the need to work on employee engagement on a regular basis, similar to exercising

Description The idea that supporting employee engagement in your organization is analogous to doing daily calisthenics is presented in this activity.


Presentation Review the engagement calisthenics handout with participants. Discuss each of the 10 daily engagement calisthenics, and explain that these are the types of actions and activities that help support employee engagement in an organization.

Debrief Ask participants which of these engagement calisthenics they feel would be most effective in introducing and supporting employee engagement in their organization.

11

Handout 3.1 Engagement Calisthenics Engagement is like a muscle that needs to be exercised regularly to grow and develop. Engaging your employees frequently will keep them interested and skilled when it comes to being engaged at work. However, like any other skill, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Your muscles and abilities will become atrophied and diminish. There are a number of ways to exercise engagement in your organization. These can be called your daily engagement calisthenics: 1. Allow employees to become more involved in the daily decision-making process at work. 2. Find more opportunities for employees to self-direct themselves. 3. Listen to employees’ ideas and provide ways for the best ones to be implemented. 4. Discuss employees’ goals on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed. 5. Recognize employees’ accomplishments both big and small on a frequent basis. 6. Make management more visible and approachable. 7. Provide employees with the training and tools necessary to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities. 8. Provide coaching on a regular basis to employees to help them perform their jobs better each day. 9. Support the community and environment in which your employees live. 10. Continuously seek ways to build mutual trust between employees and the organization.



4 Engaging Questions Activity Description


Purpose To introduce a series of questions that could be asked of employees in an organization to gain a better understanding of the current level of employee engagement that currently exists

Description The activity offers a set of 10 questions that can be presented to employees to gain a better understanding of the level of engagement that currently exists in your organization.


Presentation •

Distribute copies of Handout 4.1 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display.

•

Explain to participants that: — There are many engaging questions you might ask to determine the degree or level of engagement that currently exists in your organization. The 10 questions in Handout 4.1 can be asked of your employees to get a better understanding of how engaged they feel working in your organization.

•

Discuss what the potential benefits might be from these questions and how this information could be used to create a more engaged workplace.

•

Discuss the various ways in which this information can be disseminated to employees including e-mails, blogs, paper questionnaires, focus group meetings, etc.

•

Talk about how the results from this set of questions could be used to enable the organization to gain a better understanding of where the organization currently could be measured in terms of employee engagement principles and how the results could be used to develop initiatives to increase the level of employee engagement in the organization.

•

As an alternative way to discuss the potential use of these questions, you could ask participants in this activity to answer these questions themselves and then review the collective results with the group.

15


Debrief Use the following scoring scale to assess the level of employee engagement that may currently exist in an organization based on the results of these 10 questions:

Scoring Scale for Engagement Questions 41–50 points Employees in the organization feel engaged in their jobs and are proud of the organization and its values. 31–40 points Employees feel engaged to a certain degree in their jobs and believe in some of the organization’s beliefs and values. 21–30 points There exists a moderate feeling of engagement and support of the organization’s values but also negative attitudes concerning these issues as well depending on the area of concern for the employees. 11–20 points The predominate feeling and attitude in the organization is that of not being engaged in their jobs or supportive of the organization. There is a great deal of negativity about working for the organization and a desire to leave on the part of many employees. 0–10 points There is definitely a moral problem in the organization. Employees are not feeling engaged in any way in their jobs nor do they have positive feelings about the organization’s principles, values, or commitment to anyone including customers. It is likely in this type of a work environment that employees only come to work for a paycheck and bring no real commitment or loyalty to the organization. Review this scoring scale with participants. Ask participants where they believe their organization will fall on this scoring scale and why. If you give this questionnaire to participants, don’t question the group on why they responded the way they did but rather ask what could be done to either improve this score or maintain the current level of employee involvement that currently exists.

16

Handout 4.1 Employee Engagement Questionnaire Using the 5-point scale below, rate each question based on your organization’s level of engagement. 5 = To a great extent

4 = Reasonable extent

3 = Fair extent

2 = Little extent

1 = None

1. To what extent do you feel that you are in control of your job? 5

4

3

2

1

2. To what extent do you feel that you are provided with the tools and resources you need to do your job to the best of your ability? 5

4

3

2

1

3. To what extent do you feel that you are recognized for your job performance? 5

4

3

2

1

4. To what extent do you feel that the organization provides you with fair rewards for your work? 5

4

3

2

1

5. To what extent do you feel that your ideas and suggestions are listened to? 5

4

3

2

1

6. To what extent do you feel that the organization cares about you as a person and about your individual needs? 5

4

3

2

1

7. How likely are you to stay with this organization for the next three years? 5

4

3

2

1

8. How likely would you be to recommend the organization to a friend or colleague? 5

4

3

2

1

9. To what degree do you feel that the organization is respected in the industry? 5

4

3

2

1

10. To what degree do you feel that the organization is respected in the community(s) in which it operates? 5

4

3

2

1



5 Mission Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To explain and emphasize the importance of having a clear plan or mission when beginning a new initiative such as employee engagement in an organization

Description Participants are provided information on the importance of a mission statement and its use and application in a change or transition process in an organization. A sample employee engagement mission statement is provided.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining that creating a mission is often the first positive step toward achieving desired organizational change. To achieve any change, you must first identify exactly what it is you hope to achieve. Without articulating your vision for what you want to have happen in the future, you won’t be able to establish the direction you need to reach your desired goals. Without a clearly defined mission, you will be like a traveler setting off on a journey without a map or even a destination.

•

Explain to participants: — Creating a mission is like drawing a roadmap for where you want to go in the future. Your mission can guide you in the right direction, help you understand if you are still on course, and lead you to your goals. Putting time and effort in the beginning of any goal-setting process is a very worthwhile endeavor. If you hope to create a more engaged workforce, creating a mission statement that describes where you hope to be concerning this objective in the future is an essential first step. — The first challenge is to get the right people involved in creating this mission. It is critically important that the leadership of your organization be involved in this process. Without top management’s commitment and support, the chances of achieving your employee engagement objectives will be significantly diminished. (continued)

19


Presentation (concluded) •

Review the sample employee engagement mission statement provided in Handout 5.1 with participants. Ask participants for input concerning how they feel this sample mission statement would be helpful in introducing and implementing employee engagement in an organization?

•

Ask participants to develop their own employee engagement mission statement as part of this activity, or defer this activity until they can get the right people involved in their organization.

Debrief Review how developing a mission statement can help guide participants in the engagement process for their organization. The point to emphasize is that a mission statement shouldn’t be just a one-time exercise, but rather a dynamic process that continues to provide guidance and direction for the organization. For a mission statement to be useful, it must be visible and reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that the organization is continuously moving in the right direction toward reaching its objectives.

20

Handout 5.1 Employee Engagement Mission Statement Our mission is to create a more engaged workplace for all employees of the organization. To achieve this goal, we must create positive work relationships among all levels of employees, establishing clear, honest, and reliable communications for everyone. We will strive to provide every employee the opportunity to be successful in his or her career and provide fair and meaningful rewards and recognition for everyone. Employees will be given greater control of their personal development and careers, and we will allow everyone to provide input into how their jobs are to be performed. The values and principles of the organization will be frequently reviewed with employees at all levels of the organization. All employees will be given the opportunity to provide input on how well they perceive these values and principles are being followed and if they are in alignment with the daily management and operation of the organization. Our goal is for all employees to feel a shared sense of ownership and commitment to the performance of the organization, including a focus on meeting the needs and expectations of customers.



6 Engaging Principles Activity Description


Purpose To introduce Seven Principles of Employee Engagement

Description In this activity, the Seven Principles of Employee Engagement are presented and reviewed. These seven principles provide a framework for better understanding the concept of employee engagement.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by introducing the Seven Principles of Engagement as shown in Handout 6.1.

•

Distribute copies of the handout to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to present to participants.

•

Explain to participants that these seven principles are important to really understanding what the concept of employee engagement is all about. These seven principles represent the basic fundamentals of the concept of employee engagement.

•

Review the importance of each of these seven principles:

Seven Principles of Employee Engagement 1. Engagement is not a gift, it must be earned. Employee engagement is not something that necessarily will just happen on its own. It must be earned in the sense that an organization must create a working environment supportive of this concept. Employee engagement does require effort and resources to be committed to the process in order for this concept to be successful. 2. The organization must be aligned for engagement. Alignment in this case means that every level of the organization must be supportive of the concept of employee engagement. Employee engagement doesn’t work effectively in isolation. You need to have the support systems in the organization in alignment with this concept. (continued) 23


Seven Principles of Employee Engagement (concluded) 3. Communications is essential for engagement. There is no question that effective communications is critical for employee engagement to be successful. Much of the concept of employee engagement is based on creating and maintaining honest, timely, and interactive communications between different levels of the organization. Without effective communications, the concept of employee engagement cannot be successful. 4. Employees must understand what is expected of them and receive feedback on their performance. Clearly defined expectations and feedback is essential for employee engagement to occur. Too often employees do not understand what is expected of them by their managers or supervisors, nor do they receive adequate feedback on their job performance. Engaged employees clearly understand what is expected of them and receive frequent feedback on their job performance designed to help them perform their jobs to the best of their abilities. 5. There needs to be a sense of “ownership” on the part of employees concerning their jobs. Having a sense of responsibility and accountability for one’s job is a basic fundamental of employee engagement. It is this sense of ownership that motivates employees to take those extra steps in performing their jobs that make such a big difference in the final results. Creating this sense of ownership is a function of an organization’s structure, culture, and practices. You can’t expect employees to feel this way about their jobs if the organization does not support such an attitude. 6. Supervisory relationships are important for engagement to exist. There must be positive supervisory relationships throughout the organization for employee engagement to be successful. Supervisors must understand the concept of employee engagement and create working relationships with their direct reports that support this concept. 7. Engagement must ultimately be focused on meeting the needs of the customer of the organization. Employee engagement must ultimately make the customer happier and more likely to do business with the organization in the future. If this is not the case in your organization, then you are focusing on the wrong things. An employee engagement initiative must be customer focused. Everything that you do in introducing and supporting employee engagement should be designed with this ultimate goal in mind.

Debrief Suggest that these seven principles could be posted in conference or meeting rooms to serve as a reminder of what is necessary to create an engaged culture in their organization. Additionally, these seven principles could be reprinted in company newsletters and/or included in managerial and supervisory training programs to keep everyone focused on these concepts. These seven principles provide a basic framework for understanding employee engagement. Emphasize, however, that these principles represent only the basic concepts of employee engagement. There is much more detail that can be gone into concerning each of these principles (much of which can be found in other activities in this book).

24

Handout 6.1 Seven Principles of Employee Engagement 1. Engagement is not a gift, it must be earned. 2. The organization must be aligned for engagement. 3. Communications is essential for engagement. 4. Employees must understand what is expected of them and receive feedback on their performance. 5. There needs to be a sense of “ownership” on the part of employees concerning their jobs. 6. Supervisory relationships are important for engagement to exist. 7. Engagement must ultimately be focused on meeting the needs of the customer of the organization.



7 No Engagement Zones Activity Description


Purpose To explain that there may exist certain situations, functions, operations, jobs, etc., where the concepts of employee engagement would not be appropriate or could not be successfully implemented (This activity would be most appropriate for those in a decision-making capacity in an organization who would be responsible for the introduction and design of an employee engagement initiative being introduced.)

Description The activity is designed to help participants better understand where the concepts of employee engagement should and should not be introduced.


Presentation •

Introduce the activity by explaining that as important as it is to understand where engagement opportunities may exist in an organization, it is perhaps even more important to understand where the concepts of engagement should not be applied.

•

Explain to participants that: — These could be called no engagement zones. — A no engagement zone is where employee engagement should not be introduced or applied. — There are certain functions, areas, environments, processes, etc., where engagement is not appropriate or possible to achieve. — There may be reasons why engagement would not be appropriate in these circumstances. — Some of these reasons might include confidentiality requirements; specialization; controlled or classified information needs, security issues, and complex situations; and corporate culture.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 7.1 to participants or groups of participants (you might want to break participants into teams of three to five people for this activity).

•

Ask each person or group to identify areas or functions of the organization in which the concept of employee engagement may not be appropriate.

