Even top corporate executives who are aware of engagement practices aren’t always aware of the financial return they can deliver.
By Gary Stoller
Quick jumps to content
NOT ON THEIR RADAR
A HARD-HEADED STRATEGY
AN ESTABLISHED LINK
SELF-DIRECTION IS KEY
CUSTOMER & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The Engaged Company Stock Index shows that companies with high levels of employee, customer and community engagement financially outperform many of America’s biggest corporations. Yet, many companies have no engagement policies at all.
“Many companies aren’t aware that investing in employees and the community pays off in terms of value,” says Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at the London Business School. “People still have the zero-sum mentality that a dollar given to employees is a dollar taken away from shareholders. So they try to invest as little as possible.”
Even managers who are aware of the benefits of investing in employees may not do so, because it only pays off in the long run, according to Edmans, who is currently on leave from the University of Pennsylvania’s renowned Wharton School. “Many managers are pressured to meet short-term earnings targets.”
The Engaged Company Stock (ECSI) reveals that, from Oct. 1, 2012, through Dec. 31, 2014, companies with high engagement scores outperformed all of the companies comprising the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index by more than 22 percentage points.
The 45 companies with high engagement scores represent numerous industries and include Delta Air Lines, Nike, Hershey, General Electric and pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.
But leaders of most companies don’t have engagement on their radar, says consultant S. Chris Edmonds, CEO of The Purposeful Culture Group, noting that top management officials have never been asked to manage engagement proactively. Edmonds, who has authored or co-authored seven books, including The Culture Engine, explains that “They’ve never had bosses that did it, and they’re not being asked to do it today.”
Edmonds recently met a CEO who said he didn’t care about happy employees. “He just wants them to produce,” Edmonds says. “Leaders like this are ignoring the reams of data that prove engaged employees serve customers better, produce better and are healthier – which saves lots of money.”
Engagement is “a top-down-driven strategy or practice,” says Doug Brown, President of Engaged2Perform, a consulting company in Waterloo, Canada. “If senior leadership doesn’t buy in or doesn’t understand engagement, the company isn’t likely to have engagement polices.” Even top corporate executives who are aware of engagement practices aren’t always aware of the financial return they can deliver, Brown says.
Daniel Pink, the author of five best-selling books about the changing world of work, says top management of companies with few or no engagement policies will only see the value of them when they understand that “the pursuit of engagement isn’t some soft-hearted ideal but a hard-headed business strategy.”
Companies don’t innovate and “tend to follow what competitors do,” says Laura Gonzalez Alana, a Fordham University Assistant Professor of Finance and Business Economics. “If it becomes fashionable to engage, they engage,” she says. “It’s lack of perspective and, above all, risk aversion.”
Gary Brose has owned more than a dozen companies in the last 30 years, written two employee management books and maintains the website smallbizsherpa.com. “Short-term fixes are always more attractive” for companies, he says. “Engagement policies are long-term fixes and not guaranteed to bring results, especially when embraced half-heartedly.”
Brose notes that a company with well-designed engagement policies trusts and believes in its workforce, adding, “I’m not sure that management who believes strongly in running a tight ship, micro-managing or improving profits by cutting costs would ever be disposed to radically altering that path and building from within.”
He says it costs “a bit more” for companies to develop engagement programs, perhaps by paying higher wages or increased community interaction. “But the cost is modest compared to the potential gain – especially for large public companies that stand to prosper, not just on the bottom line, but also in their stock price.”
Some companies are trying to do engagement in house but don’t have the budget to pitch the programs through, says Doug Brown, “so the engagement programs don’t get the full attention they need and don’t generate desired results.”
Dan Pink, whose books include Drive and To Sell Is Human, says “the research is piling up to indicate that engagement can lead to better business performance.” Alex Edmans points to his own research paper as proof that companies with high levels of engagement outperform the stock index and competitors.
