Employee Engagement / Ford Business Consultants / January  2016

As the owner or manager of a business do you know whether you effectively engage your employee’s? Engaging with your staff equals a more productive workplace. Here are some interesting statistics for you to consider.

·         70% of owners and managers have checked off the box that says “very good” job of communicating with their staff.

·         In the same survey over 60% revealed that they do not measure the results, this means they just hope it works.

·         In the same survey 26% of employees indicated they are “not engaged” at all and this suggests that there may be a disconnect between management and the workforce.

What kind of an impact does this have on your business? Disengaged employees lose their desire to do a good job resulting in poor customer service which means lost customers, less sales, staff leaving and poor morale for those that choose to remain with your business. Employee newsletters or intranet may not be working as you had hoped. You may be using the wrong methods of communication and you need to revisit the way in which your company communicates with staff.

How to set up an engagement program in your company

Start the tried and true method of treating employees the way you treat customers, with care. Smile and be sincere when engaging staff. When is the last time you looked an employee in the eye and had a conversation or asked their opinion? You will be amazed at the good will that comes from taking a few minutes to engage! In a small operation that we work with, we set up a 15 minute get together with everyone once a week. This method is direct and keeps everyone engaged as they hear the important messages first hand. In larger operations we have suggested an app for employees to stay connected. This allows information to be tailored to different departments. Yes it can be a challenge when your workforce is spread out or working in the field. Find creative ways to communicate and engage with your staff. We often hear from companies and organizations that suffer when things go badly and someone “drops the ball”. This is a polite way of saying someone messed up. Ford Business Consultants can put tools in place to assist you in minimizing this type of event. How often do we hear in the news about a problem that festers and it always comes back to someone not doing the right thing. We often see that this comes down to lack of engagement. One of the Systems & Processes we like to see companies install is “closed loop communication”. This is a verification system that when a task was asked of an individual, notification is given when that the work was carried out.  This type of engagement works and there is no wondering if it got done. This could be email, voice mail, or a check mark and initials on a work order.

How to know if engagement works?

We have already discovered that most businesses do not measure results. Measures could be employee retention, customer service satisfaction surveys and sometimes folks it is just a gut feeling that yes we have more engagement and you feel it. Businesses that have an “engagement program” and interact with staff regularly are leaps and bounds ahead of their competition. Not only will you enjoy more market share, you attract and retain talented staff that leads to be more productivity and more profits. If we can help with this program please contact us, it costs nothing to talk.

To your success,

Ford Business Consultants

1-877-776-1059