27


Debrief After each person or group has completed the Identifying No Engagement Zones handout, ask for their feedback on why they selected these areas or functions as being inappropriate for employee engagement. Explore these reasons and rationales in a group discussion to get as many viewpoints as possible. Try to reach a consensus from the group concerning the validity of these no engagement zones to ensure that they truly should be “off limits” to the introduction of employee engagement.

28

Handout 7.1 Identifying No Engagement Zones

What are some no engagement zones in your organization? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


8 Engaging Intangibles Activity Description


Purpose To highlight that all of the gains and benefits of employee engagement are not necessarily tangible

Description A number of intangible benefits are presented as potential benefits of employee engagement in an organization.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by clarifying the difference between intangible benefits and tangible benefits: — Tangible benefits relating to employee engagement for an organization would describe such things as increased market share, increased sales, greater profitability, higher margins, etc. — Intangible benefits would be more intrinsic things that don’t necessarily directly contribute to the bottom line financials of an organization, but are still critically important.

•


•

Explain to participants that examples of intangible benefits of employee engagement might include the items presented in the handout.

•

Expand on each of these 10 intangible benefits by reviewing the following information on each:

10 Employee Engagement Intangible Benefits 1. Greater job satisfaction: Engagement ultimately leads to greater job satisfaction for employees. This comes as a result of employees feeling more in control of their jobs and that they are making a greater contribution to the success of the organization. 2. More positive work environment: No one likes to work in a negative environment with other unhappy employees. Employee engagement creates a more positive workplace where everyone feels more comfortable. (continued) 31


10 Employee Engagement Intangible Benefits (concluded) 3. Less stressful workplace: Employee engagement can create a less stressful workplace in which there is less conflict. Everyone has a better understanding of his or her role and responsibility by having clearer direction and feedback concerning performance. 4. Cooperation throughout the organization: Employee engagement creates better alignment throughout the organization in terms of goals and objectives. Employees on all levels of the organization are focused on the same goals and objectives and work together more cooperatively to reach these objectives. 5. Greater trust: The concept of employee engagement ultimately creates a work climate of greater trust. Mistrust is often based on the lack of clear and honest communications in an organization. As information is more freely shared throughout the organization, employees will begin to gain a greater sense of trust. 6. Happier employees: Engagement leads to greater job satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment for employees. Employees feel like they are a valuable and contributing member of the team. This translates to happier more satisfied employees. 7. Personal growth: Employee engagement helps people grow and develop both personally and professionally. 8. Stronger bonds: Employee engagement creates stronger bonds between the organization and its employees. Both are more satisfied with the relationship and are more committed to reaching shared goals for success. Both see the mutual benefit to each other’s success and continuously work toward this objective. 9. Loyalty: All of these intangibles lead to greater loyalty, not only on the part of employees, but also the organization. Both are more willing to give each other the benefit of the doubt during challenging times that test this loyalty. 10. Customer satisfaction: Ultimately the greatest benefit of engaging employees is how it translates to the customer. Engaged employees are more dedicated and committed to meeting the needs of the customer and ensuring that they keep doing business with the organization.

Debrief After discussing how these 10 intangibles are intrinsically rewarding (meaning satisfying on their own), ask how these might actually ultimately translate into tangible rewards for both engaged employees and their employer.

32

Handout 8.1 10 Employee Engagement Intangible Benefits 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Greater job satisfaction More positive work environment Less stressful workplace Cooperation throughout the organization Greater trust Happier employees Personal growth Stronger bonds Loyalty Customer satisfaction


Part II Getting Started to Engage Employees

Part II–Getting Started to Engage Employees

9 The Engagement Proposal Activity Description


Purpose To help participants understand what questions they need to be prepared to answer when proposing that the concept of employee engagement be introduced into the organization

Description A list of questions is presented that might be typical of the type of questions that might be asked by the leadership of the organization when considering employee engagement.


Presentation •

Explain to participants that: — Suggesting that employees get more engaged at work is sort of like “popping the question” to a prospective fiancée. There may be many reasons why either the organization or its employees might be reluctant to make such a commitment. — First of all, in either situation, this proposal requires a total commitment on the part of everyone involved. This isn’t something that can or should be taken casually. — Everyone needs to understand that employee engagement can become a powerful force in an organization. Once proposed, ending such an arrangement may be like trying to stop an avalanche. — “Popping” this engagement question must be taken very seriously as it may not be so easy to get out of once proposed. — Before accepting such a proposal, serious thought must be given concerning exactly what is being asked and the long-term consequences—both positive and potentially negative—that might be associated. Everyone must enter into such a proposed relationship fully aware of what will be expected of one another. — In many ways, this employee engagement proposal may be more difficult to reverse than returning to or asking back the ring from your betrothed. There would be more than just two people involved in this engagement and subsequent breakup should there be one. (continued)

37


Presentation (concluded) — Once you have decided that you are totally committed to employee engagement, you then must determine how to make this proposal and to whom? — The good news is that there are no parents you have to face for approval of such a proposal. — The bad news is that the approvers that you might have to approach may be even scarier than your future in-laws! — You can make this process go smoother and with less anxiety if you come prepared with this proposal ready to address and answer as many of the questions presented in Handout 9.1 that might be asked. •

Distribute copies of Handout 9.1 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display. — If you find that you can’t answer all these questions, you may not be ready to make such a proposal. Go back and gather as much information relating to these questions (and others that might be asked) as you can before making an engagement proposal to the leadership of your organization.

Debrief Discuss with participants what some of the possible answers might be to these questions or where these answers might be found. Ask participants what other questions they might anticipate will be asked of them when making such an engagement proposal?

38

Handout 9.1 Engagement Proposal Questions • What will be the cost of such a proposal? • Who is going to be responsible for this initiative? • What expenses might be incurred as a result? • What organizational changes will be required? • How much time will this take to show results? • How will customers be affected? • What are the risks associated with this proposal? • What is going to be expected of the leadership of the organization? • What happens if this isn’t successful? • How will we know if this has been successful?



10 In Search of Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To make participants be more aware of ways in which employee engagement may already exist in their organization

Description Participants are asked to identify where employee engagement already exists in their organization.


Presentation •

Introduce the activity by explaining to participants that the idea of employee engagement may at first seem like a vague concept that may only be theoretically possible in the most ideal circumstances.

•

Explain to participants that: — Employee engagement may not be as rare or elusive as one might think. Employee engagement may be all around your organization. — You may just never have identified it as such or recognized it when you saw it even though it’s all around you. — Think of employee engagement as being that level of commitment that someone demonstrates each and every day to perform his or her job to the best of his or her ability—you will undoubtedly find many examples of employee engagement already at work. — Think about where some of these examples of employee engagement might already exist in your organization.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 10.1 to participants and have them list some examples of employee engagement in their organization.

Debrief Ask participants to think about what drives and supports these examples of employee engagement that already exist in their area of the organization. How can these same drivers exist in other areas of the organization to support this same level of commitment on the part of other employees? 41

Handout 10.1 In Search of Employee Engagement What are some examples of employee engagement that may already exist in your organization? List them below: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________



11 Five Steps to Engaging Your Workforce Activity Description


Purpose To explain the steps that should be taken to begin to engage your workforce

Description Five steps to begin engaging employees are presented.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining to participants that engaging your workforce can seem like a big challenge, and it is. But there are certain steps that you can take to help you get started and headed in the right direction toward your employee engagement goals.

•

Distribute a copy of Handout 11.1 to each participant.

•

Review each of the five steps with participants. The steps as described are simple and can be easily explained as presented.

Debrief After reviewing these steps, ask participants if there may be other steps that they might feel would also be important in introducing employee engagement. These five steps are not intended to be an all-inclusive list, but rather a beginning point.

45

Handout 11.1 Five Steps to Engaging Your Workforce Step 1

Plan. Don’t begin without a plan. It you do, the likelihood of failure is going to be greater. Most initiatives like employee engagement do not meet desired results because of poor planning or lack of planning before beginning.

Step 2

Support. Make sure that you have the support you need from the leadership in your organization before beginning employee engagement.

Step 3

Communicate. Communicate, communicate, and communicate. The point is that communications is essentially important in any new initiative including employee engagement. You really can’t communicate too much when it comes to introducing something new in your organization.

Step 4

Debunk the myths. There will undoubtedly be skeptics and critics of just about anything new that you propose or introduce in your organization. They will try to discredit something before it is even begun. It may not be practical or possible to address all of the negative spin that they try to create, but you need to listen for untruths that may be getting employees upset for no valid reason. Let people know what is true and untrue about the potential changes that employee engagement might bring so that they don’t worry about things they don’t need to.

Step 5

Commitment. If you are going to introduce employee engagement into your organization, you need to be fully committed to making it successful. If the organization is not truly committed to this objective, it would be better not to begin it in the first place. Employees will quickly become skeptical if they perceive the introduction of employee engagement as just another “program of the month” that will soon fade away only to be replaced with another management fad. Don’t start it if you don’t mean it!



12 Employee Engagement: It’s Common Sense Activity Description


Purpose To emphasize that common sense is part of employee engagement

Description This activity highlights a number of concepts relating to employee engagement that are really nothing more than everyday common sense.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining to participants that when you think about it, employee engagement is really all about common sense: — You don’t really need to have a textbook or a management consultant come in to tell you that engaging your employees more is a good thing to do. It is really a matter of common sense.

•


•

Review each of the common sense points included in the handout. Encourage discussion with participants on each of these points.

•

Ask participants why they believe each item is really just a matter of common sense and a good thing to do under any circumstance.

Debrief It may be important to emphasize that just because a great deal of employee engagement is a matter of common sense, there are still many complicated challenges that this concept presents. Implementing something that is just common sense is not always an easy thing to accomplish. Even though the concept may be relatively simple—its application may not be so easy. Advise participants that they shouldn’t underestimate the complexity of employee engagement just because it makes so much common sense.

49

Handout 12.1 Employee Engagement: It’s Common Sense •

Ask employees what they think will give the organization better, more practical solutions to problems.

•

Giving employees greater problem-solving and decision-making ability will engage them more in their jobs and organization.

•

Employees do want to do a good job and get frustrated when they feel that they aren’t being given the opportunity by the organization to perform to their potential.

•

Improving communications throughout the organization will help employees become more engaged.

•

The right training and development for your employees is a good investment in everyone’s future in the organization.

•

Providing your employees with the right tools and resources will improve their productivity.

•

Creating a more engaged workplace will reduce employee turnover.

•

Your employees have more ability and potential than you may presently realize.

•

Employees who follow the rules get upset if they believe others are allowed to break the rules and get away with it.

•

Punishing failure will result in less risk taking and creativity in the organization in the future.

•

Everyone needs to be recognized for their hard work and accomplishments on the job.

•

People need feedback to grow and develop on the job.

•

Everyone’s perception of fairness is different. It is important to try to understand each person’s perspective about how they are being treated on the job.

•

Money is not the only motivator you can offer employees to do a good job. Intangibles such as recognition, respect, dignity, and growth—just to name a few—are often even more important to employees than money.

•

Employees do care about the success and future of the organization. They have a vested interest in the organization doing well and want to be involved in achieving this goal. Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


13 The Engagement Process Model Activity Description


Purpose To introduce the idea that following a process helps achieve desired results

Description A process model based on employee engagement is presented in the activity. In this process model, many of the inputs that go into employee engagement are identified as well as the outputs or results.


Presentation •

Explain to participants that a process model can be useful to help illustrate visually how a process works: — A process model shows both inputs and outputs in any process. An analogy might be a manufacturing process in which inputs are such things as raw materials, labor, energy, etc., to process outputs in the form of finished products. — An employee engagement process operates in very much the same manner. — There are certain inputs that go into the employee engagement process that result in certain outputs.

•


•

Explain to participants that: — On the left hand side of the model are some of the most important inputs that go into this process model. — On the right hand side are some of the outputs that result from employee engagement. — The most important point about the Employee Engagement Model is that without the inputs, there can’t be the desired outputs. — The quality of the inputs greatly impacts and influences the quality of the outputs.

•

After presenting the model in Handout 13.1, ask participants what other inputs and outputs they can think of that should also be included in this process model.

53


Debrief Conclude the activity by emphasizing again that in any process model the quality of the outputs are dependent on the quality of the inputs. Participants should take away from the activity the understanding that the more time and resources that are invested in this process, the better the results will be as outputs from the process.