The study showed the 100 best American companies to work for – those with a high level of employee satisfaction – outperformed their competitors by 2%-3% on the stock market during the 26-year period from 1984 to 2009. “That’s a 26-year period that includes both booms and recessions, and so is not specific to a certain time period,” Edmans explains. “On average, high employee satisfaction is indeed linked to higher shareholder returns.”
A 2013 Gallup report, “State of the American Workplace,” found that organizations with an average of 9.3 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee achieved 147% higher earnings per share than their competition in 2011-2012. The report also concluded that organizations with an average of 2.6 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee experienced 2% lower earnings per share than competitors.
Gallup estimates that actively disengaged employees cost the United States $450 billion-$550 billion annually in lost productivity. Such employees are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays and drive customers away, Gallup researchers note.
John Tschohl has spent decades educating companies about the need to develop service-oriented cultures to build market share. He is the President of the Service Quality Institute, which aims to retain and increase customers by improving a company’s workforce and establishing a culture of superior customer service.
“My research shows that a ‘service leader’ [organization] gets a minimum 25% increase in company value,” he says, adding that most companies talk about engagement policies “but don’t walk the talk.” Companies with few or no engagement policies “line their own pockets and screw the customer,” Tschohl says.
The traditional management view, Edmans says, is that employee satisfaction is costly to the bottom line. But he says his research paper shows otherwise. “Hopefully, large-scale systematic evidence will help change this long-standing view that companies maximize shareholder value by trying to pay their employees as little as they can get away with.”
The key to successful employee engagement, Pink says, “is self-direction – allowing workers some measure of autonomy over what they do, how they do it, when they do it and who they do it with.”
Brown says companies with engaged employees have higher productivity. Their employees are more loyal and committed to the companies’ goals, and the companies have a better chance to attract talented, new employees. Engaged employees are often committed to a company’s cost-control procedures and finding better and more efficient ways to do business.
In a recent American Management Association survey of more than 1,200 executives and managers, 52% said their employees are less loyal than five years ago. In fact, only 11% viewed their employees more loyal.
“It seems employee loyalty has declined sharply in recent years among large North American organizations,” says AMA Vice President Sam Davis. The survey, which was completed Dec. 1, also revealed that declining employee loyalty is thought to harm organizations, causing low morale, disengagement, growing distrust and lack of team spirit, according to survey respondents.
“A lot of times employees leave a company because they have difficulty working with a boss or don’t like the culture of the company,” Brown explains. “There could be engagement issues tied in.”
Customer engagement is also imperative for a company, says Brown. He feels that businesses need to engage their clients to build strong working relationships and generate repeat sales, and that can lead to innovation and new ideas.
Many companies are also beginning to realize that community engagement affects brand recognition and satisfaction. “Astute business leaders realize the need to pay attention to their communities,” says Brown. “That’s particularly important, because with social media today it doesn’t take a lot to have negative comments posted and circulated on the Internet.”
He believes strong engagement policies lead to better financial results, but adds that stock performance isn’t always tied to just a company’s level of engagement. “Certain industries may have negative pressures – external facts affecting their stock price and performance,” Brown says. “Look at the petroleum industry. The drop in oil prices has had a significant effect on stock performance.”
Edmans cautions that firms shouldn’t blindly try to increase employee engagement, but instead balance the costs and benefits. He says it’s akin to companies with small boards of directors that have higher valuation ratios, adding, “This doesn't mean that every firm should reduce the size of its board of directors.”
Gary Brose believes some companies make the leap toward engagement policies after seeing a competitor or another company with such policies having success. “Sometimes the light bulb must go on, and managers recognize the modest way their staff stacks up to someone else,” he says. “But, ultimately, it has to be something they find themselves believing because it matches their core values.”