54

Handout 13.1 Employee Engagement Process Model Communications Expectations Systems Rules Goals Accountability Culture Fairness

Employee Engagement

Awareness Lower Turnover Increased Productivity Commitment Customer Focus Ownership Participation



14 The Engagement Journey Activity Description


Purpose To emphasize the concept that employee engagement is a long-term initiative and that undertaking such an initiative should be viewed as a long journey

Description Beginning an employee engagement initiative is compared to going on a long journey. Participants are asked what they believe they would need to prepare for such a journey.

Resources NA

Presentation Explain to participants that: •

It is important to understand that creating a workplace with increased employee engagement is not a goal that is quickly or easily reached.

•

Rather this is a journey that must be taken one step at a time.

•

Trying to take shortcuts or skip important steps can prevent you from reaching your ultimate goal.

•

When embarking on a journey, it typically takes a long time to reach your final destination.

•

It you are in a big hurry or are looking for immediate paybacks or results, then employee engagement is probably not the right thing to try to introduce into your organization.

•

The point is that you need to think about employee engagement as a journey, one that will take some time to reach.

•

Don’t try to rush the process.

•

Once you have begun this journey, stay committed to reaching your objectives.

•

Don’t become easily discouraged or allow yourself to take a different route without considerable thought and contemplation.

•

If you are not totally committed to this journey, then you shouldn’t start out on it in the first place.

57


Debrief Ask participants how they would prepare for this employee engagement journey. To stimulate discussion, ask participants, “What would you pack for such a journey?”

58

Part III Leading Employee Engagement

Part III–Leading Employee Engagement

15 Coaching Engagements Activity Description


Purpose To emphasize the need for effective leadership in the form of coaching for engaged employees

Description The concept that engaged employees need effective coaching is presented. Participants are asked to think about and identify the great coaches in their lives.


Presentation •

Explain to participants that: — Engagement isn’t something that just happens on its own without the influence of others. — Engagement lends itself extremely well to the concepts of coaching. Engagement provides the opportunity for effective coaches to have their greatest impact. — Great coaches help others help themselves to reach challenging goals. They guide and correct, inspire and motivate. — Engaged employees still need guidance, support, training, direction, leadership, and perhaps most importantly great coaching. — Coaching is a special type of leadership that enables employees at all levels of an organization to reach their greatest potential. — Great coaches can have a tremendous impact on those they help. — Think about some of the great coaches you have had in your life. — Don’t restrict yourself to just athletics—effective coaches are found in many other walks of life. — A coach could have been a religious leader, a teacher, a music instructor, even a boss. — Coaches help us achieve results that wouldn’t have been possible without their help. They inspire us, motivate us, and help us learn more about who we are and what we are all about.

•

Distribute a copy of Handout 15.1 to each participant to complete.

61


Debrief Ask participants to share some of their stories about the great coaches they have experienced in their lives or have known about and to explain what made these individuals such effective coaches. Ask participants how these same characteristics or qualities would be important when leading engaged employees?

62

Handout 15.1 The Great Coaches in Your Life What do you think it takes to become a great coach? In sports, why do some coaches have winning teams year after year, while other coaches produce a winning team only occasionally? To answer this question, think about some of the great coaches you have had in your life or have known about. List the skills, traits, abilities, qualities, etc., that you think made these individuals great coaches: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Which of the above characteristics do you think would be effective in dealing with engaged employees and why? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ How can you begin to use more of these characteristics and traits that the great coaches in your life employed as you lead engaged employees in your organization? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


16 From Boss to Coach Activity Description


Purpose To explain the changes in the way leaders must lead engaged employees

Description The concept of moving from a leadership role based on the traditional boss role to that of a coach is introduced in this activity. A model is presented showing this change in leadership style and approach.

Resources Handouts 16.1 and 16.2

Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining to participants that of all the changes that come with engaging employees, the new role of the boss or supervisor is perhaps the greatest challenge.

•

Explain to participants that: — The concept of employee engagement doesn’t mean that effective leadership is no longer necessary in an organization. — Nor does it mean that leadership roles are diminished in any way—in fact these roles become even more important. Nor does it mean that those in leadership positions will be given more to do—they probably already have enough to do. — What employee engagement means to supervisors or bosses is that their traditional roles and responsibilities may change. — Their role is more like that of a coach who develops the potential of engaged employees.

•


•

Explain that to put the impact of this change into perspective, Handout 16.1 takes a brief look at some of the traditional responsibilities of a boss or supervisor and that of their subordinates. As can be seen in this model, the traditional boss tells subordinate employees what work to do and how to do it. Much or all of the decision making and responsibility in this traditional model falls on the shoulders of the boss. Subordinate employees are expected to perform their tasks as assigned with little or no decision-making or problem-solving authority. (continued) 65



Distribute or display Handout 16.2.

•

Explain to participants that in Handout 16.2, a different working model of the supervisor and subordinate is shown. In this model, the new responsibilities of both the coach and engaged employee are depicted as much different from those in the traditional model. The coach is more of an enabler of the engaged employee. The engaged employee in this model is expected to do much more than just show up for work and do what he or she is told to do by the boss. The employee in this engaged work model is much more involved in his or her job. This engaged employee now has ownership of his or her job and accepts responsibility for his or her work. An engaged employee is totally involved in the performance of his or her job.

Debrief Ask participants to comment on the differences in these two models and how the coach/engaged employee model could be implemented in their organization and what changes would be necessary to support such a model.

66

Handout 16.1 Traditional Responsibilities of a Boss or Supervisor and Subordinates Boss Assigns jobs Sets schedules Prepares plans Obtains resources Makes adjustments Makes corrections Monitors quality Deals with customer issues Disciplines

Subordinate Performs tasks as assigned


Handout 16.2 New Responsibilities of a Coach and Engaged Employees Coach Provides direction Coordinates Supports Enables Trains Clarifies Listens Plans Delegates Reinforces Communicates

Engaged Employee Plans work Sets schedules Makes adjustments Updates plans Makes corrections Ensures quality Makes decisions Reports progress Makes commitments Gives input Takes ownership



17 Motivating Engaged Employees Activity Description


Purpose To provide a model for motivating engaged employees

Description A simple model is presented for motivating employees to become more engaged in their jobs. The model is based on the letters in the word MOTIVATED.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining that motivating employees to become more engaged in their jobs and in the success of the organization can be a big challenge in itself: — Motivation can be an elusive concept. — What motivates one individual may actually be a disincentive to another person. — The question is How can you find the key to motivating your employees to be more engaged? — Often following a motivational model for engagement can be helpful.

•


Debrief Discuss how the concepts presented in this model could actually help motivate employees be more engaged at work. Point out that almost all of the eight concepts in this MOTIVATE model have something to do with communications, emphasizing just how important communications is to motivating employees to become more engaged.

71

Handout 17.1 Engagement MOTIVATE Model The following model is designed to help you motivate everyone in your organization to become more engaged:

Measure to make sure that employees understand how well they are

doing in achieving their performance goals and recognize progress toward these goals.

Optimize every opportunity to get employees more involved in the

decision-making and problem-solving process relating to their jobs.

Talk to your employees about becoming more engaged in their jobs

and your expectations of them in this new role.

Inform employees about what is going on in the organization that

they want to know about, not just what they have to know to do their jobs.

Visibly make changes that show employees that you are doing things

differently to allow them to become more engaged in their jobs.

Accept employees’ suggestions and opinions with an open mind,

even if your instincts may be telling you otherwise.

Tell your employees how much you appreciate their efforts and

contributions.

Encourage employees to become engaged. Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


18 Engagement Obstacles Activity Description


Purpose To identify what obstacles might currently exist in an organization that are actually deterrents to employee engagement

Description Participants are asked to identify what potential obstacles might exist in their organization that could limit or prevent employee engagement from happening.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining that getting employees more involved in their job is a concept that has been around for years and will never go out of vogue or style.

•

Explain to participants that: — The principle of asking your employees to be more involved or engaged is really about respect; it is a matter of respecting your employees’ knowledge, ability, integrity, and interest in their jobs. — If initiatives such as employee engagement fail to get accepted in an organization, it is usually a result of the management systems in place, not the employees themselves. In other words, organizations establish work environments that create obstacles to employees becoming more engaged, not vise versa.

•

Ask participants if it is possible that policies, practices, procedures, systems, or expectations currently exist in their organization that could possibly prevent employees from becoming engaged.

•

Ask participants to think about their organization and what might be preventing employees from becoming more engaged at work.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 18.1 to participants to complete individually and be prepared to discuss as a group.

75


Debrief Ask participants to share what they identified as potential obstacles to employee engagement in their organization. Discuss how these obstacles could be removed or eliminated to allow employee engagement to happen in their organization.

76

Handout 18.1 Potential Engagement Obstacles Policies that might be preventing employee engagement: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Practices that might be preventing employee engagement: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ (continued)


Handout 18.1: Potential Engagement Obstacles (concluded) Procedures that might be preventing employee engagement: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Systems that might be preventing employee engagement: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Expectations that might be preventing employee engagement: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


19 How Would Famous Leaders Lead Engagement? Activity Description


Purpose To get participants to think about what type of leadership style is most compatible with the concept of employee engagement

Description Participants are asked to rank a number of legendary leaders from who they believe would be the most supportive of the concept of employee engagement to the least supportive.


Presentation •

Ask participants to think about famous leaders—either present or past—and how effective they might be leading engaged employees today.

•

Ask participants, “Who do you think would be the most effective engaged leader?”

•

Distribute Handout 19.1.

•

Ask participants to consider the famous leaders listed on Handout 19.1 and how effective they would have been leading engaged employees.

•

Instruct participants to rank these leaders from 1 to 10 (1 being the most effective engagement leader) according to how effective a leader they believe each would be in leading an engaged organization.

Debrief This is intended to be a fun exercise, giving participants a chance to visualize how effectively legendary leaders—both past and present—might be as leaders of engaged employees. There are no right or wrong answers to this activity—it is more a matter of opinion. There are some obviously poor examples of leaders presented such as Attila the Hun and General George Patton who will certainly be at the bottom of most or all participants’ rankings. However, there may be differing opinions concerning who would be the most engaging leaders. Encourage participants to share their opinions and rationales as to why they selected their top legendary leaders as most effective if they had the opportunity to lead engaged employees. 79

Handout 19.1 How Well Would these Leaders Lead Engaged Employees? Instructions: Rank each of the following legendary leaders from 1 to 10 (1 being the most effective engaged leader) according to how effectively you believe each would lead engaged employees and be prepared to discuss why you ranked these leaders the way you did: ______ General George Patton ______ Martin Luther King ______ John F. Kennedy ______ Winston Churchill ______ Abraham Lincoln ______ George Washington ______ Sam Walton ______ Bill Gates ______ Pope John Paul II ______ Attila the Hun



20 50 Ways to Lead Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To provide a number of leadership characteristics that can be used in leading engaged employees

Description Fifty different leadership characteristics are presented in a list for participants to select the ones that they feel would be most important in leading engaged employees.


Presentation •

Introduce the activity by asking participants to think about what would be the most important characteristics for a leader to have to successfully lead an engaged workforce.

•


•

Explain that there are 50 possible leadership characteristics listed on this handout that could be important to leading engaged employees.

•

Ask participants to pick from the list those characteristics that they believe would be most important for a leader to have to effectively lead an engaged workforce.

•

Allow participants to mark as many characteristics from the list as they feel are important.

•

As an alternative, you could have the group vote on their top 5 or 10 leadership characteristics for leading engaged employees.

Debrief Encourage discussion concerning why participants picked the particular leadership characteristics that they selected. Why did they feel that certain leadership characteristics might be more important than others on the list?