Cindy Mielke, VP of Marketing at Marketing Innovators, recently wrote about how technology has changed the way we handle almost everything, including how we communicate. From the increasing prevalence of cell phones to the introduction of social networks, human connections and interactions have increased and evolved. The speed at which we can communicate and the number of ways we can communicate have increased, and those changes have relevance in the workplace as well as in our personal lives, which is why workplace social platforms have captured the attention of human resource professionals. Rather than locking down the use of social media networks in the office, many companies are embracing their employees’ eagerness to participate and are finding ways to leverage this enthusiasm to drive employee engagement and advocacy for the company. Workplace social platforms offer the opportunity to build engagement by tapping into your employees’ familiarity with social sharing and social games. Building engagement in this way can also increase motivation by making recognition more public via social sharing and injecting fun into required activities via social games. A study conducted by Badgeville, a provider of gamification and behavior management platforms, and Make Their Day, a motivation firm, showed that 83% of respondents felt recognition was “more fulfilling than gifts or rewards,” and 90% said that a fun work environment was motivating. In addition to this, new technologies have allowed us to take workplace social platforms mobile. According to Pew Research, as of May 2013 cell phone ownership in adults had reached 91%. This number will continue to grow, so it’s important that your social recognition program include a mobile strategy. Mobile technology not only gives your users the ability to participate on their devices, it also makes program management easier because changes and updates can be made from almost anywhere and at any time. To learn more about the impact of workplace social platforms and other technologies on engagement, click here >
Gamification form Badgeville has released the results of an independent survey of over 500 business workers, ranging from entry-level employees to C-level executives, looking at the success of gamification across U.S. organizations. The results: 78% of workers are utilizing games-based motivation at work and nearly all (91%) say these systems improve their work experience by increasing engagement, awareness and productivity. The survey also found that only 31% of employees are most motivated by monetary awards or increased salary. The other 69% are motivated more by performing well, feeling personal job satisfaction, receiving recognition on the job, gaining the support of their colleagues and having advanced learning opportunities. Not surprisingly, younger generations have greater expectations for their workplaces to utilize gamification as a motivational solution. In fact, nearly three-quarters of survey respondents aged 22-35 years say gamification should be expected in a modern organization, whereas a little over half of thiose aged 36-55 years share the same outlook. Across all generations, 72% believe that putting gamification solutions in place would inspire them to work harder. To learn more, go to www.badgeville.com
Whatever your needs, you’ll hopefully find a stat, study or survey here that will help you solidify your case and achieve your objectives
When you work in an industry that’s called upon to justify its existence at every turn, data is ammunition. Experienced motivation professionals know that the right statistic placed at just the right point in a presentation can resonate with a client or prospect, magically transforming itself into the lynchpin that secures the deal.
With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the key research on engagement, rewards & recognition and management, as well as some of the major trends – business and technological – that are likely to have an impact on companies in the engagement and motivational marketplace.
Looking at the new website of the Incentive Research Foundation and analyzing all of the research conducted to date, the conclusions outlined below emerge – with one important caveat: Rewards have the most sustainable benefits when used as part of overall programs that address all of the relevant levers of engagement and conditions needed to achieve the desired result.
Workers age 40 and older are the most engaged and demonstrate the highest level of organizational commitment; those age 50 and older are the most satisfied with their jobs.
- Sloan Center on Aging & Work, Generations of Talent study, 2013
Researchers examining the three main drivers of recognition – inclusiveness, communication and trust – found that each factor has important aspects that can power up or power down the effect of recognition on employee engagement. This “virtuous circle” represents one of management’s most potent tools for focusing employees on what matters to the enterprise and reinforcing the behaviors that contribute most directly to strategic success.
- Towers Watson, Turbocharging Employee Engagement, 2013
Research shows a link between highly engaged employees and improved health and overall well-being. Those working at high-engagement organizations reported better physical health: 56% vs. 47%. Job stress levels were lower, too. Only 28% of employees at high-engagement locations reported high job stress, as opposed to 33% at moderate-engagement firms and 39% of those at low-engagement companies.
- Aon Hewitt, Best Employers in Canada study, 2013
Operating income at companies with high levels of employee engagement improved 19.2%, while low-engagement companies reported a drop of 32.7%. Net income for high-engagement companies advanced 13.2%, while the low-engagement companies saw a decline of 3.8%. High-engagement companies had EPS growth of 27.8%, while companies with low employee engagement reported an 11.2% decline.