83

Handout 20.1 50 Ways to Lead Engagement ______ Ably

______ Enthusiastically

______ Accurately

______ Fairly

______ Ambitiously

______ Faithfully

______ Aware

______ Firmly

______ Benevolently

______ Flexibly

______ Bravely

______ Gutsy

______ Capably

______ Hopefully

______ Cleverly

______ Insightfully

______ Compassionately

______ Intelligently

______ Competently

______ Intuitively

______ Concerned

______ Knowledgeably

______ Confidently

______ Motivated

______ Consistently

______ Openly

______ Courageously

______ Passionately

______ Credibly

______ Patiently

______ Decisively

______ Perceptively

______ Dedicated

______ Perseveringly

______ Determined

______ Precisely

______ Empathetically

______ Prudently

______ Energetically

______ Resiliently (continued)


Handout 20.1: 50 Ways to Lead Engagement (concluded) ______ Respectfully

______ Strongly

______ Savvy

______ Tenaciously

______ Sensitively

______ Toughly

______ Smartly

______ Understandingly

______ Strategically

______ Wisely


Part IV Measuring Employee Engagement

Part IV–Measuring Employee Engagement

21 The Price of UnEngagement Activity Description


Purpose To illustrate how much it could be costing to not engage employees at work

Description A model is introduced that measures the costs of not engaging employees, or in other words, the Price of UnEngagement (POUE).


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining that typically we think in terms of what something is going to cost when making a decision whether to invest in it or not. But what about the cost of not investing in something such as employee engagement? What might the cost of such a decision ultimately be? In other words, how much time, energy, resources, and business are you losing by not engaging your employees?

•

Distribute copies of Handout 21.1 to participants and explain what each column represents. For instance, Column A represents opportunities that would be lost as a result of not engaging employees in their jobs.

•

Explain to participants that: — The question is not as much about what the price of engagement is but what the price is of not engaging employees. Looking at the sample POUE in Handout 21.1, we see in the first column (A) “Wasted resources.” In the next column (B) we see “Reduced materials costs.” This is the potential gains that could be achieved by engaging employees in their jobs to find ways to turn wasted resources into reduced materials costs. The difference between these two estimated costs or gains is to be listed in the third column (C) as the Price of UnEngagement (POUE). — For example, wasted resources cost a company $100,000 annually. But by engaging employees to find ways to reduce this waste and even find ways to reduce materials costs by $50,000 instead of wasting these resources, the potential gain would be $150,000, which would be listed in Column C.

•

Using this model, ask participants to estimate how much the POUE might be in their organization by completing Handout 21.2.

89


Debrief The most important point that participants should take away from this activity is the concept that not engaging employees may actually be costing their organization money every day. The goal of the activity is to help participants envision ways in which employee engagement could save resources and increase profitability in their organization. Instead of looking at the cost of investing in employee engagement, organizations should look at the potential benefits and gains that can be achieved.

90

Handout 21.1 Applying the POUE A

+/–

Opportunities Lost

B Potential Gains

=

C Price of UnEngagement (A +/– B)

Wasted resources

Reduced materials costs

$

Employee turnover

Skilled employees

$

Poor quality

Reorders

$

Missed deadlines

On schedule

$

Out of specification

Meeting expectations

$

Unhappy customers

Repeat buyers

$

Lost shipments

On-time deliveries

$

Penalties

Compliance

$

Downtime

Extra capacity

$

Defects

Quality product/services

$


Handout 21.2 The Price of UnEngagement (POUE) A

+/–

Opportunities Lost

B Potential Gains

=

C Price of UnEngagement (A +/– B)

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________

_____________________

_____________________

$_____________________



22 Engagement Scorecard Activity Description


Purpose To provide a method of measuring performance concerning employee engagement in an organization

Description Employee engagement is compared to playing a baseball game with similar scoring as a measurement of performance.


Presentation •

Ask participants to imagine for a moment that creating a workplace based on employee engagement is like a baseball game: — In this baseball game, one of the things that you would need to have would be a scorecard, in this case an engagement scorecard. — A scorecard measures your performance in a number of different areas to help you record just how well you did in each of these areas against your goals and objectives for each area. A scorecard helps you compare your performance and progress over a period of time. — You can use the engagement scorecard to create a baseline performance if you are just getting started to measure your employee engagement and measure your progress over time.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 22.1 and discuss the Nine Employee Engagement Strategies with participants. They will use these nine strategies to complete the engagement scorecard for their organization’s performance: — To score a run, you must have 20 points. Add up the total number of points that you scored for all Nine Employee Engagement Strategies. For each engagement strategy, score yourself a single (5 points), a double (10 points), a triple (15 points), or a homerun (20 points), depending on how effectively you believe you are presently performing in this area. Divide the total number of points (continued)

95


Presentation (concluded) you scored in each of the Nine Employee Engagement Strategies by 20 to determine the number of runs that you scored in the exercise. For example, if your total points were 180, you would have 9 runs. Any fractions would represent runners left on base at the end of the game. Set goals for the number of runs you would like to score in the future by reviewing the Nine Employee Engagement Strategies on a regular basis and work toward improving your performance on each one. •

Distribute Handout 22.2 and have participants score each of the strategies on the scorecard and determine their final score in terms of runs.

Debrief Ask participants for which of the nine strategies they scored homeruns or the highest scores. Which strategies did they score the lowest? What strategies did they “leave on base” at the end of the activity? Encourage participants to identify which of these strategies they need to focus on in the future to improve their employee engagement performance.

96

Handout 22.1 Nine Employee Engagement Strategies 1. Game plan: Every team must have a game plan. Your game plan helps you organize and direct your efforts in an efficient and logical manner to reach your goals for success. Without a game plan, you will lack direction and purpose in your pursuit of employee engagement. A game plan is like a roadmap that helps you clearly see where you are heading and what you need to do to reach these destinations. If you don’t already have a game plan for engagement, you need to work together with the decision makers in your organization to create one. If you already have an engagement game plan in place that you are following, score yourself a homerun. If you don’t have one but are planning on creating one, score yourself at least a single. 2. Competition: In many ways, your competition makes you better. Competition makes you try harder to be successful. You know that you have to play your best game in order to beat the competition. But in many organizations, just who is the competition can become confusing. Sometimes it may seem that another department or part of the organization is the competition. When we start competing within our own organization, we become our own competition, expending resources trying to beat ourselves. You need to keep focused on the real competition—those other companies or organizations that are trying to take away your customers and business. They are the ones that your entire organization must be focused on defeating, not other parts of your own organization or company. If your entire organization is totally focused on beating the real competition, then score yourself a homerun on this measure. If there is major competition between departments or other parts of your organization, don’t give yourself any points on this measure. 3. Bench: Teams need bench strength to have players ready and able to get into the game often with little or no notice. Key starting players sometimes are no longer able or available to play on the team and need to be replaced. If your organization doesn’t have a strong bench today, you may be setting yourself up for huge gaps in talent later on. The true strength of any team is not just determined by who is currently playing on the field but also who you have ready on the bench to get into the game. Take a look at your bench strength and score yourself accordingly. 4. Fans: Fans support a team during good times and bad. Of course, a team typically has more fans during winning seasons, but there are always those loyal fans who support the team even when it loses. Think about who your team’s fans are? Who are your most loyal fans? Who supports you during tough or challenging times? How well do you acknowledge your fans and thank them for their support? What would your fans like you to do better or different? Your team’s fans may be the top management of the organization, your customers, other departments or areas of the organization, or anyone who has input and sponsorship for your team in some way. Think about your fans and your team’s relationship with them. If you believe that you communicate and relate well with your fans as defined above, then score a homerun or assign the appropriate level for your performance with your fans. (continued) Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.

Handout 22.1: Nine Employee Engagement Strategies (concluded) 5. Fundamentals: Every game has certain fundamentals that must be followed to perform the activity correctly. You will almost always find that the best and most successful players follow the fundamentals of the game. Not following the fundamentals of the game usually results in sloppy play and eventual losses. You can’t cheat by taking shortcuts or not learning or practicing the fundamentals and expect to be successful. The fundamentals are the basic building blocks of any activity. How well do you follow the fundamentals in your organization? Does everyone on the team know how to perform his or her job? Are employees encouraged if not expected to follow these fundamentals? Score your organization on how well employees follow the fundamentals of their jobs. 6. Talent: Every team needs to have talented players. The talent of its players is any organization’s greatest strength. But having talented players on your team doesn’t just happen on its own. Talented players must either be recruited from outside the organization or developed within the organization. Having the right balance between these two ways to get talented players in your organization is important. How is your organization doing to ensure that you have the talent in your organization needed to be successful? Score your organization on the talent that you currently have to meet the goals you face. 7. Plays: Teams have certain plays that they design and practice designed to beat the competition. Often these plays are changed or modified according to who the competition is and what you expect them to do to beat you. You need to have plays at work that you design to beat your competition. Just as a sports team designs offensive and defensive plays, you need to do the same. What would be examples of offensive plays that you might design to move ahead of your competition? What might be examples of defensive plays that you might need to design to just keep up with the competition or block their progress? How well has your team developed these kinds of plays or strategies to meet these challenges? Score yourself according to the effectiveness both of your offensive and defensive plays and strategies to compete against your competition. 8. Rules: There are rules in every game. Not following these rules can result in penalties or even forfeiture to the competition. What are the rules in the game that your organization must compete in and how well do you play by these rules? If you consistently play by the rules of your game without penalty, you deserve a homerun. 9. Teamwork: No team can expect to be successful without teamwork. Teamwork is the combination of the efforts of all the players on the team working together. Teams are successful when everyone works toward shared goals for success rather than individual objectives. When players are only playing for individual goals or rewards, the team suffers. Teamwork creates a more powerful force than the individual members could ever achieve working independently. Teamwork creates synergy in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. How well does your organization work together as a team? Hopefully you can score yourself a homerun on this very most important measure.


Handout 22.2 Employee Engagement Scorecard

Scoring To score a run, you must have 20 points. Add up the total number of points that you scored for all Nine Employee Engagement Strategies. Divide the total by 20 to determine the number of runs that you scored in the exercise. For example, if your total points were 180, you would have 9 runs. Any fractions would represent runners left on base at the end of the game. Set goals for the number of runs you would like to score in the future by reviewing the Nine Employee Engagement Strategies on a regular basis and work toward improving your performance on each one.



23 Engagement Accountability Activity Description


Purpose To help participants better understand who needs to be accountable for employee engagement in the organization

Description Participants are asked to identify who should be accountable for employee engagement in their organization.

Resources NA

Presentation •

To begin this activity, present the following question to participants: Just who is responsible for employee engagement in an organization is a good question. Should this responsibility lie with the employees who are engaged or with their supervisors or managers?

•

Next ask participants to think about this age old question: If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it still make a sound?

•

Putting this question in terms of employee engagement, paraphrase this question to ask: What if the management of an organization tries to engage employees, but they don’t want to be engaged? Is this still an engaged organization?

•

Ask participants: Do you think this situation could exist? If so, why do you think this might happen?

•

Finally ask participants: What would you do if you found yourself in this situation in your organization?

Debrief Help participants come to the realization that employee engagement is really the responsibility of management. If employee engagement doesn’t seem to be working, then management needs to take an honest look at what might be causing employees to be reluctant to accept this change. For some reason, employees aren’t (continued) 101


Debrief (concluded) feeling that they are really being given the opportunity to become more engaged in their jobs. It may also be a matter of timing. Sometimes changes take time for people to accept. You may need to continue to give employees the opportunity to become engaged and to accept the fact that things really have changed to enable them to become engaged.

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Part V Creating an Engaged Workplace

Part V–Creating an Engaged Workplace

24 To Engage or Not to Engage Activity Description


Purpose To help participants understand in what situations they should introduce the concept of employee engagement and when they should not

Description A number of questions are presented that should be answered before deciding to introduce the concept of employee engagement in an organization.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by advising participants that to introduce the concept of employee engagement in an organization or not is an important question—one that deserves serious consideration.

•

Explain to participants that: — To begin such an endeavor requires a great deal of effort and support by a number of people in an organization. — To expect to be successful in such an initiative requires hard work and commitment. — It may also require a certain amount of financial commitment in the process. — All of these things are valuable resources to an organization with so many different initiatives constantly competing for its collective attention. — Before you suggest or ask your organization to consider an initiative such as employee engagement, you need to consider a number of different factors.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 24.1 to participants and discuss the 12 engagement questions, as listed below: 1.

Is the management of the organization supportive of such concepts?

2.

How will employees react to such a concept based on past experiences?

3.

What is the likelihood that the organization’s performance can be improved by introducing employee engagement? (continued) 105


Presentation (concluded) 4.

Is the organization structured in such a way that would make employee engagement more likely to be successful or less likely to be successful?

5.

Are employees ready and able to accept the added responsibilities that could accompany employee engagement?

6.

How will employees be recognized and rewarded for becoming more engaged in their jobs?

7.

Is the organization prepared for the successes that employee engagement might bring?

8.

What if there is a sudden increase in business as a result in employees becoming more engaged?

9.

How will managers and supervisors feel about employees becoming more engaged in their jobs?

10.

How will communications need to change as a result of employees becoming more engaged?

11.

What expectations will introducing the concept of employee engagement create in the future?

12.

What training and development might employees need if they become more engaged in their jobs?

Debrief The important point to emphasize is that these questions be asked and considered before an employee engagement initiative is embarked upon in an organization. You don’t necessarily have to be able to answer all of these questions at once, but the organization does need to be able to at least address each of these issues in some manner. Not addressing these and other important issues will make an employee engagement initiative less likely to succeed.

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Handout 24.1 The 12 Employee Engagement Questions That Should be Asked 1. Is the management of the organization supportive of such concepts? 2. How will employees react to such a concept based on past experiences? 3. What is the likelihood that the organization’s performance can be improved by introducing employee engagement? 4. Is the organization structured in such a way that would make employee engagement more likely to be successful or less likely to be successful? 5. Are employees ready and able to accept the added responsibilities that could accompany employee engagement? 6. How will employees be recognized and rewarded for becoming more engaged in their jobs? 7. Is the organization prepared for the successes that employee engagement might bring? 8. What if there is a sudden increase in business as a result of employees becoming more engaged? 9. How will managers and supervisors feel about employees becoming more engaged in their jobs? 10. How will communications need to change as a result of employees becoming more engaged? 11. What expectations will introducing the concept of employee engagement create in the future? 12. What training and development might employees need if they become more engaged in their jobs?



25 Engagement Happens Activity Description


Purpose To illustrate that employee engagement is probably already happening in many areas of participants’ organizations

Description This brief activity asks participants to identify where employee engagement may already exist in their organization.


Presentation Distribute copies of Handout 25.1 to participants, asking them to identify where employee engagement might already exist in their organization.

Debrief This activity highlights that much of employee engagement is a natural function of the workplace. It is not unusual for employees to want to get engaged in their work and try to help their employers in any way they can without formal or even informal employee engagement initiatives being introduced. When efforts are made to increase this type of work behavior by introducing employee engagement programs, employees are likely to accept such a natural concept.

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Handout 25.1 Where Is Employee Engagement Already Happening? Ready or not, employees often get engaged in their jobs. Engagement often just happens on its own. It is possible, even probable, that your employees are already highly engaged in their jobs. What are some examples or instances in your organization when employee engagement has already happened? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


26 Engagement and the Egg Activity Description


Purpose To explore the question of where employee engagement should begin in an organization

Description The question of at what level in the organization employee engagement should start or be initiated is presented and discussed.


Presentation Distribute copies of Handout 26.1 and lead a discussion with participants about the question presented in the handout.

Debrief Encourage participants to discuss the question presented in Handout 26.1 by asking the group if employee engagement can be a “grass roots” initiative—something that could begin with employees rather than initiated by management. Or on the other hand, ask participants if employee engagement is something that must be initiated by management in order to get started.

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Handout 26.1 Engagement and the Egg

Like the old chicken and egg argument concerning which came first, employee engagement and management support may present a similar paradox. The question is can you get employees interested in becoming more engaged in their jobs without management’s support? Or can you have management’s support for engagement without employees’ interest in becoming engaged?



27 Engaging Up and Down the Organization Activity Description


Purpose To emphasize the need for the top management of an organization to be involved in employee engagement

Description Suggestions are presented to keep top managers involved and supportive of employee engagement initiatives in the organization.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining that it is critically important to have the support and involvement of the top management of an organization in employee engagement initiatives or programs.

•

Explain to participants that: — Without this level of support, employee engagement will be far less likely or able to be successful. — The more actively you can get this level of management involved, the more they will truly understand the benefits and potential competitive advantage of employee engagement. — There may be no greater way to get the top leadership involved and committed to the concepts of employee engagement than to find opportunities to engage them in some aspect of these programs. — Identifying these opportunities not only can have a significant impact on involved executives but can also set the tone for the rest of the organization concerning employee engagement. — The question is how do you get top management directly involved in employee engagement in your organization?

•

Distribute copies of Handout 27.1 to participants. Explain that the handout suggests 10 ways in which you can get the leadership of your organization more involved in employee engagement.

•

Review and discuss each of these 10 suggestions with participants.

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Debrief Ask participants what other ways they might suggest to keep top management involved in employee engagement in their organization?

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Handout 27.1 10 Ways to Keep Top Management Involved in Employee Engagement 1. Have top managers involved in the planning and directing of employee engagement initiatives by serving as chairpersons of these programs or serving on steering committees directing these initiatives. 2. Ask top managers for their input and suggestions about how these programs could be more successful. 3. Ask top managers for ideas and suggestions for projects to support employee engagement. 4. Ask top management to support training and awareness programs that are essential for employee engagement. 5. Report progress and successes of employee engagement programs to top management on a regular basis. Include these reports in monthly or quarterly reports sent to top management. 6. Publicize top management’s interaction and involvement in employee engagement programs. 7. Ask top management to present formal recognition awards to employees for significant accomplishments achieved as a result of engagement activities. 8. Invite top managers to attend meetings or other events related to employee engagement activities to gain a better understanding of what’s involved in the process and the commitment level of employees. 9. Look for projects that top management could personally be more involved in either in a leadership capacity or even as a contributing member of a project team. 10. Identify savings or cost reductions that can be attributed to employee engagement and ensure that top management is aware of this financial impact of these initiatives.



28 In Search of Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To help participants identify where employee engagement might already exist in the organization and who is supporting these behaviors

Description Participants are asked to search for managers and supervisors who may already be engaging their employees and to identify how they are creating and supporting these behaviors.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by suggesting that it is likely, if not probable, that there already exist many examples of employee engagement in the participants’ organization.

•

Explain to participants that: — You may not call it employee engagement, but these examples may fit the definition of employee engagement perfectly. — Employee engagement is not something completely new or different. — Examples and variations of employee engagement exist in just about any work situation. — There will always be those exemplary employees who work toward the ultimate goals and objectives of the organization. It is also likely that there exist those managers and supervisors in just about any organization who seem to naturally create an engaged workplace regardless of the situation or circumstances.

•

Ask participants to mentally search for engagement in their organization and find examples of employees working every day as if they were engaged employees. In fact they are engaged employees even if they are not referred to as such.

•

Ask participants what is supporting or contributing to these employees’ commitment. Is there a particular supervisor or manager who may be creating and supporting these engaged behaviors?

•

Distribute copies of Handout 28.1 to participants and ask them to answer the questions in the handout.

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Debrief Encourage participants to discuss how these managers and supervisors created such an engaged work environment without the support of anyone else to create this type of culture. Ask if it is possible to create a truly engaged workplace with the organization or management driving this concept. What would be the potential advantages and disadvantages of such an approach to the concept of employee engagement?

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Handout 28.1 In Search of Employee Engagement Begin searching for examples of employee engagement that already exist in your organization. What is supporting this type of behavior and commitment by employees? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Are there certain managers or supervisors who may be supporting this engagement more than others, and if so, who are they? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ (continued) Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.

Handout 28.1: In Search of Employee Engagement (concluded) What do these managers or supervisors do differently to encourage or support this kind of engaged behavior? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ What can other managers and supervisors learn from them to similarly engage their employees? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________



29 Lasting Engagements Activity Description


Purpose To identify what factors could enable employee engagement to be long lasting in an organization

Description Participants are asked to identify what could support employee engagement for the long term in their organization. Suggestions are presented to help this occur.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by stating that it is always hoped that every engagement will be a lasting one. But the reality is that engagements don’t always last as long as expected or anticipated.

•

Explain to participants that there may be many different reasons why this occurs: — Perhaps one of the parties involved had different expectations or desires about the engagement. — Maybe there was not clear communications about the intentions of the parties involved. — Or there may have been false impressions on the part of one or all involved about the engagement. — The causes of these disappointments may vary and be different in each situation. — There may have been no malice or intention to deceive, but rather just misunderstanding about what each party was getting into concerning the engagement.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 29.1 to participants for them to complete.

Debrief Review the lists of supporting factors that participants came up with in Handout 29.1. If not already suggested, offer the following possible ways to ensure the longevity of employee engagement: supportive (continued)

125


Debrief (concluded) leadership, effective communications, clear expectations, rewards in alignment with goals; teamwork; customer focus, commitment to quality; corporate governance; employee recognition, collaboration; confidence in people; appreciation; perceived fairness; ethical management; concern for the future; opportunities; career growth, mentoring; empathy and coaching—just to name a few.

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Handout 29.1 How Can Employee Engagement Be Long Lasting? List below as many supporting factors as you can identify that would help employee engagement be a long-lasting engagement in your organization: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


30 Emotional Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To introduce the concept of emotional engagement

Description A model is presented that illustrates the influence that emotional engagement has on engaged employees’ performance


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining to participants that: — Employee engagement is really more emotion than anything else. — Employees often already have the skills, knowledge, experience, and ability to perform their jobs in an engaged manner. — The difference between just meeting the basic requirements and performing at a high level of excellence is often a matter of the emotional engagement that an employee has concerning his or her job.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 30.1 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout for display. Explain that emotional engagement may be viewed as illustrated in the model: — Look first at the vertical axis in the graph. You will see factors that typically make up a job such as reports, organizational structure, access to information, communications tools, procedural updates, job-related information, instruction, tools/resources, training, and on-the-job training. Explain that these factors include the basic resources needed to perform a job. If one or more of these types of factors are not present, job performance may ultimately suffer. — Next look at the horizontal axis in this model. Here you see what are called the emotional engagement factors. These are the types of things that motivate employees. These might include such things as feedback, guidance, support, coaching, development, personal attention, information sharing, trust, confidence, and faith. Similarly, if these factors are not present, job performance will also suffer. — The combination of these job and emotional engagement factors ultimately drive job performance, as can be seen in this model. 129


Debrief Make sure that participants understand the relationship between the basic job factors as displayed on the vertical axis and the emotional engagement factors as seen on the horizontal axis. If either of these types of factors is lacking, then performance may suffer. Both are important to job performance. Encourage a discussion among participants concerning the relative importance of each of these categories of job performance influencers. Ask participants which they believe is most important. Be prepared to hear responses supportive of either of these types of job performance factors. There may not be a right or wrong answer to this question, but rather that both factors must be present for job performance to reach desired expectations.

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Handout 30.1 Emotional Engagement



31 Past Engagements Activity Description


Purpose To illustrate that the concepts of employee engagement may have been used in special circumstances and projects by participants in the activity in the past

Description Participants are asked to remember past experiences when the concepts and principles of employee engagement were used at work.


Presentation •

Suggest to participants that they have probably introduced the concepts of engagement to their employees many times in the past.

•

Explain to participants that: — You may not have called it employee engagement, but you never-the-less still used many if not most of the same concepts. — The biggest difference may have been expectations. — You may have only expected the benefits or results of the engagement type initiative to last for a short time. — There may have been a particular project or change that was being made that you wanted to get employees more committed to or involved in at the time. — You probably were very pleased with the final result and the positive response you received by all who were encouraged to be involved. — And then you probably went back to the usual way that things were done around your organization. — You may have forgotten the concepts and philosophy that produced such positive results on that particular project.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 31.1 to participants for them to complete.

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Debrief The final question of this activity should be to participants: Why didn’t you continue to use these concepts of employee engagement (even if you didn’t call it that) after you achieved such positive results on the project or task? It is likely that participants will say that these concepts weren’t continued because there wasn’t a formal process in place to perpetuate using employee engagement principles and that the immediate objective or goal was accomplished. Discuss how these concepts can become part of the way that the participants’ organization operates on a regular basis, not just for special projects.

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Handout 31.1 Past Engagements Think about a project, event, circumstance, initiative, etc., that may have occurred in your organization where you actually used or employed the concepts of employee engagement. What were some of these circumstances? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ What concepts of employee engagement did you use? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ (continued) Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.