- Towers Perrin-ISR, Engaged Employees Drive the Bottom Line, 2012
37% of planners indicate they incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) and gaming elements into their programs.
- IRF, Fall Pulse Survey, 2014
The future of recognition and communication games in the workplace could be very bright considering that 90% of Gen Y’ers desire co-workers who make the job fun; 49% of Gens X & Y in the workforce (ages 18 to 49) play online games; 26% of thoise aged 50 and over play online games; and women now account for 40% of the gaming community.
- Pew Research, The Future of Gamification, 2012
Just under half of respondents (46%) indicate they use social media tool/techniques to enhance their incentive programs.
- IRF, Fall Pulse Survey, 2014
The insertion of social media into the total experience (onsite as well as within pre- and post-event communications) is a major development, with 60% of planners using social media in this fashion. In addition, roughly one-third of planners report integrating gaming techniques and/or virtual elements into their programs.
- IRF, Trends in Engagement, Incentives & Recognition, 2014
The mindset in the C-Suite has shifted from “recessionary” to a focus on “innovation and growth.”
- PricewaterhouseCoopers, 17th Annual Global CEOSurvey, 2014
Noncash reward and recognition programs have helped create brand advocates, resulting in a 35% increase in customer service, as well as a 63% increase in productivity.
- World at Work, Trends in Employee Recognition, June 2013
48% of respondents anticipate the impact of the economy will have a positive effect on their ability to plan and implement merchandise/noncash incentive programs.
- IRF, Fall Pulse Survey, 2014
81% of CEOs say they’re concentrating on talent, a position rivaled only by technology investments. In fact, 90% of the CEO’s say they’re changing their strategies for attracting and retaining talent. Unlike technology however, 61% haven’t taken the first step to change their current approach.
- PricewaterhouseCoopers, 17th Annual Global CEOSurvey, 2014
The most popular types of merchandise for incentive programs are electronics (43%), open-loop gift cards (40%) and jewelry/watches (34%).
- IRF, Fall Pulse Survey, 2014
Organizations that implement noncash reward and recognition programs have annual revenue increases averaging of 9.6% vs. just 3% for all other companies – more than three times higher.
-Aberdeen Group/IRF, Rewards & Recognition as a Vital Compensation Component, 2012
Planners are investing in more robust experiences for their programs: 1 in 5 say they will be moving some of their programs to “all inclusive” experiences, and more than 15% of say they’ll be increasing their onsite inclusions.
- IRF, Rebounding the Recession: The Future of Incentive Travel, 2014
Most organizations (60%) offer travel rewards to top performers and nearly all (90%) conduct offsite business meetings.
- IRF, Striking the Balance: The Integration of Offsite
Business Meetings and Incentive Group Travel, 2013
66.7% of respondents indicate they continue to be optimistic and feel the economy is having more of a positive impact on their ability to plan and implement incentive travel programs.
- IRF, Fall Pulse Survey, 2014
30% of planners put a focus on wellness, and qualitative research shows that many planners have come to expect wellness options as a basic part of their meeting options, whether they choose them or not.
- IRF, Rebounding the Recession: The Future of Incentive Travel, 2014
The policy of combining meetings and incentive events has been adopted by about half of U.S. organizations, but only 10% do so to save money, reap tax benefits or address the criticism surrounding incentive group travel. More than 40% do so in order to maximize their investment in meetings and travel rewards and/or to take advantage of having high performers in the same place and at the same time as top executives.
- IRF, Striking the Balance: The Integration of Offsite
Business Meetings and Incentive Group Travel, 2013
46% of planners anticipate no change with respect to destinations for incentive travel programs in the coming year, but 15% say there will be a shift from domestic programs to more international programs.
- IRF, Fall Pulse Survey, 2014
Given the need to attract and retain top performers and the underlying need to “train up” a generation of Millennials, executives are looking to proven tools such as incentive travel programs for transferring best practices from top employees to up-and-comers.