Handout 31.1: Past Engagements (concluded) What were the outcomes of these past examples of employee engagement? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________



32 Engagement Gifts Activity Description


Purpose To highlight the many positives that can be realized as a result of introducing employee engagement in an organization

Description The potential positive results of employee engagement are compared to receiving engagement gifts.

Resources Handout 32. 1

Presentation •

Introduce the activity by making the comparison of receiving gifts to the potential positive benefits to an organization that can be realized from introducing the concept of employee engagement.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 32.1 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display. The handout lists some of the “engagement gifts” that could be realized as a result of engaging employees more in their jobs.

•

Discuss each of these gifts and its benefits to the organization.

Debrief Ask participants what other engagement gifts they can think of that might result from employee engagement.

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Handout 32.1 Engagement Gift List • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Increased productivity Problem solving Better quality Less turnover Lower costs Operating efficiency Customer satisfaction Lower material costs Higher yields Repeat business Positive work climate Happier employees Greater return on investment

• Increased profits • Market share gains • Less defects • Competitive edge • Goals obtainment • Operational excellence • Improved communications • Others: _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________


Part VI Employee Engagement Communications

Part VI–Employee Engagement Communications

33 Picturing Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To help participants envision what an engaged workplace would be like

Description Participants are asked to think about what their workplace might be like if employee engagement was successfully implemented.

Resources NA

Presentation •

Begin the activity by asking participants to envision what employee engagement would look like in their organization: — Think about how you would expect everyone to perform their jobs in your engaged organization. — How would you expect them to act differently? — Think about how you would communicate with one another in such a workplace. — What accountability would employees have concerning their jobs? — How would people be recognized or rewarded in such a working environment? — How differently do you think the entire organization would operate under these circumstances from how it does now? — What impact could this type of operating philosophy have on the bottom line?

Debrief Ask participants to describe this mental image they have of their organization with employees on all levels more engaged in their jobs and the organization. Help participants be specific in their descriptions about these expected changes by asking questions about their expectations. For example, ask participants exactly (continued)

143


Debrief (concluded) what kinds of changes they might expect of employees concerning how they perform their jobs. If participants use general descriptions such as “I would like to see employees perform their jobs better,” ask for specifics concerning what “better” would mean. Does this mean that employees ensure that their work is done correctly and on time without being told to do this by their supervisor? Or does it mean that they should be more responsive to customers’ needs without being instructed to do so or be courteous when dealing with customer problems?

144


34 Name that Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To explore the possibility of an alternative name or title for the concept of employee engagement

Description Participants are asked to suggest alternative names for employee engagement.

Resources Flip chart or white board to write on

Presentation •

Introduce the activity by explaining that the name or term employee engagement can signify any number of concepts or philosophies under which an organization may operate.

•

Explain to participants that: — It often describes the relationship that management of an organization has with its employees. — It might be a conscious effort on the part of an organization to change or improve these working relationships. — However, employee engagement might be named many other things. — In the past, similar concepts may have been called empowerment, participative management, involvement management, quality circles, or self-directed work teams. — These concepts may have had different focuses, but the objective was probably very similar in the end—to get employees more involved in decision making and problem solving as part of their jobs. — Even though what something is called may be less important than what it represents, what name or label you attach to something is important. — People do respond to names and labels of these types of concepts often based on their perceptions of these terms. — Finding a name for something about to be introduced into an organization that will help it become more positively accepted is an important activity. (continued)

145



Suggest to participants that as they think about introducing the concepts of employee engagement into their organization to consider carefully what name they are going to attach to this initiative: — They may decide that the name employee engagement is reflective of their objectives and decide to refer to this concept in this way, and this is fine. — However, they may alternatively decide that some other descriptive term might be more representative of what their objectives might be in this process.

•

Suggest that they think about what name this initiative should be given in their organization. This will be their last opportunity to name the initiative. Once a name has been attached to such an initiative, it is very difficult to change afterward.

•

Suggest that they could ask for suggestions from employees concerning what they would like this initiative to be called. They could even have a contest to get everyone involved in this decision, which would be consistent with the philosophies they are about to introduce.

•

As an activity, brainstorm a list of possible suggestions for naming this initiative in the participants’ organization.

•

Ask the group to think of as many suggestions as they can and write down these ideas on a flip chart or white board.

•

Then begin a voting process to narrow the list down. You could assign a certain number of votes per person each round of voting, eliminating those ideas with the least number of votes.

•

Repeat the process until you have one name that has received the most votes.

Debrief If the group has decided on a name, ask them who else in their organization should be given the opportunity to be involved in adopting this name for the initiative. Once decided, ask how the name could be best introduced and publicized throughout their organization.

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35 Organizing for Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To create a visual model of how an engaged organization might look from an organizational structure viewpoint

Description This activity presents a comparison between the way a conventional organization’s structure might look and the way the structure of an organization that has engaged its employees might look.


Presentation •

Introduce the activity by asking participants how they think an engagement organization might look compared to an organizational structure viewpoint.

•

Explain that the real question is should such an engaged organization be structured differently?

•

Next, distribute copies of Handout 35.1 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display.

•

Explain that a typical organization has different levels or structures that represent the various functions of the organization. Typically these would consist of upper management, middle management, supervision, and employees or workers. Each of these levels in the organization generally have distinct roles and responsibilities. In the most traditional sense, one might expect that decision making follows this organizational structure, with most major decisions being made by upper management and fewer major decisions being made by each level down the organizational structure. This is what might be most likely to exist in an organization such as the one depicted in Handout 35.1.

•

Now distribute Handout 35.2.

•

Point out that there is less distinction and separation between these levels of the organization. In fact, there is overlap indicating greater communications and interaction between these levels. This type of an organizational structure would be much more conducive and supportive of employee engagement. (continued)

147



Ask participants to think about how much better things such as communications, involvement in decision making, problem solving, appreciation of each other, recognition, interaction, etc., would be in such an organizational structure.

•

Encourage a discussion about what other things would or could exist in such an organizational structure and what other advantages might exist in this type of organizational structure.

Debrief Discuss how an organizational structure such as the one depicted in Handout 35.2 might be achieved or at least contemplated in the participants’ organization. Explore whether such a structure is feasible or not.

148

Handout 35.1 Conventional Organizational Structure


Handout 35.2 Engaged Organizational Structure



36 Engaging Knowledge Experts Activity Description


Purpose To emphasize the point that all the knowledge in an organization is not at the top depending on the subject

Description Models are introduced describing where knowledge about a particular problem in an organization might be found.

Resources Handouts 36.1, 36.2, and 36.3

Presentation •

Begin the activity by asking the question where’s the knowledge in your organization?

•

Distribute copies of Handout 36.1 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display. Review this knowledge scale and emphasize that it would be different for every problem or issue that an organization might face.

•

Explain that organizations are learning that who has the knowledge concerning a problem is really a matter of engagement. The more engaged employees are in their jobs, the more their job expertise and knowledge is used. This is good for both the organization and employees. The organization has the benefit of having the most knowledgeable people working on solving problems, and employees feel a greater sense of accomplishment. When you combine recognition and rewards for employees for the job knowledge and problem-solving abilities, you begin to have an engaged workforce.

•

Explain that the question is who is in the best position to be most knowledgeable about a particular problem and its potential solutions?

•

Distribute copies of Handout 36.2 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display. Discuss this traditional model with participants.

•

Emphasize that traditional models have lead organizations to think that all the “brains are at the top” and that problems regardless of their nature or origin are best solved by those who get paid to do the “thinking” in these top jobs. (continued)

153



Next distribute copies of Handout 36.3 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display. In this engaged employee model, depending on the problem, often there is an inverse relationship between knowledge and position in an organization. It is in these situations where the benefits of employee engagement have the greatest potential to have a positive impact on the organization.

Debrief Discuss what potentially happens in an organization where the engaged employee model is not used. In these situations, often impractical or even wrong solutions might be applied because the most knowledgeable employees are not engaged in the process. Discuss how this model may be applied in the participants’ organization.

154

Handout 36.1 The Knowledge Scale


Handout 36.2 Traditional Knowledge Model


Handout 36.3 Engaged Employee Knowledge Model



37 Transitioning to Engagement Activity Description


Purpose A transitional model is presented showing how managers manage employees in different organizational cultures

Description A simple engagement Transitional Management Model is presented.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining that there often needs to be a transition that takes place to move from a more traditional management culture in an organization to an engaged management culture.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 37.1 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout for display.

•

Review the transition that is shown in the model with participants and discuss how this model could be used in an organization in which the concepts and principles of employee engagement are being introduced.

Debrief Emphasize that this simple transition model is based on a much more complex organization change process that would need to be implemented concurrently. In order to be able to make this transition, everyone in the organization must be able and ready to make this change. This might include training and development in both technical and nontechnical areas. Everyone including managers and employees must be emotionally ready for the transition from a traditional management culture to an engaged culture.

161

Handout 37.1 Transitional Management Model



38 Pressures to Succeed Activity Description


Purpose To emphasize that putting pressure on employees to perform better may be productive only to a certain point

Description A performance model is presented, showing the relationship between pressure and job performance.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by discussing how much pressure there is on employees at all levels of an organization to be successful.

•

Explain to participants that: — These pressures can come from anywhere inside the organization, including the boss or the board of directors, or outside the organization, including customers, suppliers, or regulatory agencies. — Often these pressures can seem overwhelming. — These pressures often have a way of moving down through the organization. Pressure is put on someone higher up in the organization who in turn places pressure on his or her direct reports, and so on down the line. — By the end, everyone in the organization is feeling this pressure in some way.

•


•

Explain to participants that: — The model on this handout shows what can actually occur when people are pressured on the job. — Putting pressure on someone might increase his or her performance, but there are limits to the effectiveness of this approach. — Pressure ultimately may actually decrease performance, particularly when exerted over a period of time.

165


Debrief Ask participants how they personally react to being pressured to do their jobs. Does it help them perform at a better level or does it, as the model indicates, actually negatively influence their performance? Discuss alternatives to placing pressure on employees to perform their jobs and reach organizational goals. What would be a better approach than pushing or pressuring employees? It may be looking at better systems to address problems, getting employees involved in problem prevention or correction earlier in the process, additional resources where justified, etc.

166

Handout 38.1 Job Pressure and Performance Model

As illustrated in this model, the greater the pressure, the greater the performance—at least at first. However, pressure only enhances performance up to a certain point. Pressure eventually actually decreases performance levels in the long run. People simply can’t live under constant pressure without it eventually having a detrimental effect on them. As this model shows, increasing the pressures to succeed in an organization is not a good long-term productivity strategy.



39 Engagement Measures Activity Description


Purpose To show the progression from a traditional to an engaged work culture according to a number of measures and the differences between these two cultures

Description A matrix is presented showing a Continuum from Traditional to Engaged Organizational Measures.


Presentation • Distribute copies of Handout 39.1 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display. • Explain to participants that the handout presents a matrix showing a continuum from a traditional to an engaged organization for a number of different measures including organizational structure, operating methods, workforce competencies, productivity, compensation, performance measurement, policies, management philosophy, business strategy, and external forces. • Review each of the progressions from traditional to engaged for each of these measures. • Note that there is progressively more employee involvement, input, and interaction as this matrix progresses from traditional to engaged. • Discuss what difference each of these gradients might make in the way that an organization is managed and its influence on the culture of an organization. • Ask participants what particular measures they think should be reviewed in their organization. • Specific to these measures, ask participants how they think moving toward the engaged side of this matrix would change the culture of their organization and why. • Ask how these measures could change in the future and what it might take to achieve these changes.

169


Debrief Ask participants to evaluate where on this matrix they see their organization for each of these measures. Have participants circle the block that they think best describes their organization’s current approach to each of these measures. Are these current measures consistent with where the organization would like to be with regards to its creating an engaged workplace?

170

Handout 39.1 Continuum from Traditional to Engaged Organizational Measures Measure

Traditional----------------------------------------------------Engaged

1. Organizational Structure

Many layers; decisions made from the top down

Input by employees after decision is made

Employees involved in certain decisions

Employees provide input into decisions

Engaged employees make own job-related decisions

2. Operating Methods

Determined by management

Limited input by employees

Certain ideas of employees accepted

Employees allowed to make certain process decisions

Engaged employees encouraged to make key operational decisions

3. Workforce Competencies

Management makes training decisions

Employees provide limited input into training needs

Employees involved in deciding what job training is needed

Employees develop training criteria

Engaged employees determine own training needs and implement

4. Productivity

Management sets expectations and goals

Employees give input concerning goals

Employees involved in setting goals

Employees work together to reach goals

Engaged employees set own goals and are committed to reach them (continued)


Handout 39.1: Continuum from Traditional to Engaged Organizational Measures (concluded) Measure

Traditional----------------------------------------------------Engaged

5. Compensation

Compensation solely management issue and seldom discussed

Organizational performance is the sole influencer of compensation

Compensation affected by performance to some degree

Employees’ goals obtainment partially affects compensation

Engaged employees’ compensation is directly tied to performance

6. Performance Measurement

Management establishes all measures

Management communicates all performance measurements

Employees receive information about performance measurements

Employees involved in developing performance measures

Engaged employees develop own performance measurements

7. Policies

Management enforces policies

Management communicates policies

Employees are allowed to provide input into policies

Employees involved in policy development

Engaged employees provide input and ensure compliance

8. Management Philosophy

Established by top management

Management philosophy communicated to employees

Employees’ opinions concerning philosophy listened to

Employees’ input considered in developing philosophy

Engaged employees help develop and are committed to philosophy

9. Business Strategy

Strategy established by top management

Business strategy communicated to employees

Employees provide some input into strategy

Employees given opportunities to impact strategy

Engaged employees involved in establishing and supporting business strategy

10. External Forces

Sole concern of top management

Employees receive limited information about external forces

Employees provide input concerning external forces

Employees given opportunity to impact certain external forces

Engaged employees directly involved in dealing with external forces



40 Managing the Change to Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To provide a measurement tool for participants to evaluate how well they will manage the change to engagement in their organization

Description A survey is provided that asks participants to rate themselves on how well they have managed change in the past. A self-scoring key is provided as well.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by emphasizing how important managing change is to the success of the introduction of any new management concept or philosophy including employee engagement.

•

Explain that how a leader manages change can have a tremendous impact on how positively it is accepted by employees.

•

Explain that in this activity, participants are going to be asked to evaluate their change leadership skills.

•

Distribute copies of Handout 40.1 to participants and ask them to spend a few moments completing the survey.

•

Ask participants to add their score for each of the 10 statements when they have completed the survey.

•

After everyone has completed the survey and totaled their scores, either distribute copies of Handout 40.2 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display.

•

Have participants identify where their score falls on the scoring key on Handout 40.2.

Debrief Ask participants how they feel about their managing change scores. Ask participants to look at the statements that they scored the lowest. Discuss how they can improve their performance in these areas as well as in other areas in which they scored low.

173

Handout 40.1 How Well Do You Manage Change? Using the 5-point scale below, rate each of the following statements according to how well you managed organizational change in this area in the past. 5 = Excellent

4 = Good

3 = Fair

2 = Poor

1 = Didn’t Do

1. I tried to let people know as far in advance as possible about the changes that were about to take place. 5

4

3

2

1

2. I described the changes as completely and descriptively as possible. 5

4

3

2

1

3. I demonstrated a positive attitude about the change and accepted the change myself. 5

4

3

2

1

4. I provided employees the appropriate training in new skills and concepts related to the change being introduced. 5

4

3

2

1

5. I involved others in the changes by making everyone accountable in some aspect of the introduction of the change. 5

4

3

2

1

6. I provided special attention to those who were finding it most difficult to accept the change. 5

4

3

2

1

7. I highlighted the positive opportunities created by the change and how individuals could benefit. 5

4

3

2

1 (continued)


Handout 40.1: How Well Do You Manage Change? (concluded) 8. I encouraged employees to accept—not resist—the change to help the transition go better for them. 5

4

3

2

1

9. I explained the reasons and goals expected to be achieved by the change so that everyone understood why these changes were being made. 5

4

3

2

1

10. I recognized and communicated the successes that were results of the change as they occurred. 5

4

3

2

1


Handout 40.2 How Well Do You Manage Change? Scoring 41–50 points

You manage change very well and help others learn to adapt to change.

31–40 points

You manage and accept most changes, but still may at times be reluctant to fully embrace these changes.

21–30 points

You are experiencing problems dealing with change and as a result are making these transitions more difficult for those you lead.

11–20 points

You are resisting change or creating a negative work climate concerning these changes for others.

0–10 points

You really don’t like or support change. Continuing with this attitude toward change can be limiting to your professional growth and future. You can’t fight change—it is more powerful than you or anyone!



41 Engaging Principles and Behaviors Activity Description


Purpose To explore the kinds of principles and behaviors that both management and employees may have concerning the principles and concepts of employee engagement

Description Examples of management principles and behaviors as well as employee principles and behaviors concerning employee engagement are presented.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining to participants that: — Employee engagement requires certain management beliefs or principles to be accepted and ultimately certain behaviors to be demonstrated in order for it to be successfully introduced into an organization. — If these principles and actions are not applied and implemented, the philosophy of employee engagement will never be truly adapted or accepted. — It is helpful to gain an understanding of some of the principles and behaviors that are necessary for employee engagement to flourish in an organization.

•


•

Review with participants the Management Engagement Principles and Behaviors list.

•

Next distribute copies of Handout 41.2 to participants or make an overhead transparency of the handout to display.

•

Review with participants the Employee Engagement Principles and Behaviors list.

•

Ask participants what similarities and differences they see in these two lists. Are they really that different?

179


Debrief Ask participants how they feel if only one of these lists were to be applied and implemented in an organization. Could employee engagement exist if only either managers or employees adapted these principles and behaviors? Why or why not?

180

Handout 41.1 Management Engagement Principles and Behaviors • Believing that each individual can make a difference • Being willing to listen to suggestions, problems, and feelings • Keeping promises and commitments • Leading by example • Being willing to give the extra effort to be successful in anything you do • Demonstrating a willingness to trust others to do the job correctly • Providing the resources necessary to do the job correctly • Recognizing good performance—saying thanks • Following through on projects that get started • Providing training and time to implement projects • Treating people with dignity, trust, and respect • Facilitating employee participation, starting teams, encouraging people to get involved • Being innovative and creative by providing ideas and suggestions on how things can be done better • Not trying to do everything yourself—helping others achieve goals and celebrating in their accomplishments • Not complaining and blaming others for problems in the workplace Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.

Handout 41.2 Employee Engagement Principles and Behaviors • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Believing that each individual can make a difference Being willing to give the extra effort Showing a personal interest in correcting problems Recognizing that poor work performance hurts everybody Recognizing that it is each individual’s responsibility to take the initiative to learn the requirements of his/her job Showing personal commitment to meeting job requirements 100 percent of the time Working to help solve problems instead of complaining or blaming someone for them Tolerating differences of opinion Accepting change that is good for the organization, even though it may require different work procedures or changes in responsibility or other changes for employees Taking the initiative to perform a necessary task without being told Communicating problem areas to your supervisor or other appropriate persons Helping others learn to perform their jobs better Passing on relevant information about the process to other employees or supervisors Focusing on those factors that will help improve safety, quality, and productivity and paying less attention to things that do not Treating fellow employees with dignity and respect Focusing on what will help make the organization more competitive in the long term vs. what is easiest or most comfortable in the short term Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


42 Engagement Formula Activity Description


Purpose To provide a simple formula for engaging employees

Description A formula for engaging employees is presented along with an explanation concerning what factors need to be present to make this formula work effectively.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by asking participants if they would like to have a formula that would tell them exactly what they needed to do in order to create a workplace based on employee engagement.

•

Explain that there may not be an absolutely precise or foolproof formula that exists that would answer all the mysteries of how to implement employee engagement in their organization, but there may be a formula that will help them achieve this objective.

•


•

Spend a few minutes reviewing this simple but also complicated formula with participants: — This formula states that it is an employee’s ability multiplied by his or her motivation that ultimately determines performance. — As the formula presents, there are two factors that influence performance. First is an employee’s ability to perform the job. If an employee doesn’t have the ability to perform a job, then all the motivation in the world won’t result in acceptable performance.

•

Discuss with participants what organizational factors influence an employee’s ability to perform a job. This discussion could include such things as training, resources, experience, or even hiring and selection issues.

•

Next ask participants to focus on the motivation part of the formula. (continued) 185



Ask participants how much an employee’s motivation influences his or her job performance. It is likely that participants will respond that this factor in the formula is extremely important.

•

Ask participants what organizational factors influence an employee’s motivation to perform his or her job. Likely there will be many different opinions concerning these influencers.

•

Ask how the concept of employee engagement can influence an employee’s motivation. What factors would likely motivate an employee to perform his or her job better? What factors might likely demotivate an employee?

•

Conclude the discussion by asking which of these two factors—ability or motivation—has the greatest impact on performance.

Debrief Explain that there may not be any right or wrong answer to the question which is more important—ability or motivation? relating to performance. This is actually a very complex question that is influenced by virtually all the different variables and factors that influence employee engagement. The answer is that you need to have both ability and motivation for high performance to exist.

186

Handout 42.1 The Engagement Formula Ability x Motivation = Performance



43 The Engagement Game Activity Description


Purpose To create a game in which participants must work together to find the answer to the game

Description The Engagement Game consists of 20 cards that are distributed to participants. Participants must then share the content of the cards with one another to find the answer to the game.

Resources •

The 20 Engagement Game cards found in Handout 43.1

•

Flip charts or a writing surface for each team

Presentation •

Before beginning this activity, cut out the 20 Engagement Game cards for distribution to participants. Read the cards to be familiar with the problem that participants will be trying to solve.

•

Ideally teams consisting of four participants with each receiving five cards would work best. However, if this combination does not work, distribute the 20 cards as evenly as possible to the groups of participants. This may mean that some players have more cards than others. This will not particularly matter. For larger groups, make additional sets of cards.

•

Begin the activity by explaining that participants are going to play a game involving cards. — Each participant will be a member of a team trying to find the answer to this game. — Each participant will receive a certain number of cards. — Each card contains information that is necessary for the team to answer the question. — The question is contained in the cards. — Each team is to find the answer to the question. — The information on the cards can only be communicated to the other members of your team by reading them. No other participant should see other members’ cards. — The team can record the information on a piece of paper or on a flip chart if they wish, but each team member must read his or her own card in the process.

189


Debrief The cards contain information relating to a quality problem that a customer is experiencing. The answer to the question how can this problem be solved? is to not penalize customer service representatives for reporting customers’ complaints about the service levels as they exist in the current service level agreement with the company. The problem is that if the customer service representatives report the complaints, they are penalized for having customer complaints. If they don’t, then the customers will continue to be unhappy and may take their business elsewhere. Give each team enough time to communicate all the information on their cards and to come up with the solution on their own. Monitor each team’s activity and provide help or guidance for them to come up with a correct answer if time is running out and you see certain groups struggling. You will want each team to feel as though they were successful in finding the answer to the game’s question. After each group has completed the game, reconvene the entire group and discuss their experiences playing this game. Encourage discussion about how the concepts of employee engagement would be helpful in this type of real-life situation in which these CSRs felt as if they were in a Catch-22 situation—if they tried to correct the problem, the system would punish them, and if they didn’t try, there would be other negative consequences such as the loss of the customer’s business.

190

Handout 43.1 Engagement Game Cards

Card 1

Card 2

Engaged employees will keep trying to solve the problem.

Disengaged employees will do exactly as instructed.

Card 3 Management is not always aware of the problem.

Card 5 Communications is the key to solving the problem.

Card 4 Engaged employees are in a better position to solve the problem.

Card 6 The problem can’t be solved by management alone.

(continued) Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.

Handout 43.1: Engagement Game Cards (continued)

Card 7

Card 8

The customer is unhappy and is threatening to take their business elsewhere.

Management is concerned about losing the customer’s business.

Card 9

Card 10

There is a problem with the service the customer is receiving.

Customer service reps are expected to follow strict service level procedures.

Card 11 The problem that the customer is experiencing is not covered by the service agreement.

Card 12 The customer service reps have the ability to solve the problem if they report it to their supervisor.

(continued)


Handout 43.1: Engagement Game Cards (continued)

Card 13 The service level agreement does not solve the customer’s problem.