- IRF, Rebounding the Recession: The Future of Incentive Travel, 2014
Of those who have participated in a combined incentive travel/offsite business meeting program in the past, almost 95% say it was either a good combination or a nice way to recognize top performers in front of peers and executives.
- IRF, Striking the Balance: The Integration of Offsite
Business Meetings and Incentive Group Travel, 2013
The top destinations for incentive travel programs are the Caribbean (47%), followed by North America (43%) and Europe (34%).
- IRF, Fall Pulse Survey, 2014
45% of companies are using gift cards as a reward, with the largest companies (more than $100 million annual revenue) using them at a rate of 56%.
- IGCC, B2B Gift Card Marketplace study, 2014
With regard to merchandise/noncash incentive programs award selection, 19% of planners see increased use of debit/prepaid gift cards
- IRF, Fall Pulse Survey, 2014
Of companies using gift cards, more than two-thirds (67%) are using them as employee incentives, followed by sales incentives (38%), customer rewards (30%) and channel incentives (8%).
- IGCC, B2B Gift Card Marketplace study, 2014
78% of consumers aged 18-25 prefer to redeem a digital gift card via their phone.
-InComm, Digital Gift Cards Growing More Popular, 2014
Gift cards awarded as sales incentives carry the highest average value ($149), followed by channel incentives ($84), employee awards ($70) and customer rewards ($56).
- IGCC, B2B Gift Card Marketplace study, 2014
“Open loop” gift cards – those issued by banks and credit card companies which can be redeemed virtually everywhere – dominate the types of gift cards businesses are purchasing for incentive and loyalty rewards, varying from 56% to 62%, with the largest companies purchasing the majority of open loop cards.
- IGCC, B2B Gift Card Marketplace study, 2014
A new study by the Incentive Research Foundation, Rebounding the Recession: The Future of Incentive Travel 2014, finds that incentive travel rewards are perfectly matched to the emerging needs of today’s multi-generational workforce and Corporate America’s simultaneous move toward enterprise engagement. Some highlights:
Read the full report at www.TheIRF.org
Keeping employees happy, productive and loyal is essential to the long-term health of any company. But generational differences in the workforce tend to complicate matters when it comes to essential elements of employee engagement such as rewards and recognition – or at least that is what we have been led to believe. To determine whether Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers and Millennials do indeed have different motivational “triggers,” The Incentive Research Foundation (the IRF) recently conducted an extensive review of more than three decades of relevant research in this area, citing 72 unique sources, including books, white papers and articles. In addition, approximately 10 hours of interviews with 11 generational and rewards and recognition experts were conducted, along with a spot survey of meeting planners. What the IRF found is that while understanding the general characteristics of these distinct demographic groups is useful and desirable, those characteristics are not definitive when it comes to designing and implementing rewards and recognition programs. View the study here.
Deloitte’s newly released 2015 Supply Chain Survey has found that only 45% of supply chain and 40% of procurement executives at U.S.-based global companies are “extremely” or “very” confident that their supply chain organizations have the competencies they need today. The survey also found wide disparities between these supply chain executives and top company leadership when it comes to assessing their supply chain’s talent. In sharp contrast with the supply chain and procurement executives, 77% of CEOs and presidents say they’re extremely or very confident their supply chain organizations have the required competencies needed for today. More than half (54%) of the CEOs and presidents also say their supply chain organizations receive excellent or very good support from their human resources department, compared to only about a quarter (24%) for all other executives. Read more >
Don McPherson, President and Co-Founder of Minnesota-based Modern Survey, recently noted that when people say they know and understand the organizational values of the company they work for, those people are 51 times more likely to be “Fully Engaged” than people who works at an organization without known values. Why do organizational values mean so much to employee engagement? The fact is that values don’t drive engagement. However, the absence of values makes full engagement almost impossible. This isn’t an anomaly. Twice a year for the last five years, Modern Survey has been asking this same question about values in its study, U.S. Workforce Employee Engagement. Having values in your organization and having employees who live those values is a foundational part of making high levels of employee engagement possible. Without values that are lived and breathed every day, your organization can expect to have average levels of engagement at best. To read the full article, click here.