Card 15 A loss of the customer’s business will cause the business to become unprofitable.

Card 17 Telling the supervisor about this service problem is recorded as a customer complaint.

Card 14 A change in the service level will solve the customer’s problem and still allow the company to reach their profit goals.

Card 16 A customer service rep’s performance is measured by the number of customer complaints received about him/her.

Card 18 If a customer service rep receives five customer complaints in a month, he/she is disciplined.

(continued)


Handout 43.1: Engagement Game Cards (concluded)

Card 19 Management would like to have the customer increase their business with the company.

Card 20 The question is: “What can the CSRs do to solve this problem, but not get in trouble under the existing rules?”



44 Engagement Ambassadors Activity Description


Purpose To introduce the concept of engagement ambassadors in an organization

Description A description of engagement ambassadors is provided and participants are asked a number of questions concerning how this concept could be used in their organization.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining to participants that: — Engagement ambassadors are those people in your organization who are living examples to everyone of the many benefits of employee engagement. — They serve as living testimonials about what they have gained personally and professionally as a result of employee engagement. — They tell others about their positive experiences and encourage them to get more engaged at work. — People are understandably skeptical about any new concept or philosophy that may be introduced into the workplace. — They may think that this latest thing will just be another passing management fad only to be replaced by the next “greatest” thing to come down the pike. — But as people get more familiar with what employee engagement is really all about, they too will become ambassadors for the concept. — They realize the potential gains and rewards that can be experienced as a result. — Employee engagement is good for everyone. — Employees as a result are less frustrated at work and feel more in control of those factors that allow them to do a good job—something that everyone really wants to do each day they come to work. (continued)

199


Presentation (concluded) — The organization and its customers also gain as a result of this greater employee satisfaction and job performance. — The point that engagement ambassadors emphasize is that work can be more rewarding when everyone understands the benefits of creating an organization supportive of employee engagement. — Employee engagement can become a contagious concept with each person becoming an ambassador and encouraging others to give it a try. •

After reviewing this introduction to the concept of engagement ambassadors, distribute copies of Handout 44.1 to participants and ask them to answer the questions.

Debrief Lead a discussion of the participants’ responses to the engagement ambassador handout. Suggest that participants write down on their handout sheet ideas shared by other participants on how to get engagement ambassadors more visible, vocal, and actively involved in setting an example for others in the organization.

200

Handout 44.1 Engagement Ambassador Challenges Where can you find these engagement ambassadors in your organization? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ How can you get these ambassadors to be more vocal and visible to others? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ (continued)


Handout 44.1: Engagement Ambassador Challenges (concluded) How can you help these engaged employees spread the word to others? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ How can they serve as positive examples to others? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ How can they help and support other employees to become more engaged at work? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________



45 Engagement Milestones Activity Description


Purpose To highlight the importance of recognizing engagement milestones as they occur

Description The concept of engagement milestones is presented. An engagement milestone is a significant event or accomplishment relating to the concept of employee engagement in an organization.


Presentation •

Explain to participants that: — A milestone is a significant event or turning point. — Milestones signify these important and noteworthy events and serve as historical reference points. — We look back at these milestones and gain a better understanding of how important they were in shaping the future. — Engagement milestones exist in an organization as the concept of employee engagement is introduced and implemented. — These milestones may be reached at any time throughout this process. Some milestones are apparent to everyone, and others may not be as well publicized or visible but still significant. Recognizing and even celebrating these milestones is important. — These milestones serve as sort of landmarks or signposts, recording the event. — Looking back on these milestones, you can see when significant events or turning points occurred. — These milestones can help you better understand where you have been and where you are headed in the future. — Recognizing significant milestones helps everyone stay focused on the goals you have set for the organization and to reflect back on the progress made toward reaching these objectives. (continued)

203


Presentation (concluded) — Examples of engagement milestones might be events such as: – Forming an employee engagement steering committee to drive the process in your organization – Offering special training or awareness programs to help everyone better understand what employee engagement is all about – Reaching a certain performance goal as a result of employee engagement – Assigning accountability and responsibility for employee engagement •

Distribute copies of Handout 45.1 to participants and have them complete it.

Debrief Discuss ways that these milestones might be recognized. Suggestions might include things such as shirts/jackets with insignias, lunches, free vending for a day, newsletter articles, visits by top officials, postings, personalized letters home, etc.

204

Handout 45.1 Recognizing Engagement Milestones What are some of the engagement milestones in your organization? Or if you are just introducing employee engagement in your organization, what do you anticipate will be some of your most significant engagement milestones? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


46 The Employee Engagement Map Activity Description


Purpose To create a visual image of what is involved in creating a workplace based on employee engagement

Description An employee engagement map is presented, showing the various directions that can help lead to employee engagement.


Presentation •


•

Explain to participants that: — This employee engagement map shows some of the many directions that must be taken to create an engaged workplace. — The map illustrates that there is no single road or direction to achieve employee engagement, but rather many. — These directions may be different in each organization depending on the existing culture, the nature of the business, the experience of the workers, the business climate, and many other factors.

Debrief Ask participants what they think an employee engagement map might look like for their organization. Based on the input from participants, begin creating this map for their organization.

207

Handout 46.1 Engaged Employee Map



47 The Sounds of Engagement Activity Description


Purpose To highlight the fact that things might sound different in an organization as a result of employee engagement

Description The idea is presented that you may hear different things in your organization as a result of employee engagement. Participants are asked to identify what these sounds might be or sound like.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by asking participants what does employee engagement sound like?

•

Point out to participants that: — You will begin hearing employees talking about becoming more engaged almost immediately after introducing these concepts and principles in your organization. — Employees will discuss the changes that engagement has brought to their jobs and the results that it achieves. — You will begin hearing employees using words such as: responsibility accountability acceptance encouragement solutions creativity feasibility effort simplicity

•

satisfaction assurance guarantees accomplishments sharing communicating consensus efficiencies effectiveness

reliability dependability profitability agreement congruence fairness flexibility facilitation teamwork

Distribute copies of Handout 47.1 to participants and have them complete it.

211


Debrief Discuss what the difference in the way that employees discuss their roles and jobs in the organization really means in terms of how they may be personally feeling about commitment and ultimately their job performance.

212

Handout 47.1 The Sounds of Engagement What are some of the sounds and words associated with employee engagement in your organization that you may be hearing (or expect to hear)? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.


48 The Engagement Chronicles Activity Description


Purpose To highlight the need and benefit of chronicling employee engagement activities

Description The activity reviews the need and purpose for recording and publicizing employee engagement in an organization. Participants are asked to think of ways in which this can be accomplished in their organization.

Resources NA

Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining to participants that: — Chronicling and publicizing employee engagement in your organization is a good way to draw attention to the many positives that these initiatives can bring. — These chronicles also serve as a historical record of what was done and accomplished as a result of employee engagement. — You can accomplish this in many ways; newsletters, bulletin boards, postings, e-mails, blogs, fact sheets, and other communications tools are all excellent ways to publicize the many benefits of employee engagement in your organization. — Think about ways in which you can chronicle your employee engagement initiatives. — What are some ways in which this could be accomplished either through existing communications tools you currently have available or by other methods that could be introduced?

Debrief Ask participants what their experiences have been with publicizing employee work group activities in the past. Ask them what were some of the most effective ways and what were some of the least effective ways. Finally, ask participants if they think that people want their accomplishment publicized or not. It is likely that their response will be a definite “yes,” but the manner in which this is done is ultimately what is most important to people.

215


49 Engagement Road Show Activity Description


Purpose To emphasize the need to take examples of successful employee engagement “on the road”

Description Participants are asked to discuss how the accomplishments of employee engagement might be communicated to others via visits and presentations from those actually involved in the process.

Resources NA

Presentation •

Begin the activity by explaining to participants that: — Taking employee engagement “on the road” is another excellent way to publicize and promote the concepts of engagement in your organization. — An “engagement road show” could include having groups or teams of employees who have participated in initiatives and activities involving employee engagement. Testimonials, examples, demonstrations, interactive sessions, and other ways of communicating what employees have accomplished through greater engagement in their jobs all help others in the organization realize the benefits of getting more engaged at work.

•

Ask participants: — What their engagement road show would feature? — Who should be involved? Where should the road show go? — How would such a road show help encourage other employees to become more engaged?

Debrief Discuss with participants if they are interested in being involved in creating a road show what would be required to make this happen. Who would need to approve such an event and what resources would need to be allocated? Help participants plan how to present such a proposal to the proper decision makers in their organization.

217


50 The Engagement Puzzle Activity Description


Purpose To provide a puzzle based on employee engagement concepts for participants to solve

Description A crossword-type puzzle is presented with clues all based on employee engagement–related questions.


Presentation •

Begin the activity by distributing copies of Handout 50.1 and asking participants to complete the engagement puzzle.

•

Explain that the engagement puzzle is similar to a crossword puzzle that participants might find in the daily newspaper. (The facilitator should be aware in case asked by participants that this puzzle is slightly different than a typical crossword puzzle in that not all the spaces either vertically or horizontally spell words.)

•

Once everyone has had time to complete the puzzle, display an overhead transparency of or distribute copies of Handout 50.2, which presents the completed puzzle.

•

Discuss any clues participants may have had some difficulty finding the correct answers to or may have answered incorrectly.

Debrief This activity could serve as a good “ice breaker” exercise for participants in a training or awareness program relating to the concepts of employee engagement.

219

Handout 50.1 Engagement Puzzle 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

18.

19.

20.

21.

27.

28.

29.

34.

6.

7.

8.

14.

15.

16.

17.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

30.

31.

32.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

33.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

68.

69.

70.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.

84.

85.

86.

87.

89.

90.

91.

92.

93.

94.

99.

100.

71.

88.

95.

96.

97.

98.

(continued) Reproduced from 50 Activities for Employee Engagement, copyright © 2007. HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, www.hrdpress.com. All rights reserved.

Handout 50.1: Engagement Puzzle (concluded) Clues Across 1. Organizational structure must be this for engagement to happen 9. What you have to do for inexperienced or new employees 15. The probability of engagement without management support 18. What people become when they work together 27. Engaged employees get _ _to their jobs 35. The most important person to every employee 41. Instead of me against you 50. Just __ it—when debating engagement 59. The only reason why many people work is simply to be able to ______ 66. The opposite of disengage 76. Engaged employees work toward this 84. What you can’t do to the process if you want engagement to work 89. Abbreviation describing how long engaged employees are willing to work to get the job done correctly 91. What’s based on the past, often making introducing employee engagement more difficult Down 1. Describes how an employee feels about his/her job and organization 4. What engagement must not seem like to employees 7. Training helps achieve this objective for engaged employees 22. How often you can fail to recognize employees’ extra efforts 38. What giving employees more control over their jobs reduces 40. Employees need to understand how to use these more effectively to help reduce spiraling costs to maintain coverage 44. Another way of saying 35 across with 2 letters 84. Abbreviation for measuring employees’ performance instantly (i.e., real-time)


Handout 50.2 Engagement Puzzle Answers 1.

2.

A 9.

L 10.

T 18.

R 19.

T 27.

E 28.

I

3.

N

4.

I 11.

G 12.

A 20.

A 29.

T

34.

U 50.

D 59.

E 66.

E

42.

91.

T

N

21.

M

N

30.

31.

M

E 36.

C

51.

52.

O 60.

A 67.

N

85.

U 92.

R

K

V 44.

45.

M 53.

E 54.

E

R

61.

G 77.

O 86.

S 93.

A

D

23.

A 78.

A

70.

71.

G

E

79.

V E

94.

37.

38.

L 46.

D

S 47.

O 55.

T 56.

P

R 63.

72.

E 73.

E

S 81.

96.

I

T

O 25.

W 26.

M

39.

S

40.

E 48.

57.

S 64.

I

O


N 65.

A 74.

E 75.

T 82.

F 83.

I O

98.

E 58.

89.

97.

B 49.

N

S

T 95.

17.

P

88.

H

16.

33.

N

87.

R

32.

80.

L

L 24.

M 69.

C 15.

62.

T 68.

8.

E 22.

43.

S

E

7.

14.

I

G R

N

35.

76.

84.

6.

13.

I

T 41.

5.

99.

N

I 90.

T 100.

S

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