Avatar Solutions recently announced the results of its annual analysis of employee engagement levels in the U.S., finding that only 29.2% of employees surveyed were “Actively Engaged,” 58.8% were “Partially Engaged” and 12% were “Actively Disengaged.” Although those numbers are pretty bleak, the percentage of Actively Engaged employees showed a slight increase over last year’s results. Beyond engagement norms, Avatar also regularly conducts research around the effects of engagement on productivity, customer satisfaction, absenteeism, and other business outcomes. For more information, download the free white paper, Return on Engagement here.
Issues related to employee and customer engagement are at the top of the list of CEO challenges worldwide, according to CEO Challenge 2015, an annual survey of CEO’s created by The Conference Board. According to the report, CEO’s are focused on achieving sustainable business through a “longer term focus on capacity-building and the development of strong cultures of innovation, engagement and accountability within their organizations.” While the report found that CEOs are generally optimistic about achieving their profit goals, “they know that they must cope with fundamental changes in the behavior of their customers, the emergence of new competitors globally and a slowdown in emerging market economic growth to get there.” In other words, organizations will have to do a better job retaining great customers and talent in the face of growing competition for both worldwide. For more, click here.
Mobile technology is just the latest tipping point for Enterprise Engagement, as it brings everyone in all areas of business the power to engage people in a highly tangible way. A recent study by International Data Corporation, commissioned by OpenMarket, which considers itself a leader in enterprise mobile engagement, found that most companies take an ad hoc approach to mobile engagement – 62% have more than one messaging platform, with 75% requiring a payback in one year. The report, Enterprises Adopting Mobile Messaging to Enhance Communications and Improve Business Operations, demonstrates how rapidly the concept of Enterprise Engagement is being enabled through mobile technology. This subject will be addressed at the upcoming Engagement University in Denver, April 14-16, at the Omni Interlocken. Register at www.eeaexpo.com.
Gallup reports that the percentage of U.S. workers engaged in their jobs rose from an average 31.7% in January to an average 32.9% in February. The latest monthly rate of employee engagement is the highest Gallup has recorded in three years and is a full 1.5 percentage points above where it stood in February 2014. Gallup began its daily survey of U.S. workplace engagement in January 2011. At its peak, the rate of U.S. employee engagement reached 33.8% in March 2011, followed by 33.6% in January 2012. Since then, monthly engagement has consistently averaged less than 33%. With only a third of U.S. employees engaged at work, half (50.3%) are “not engaged” and 16.8% are “actively disengaged.” The slight gain in February engagement may be partially attributable to the nation's economic situation. As unemployment continues to dip and more workers find jobs, companies may be facing renewed issues with retention, leading them to put more emphasis on engagement as a way to keep their workers from seeking new job opportunities. Recent trends suggest that improvements in engagement coincide with improvements in unemployment and underemployment. To read the full article, click here.
A new study by the Incentive Research Foundation, 10 Trends for Merchandise and Gift Card Programs in 2015, notes that retaining top performers and preparing them to take over the reigns during the next decade is a top priority for most organizations. A crucial part of that process will involve Merchandise and Gift Card programs that inspire and connect with these future leaders, keeping them happy, productive and engaged. The IRF has identified 10 central trends that will help managers better understand what’s in store for the future in terms of this key motivational tool. To read more, click here
Management’s view of a key aspect of engagement is not very favorable at this point. More than half of managers (52%) consider their employees less loyal than five years ago, according to a survey of more than 1,200 executives and managers by the American Management Association (AMA). Just over one-third (37%) perceive employees to be about as loyal as they were five years ago. The most telling statistic: Only 11% view employees as more loyal. This trend is even more pronounced among organizations with more than 1,000 employees. Just over 60% of respondents at large organizations consider employees to be less loyal than five years ago, compared to 44% of respondents at firms with fewer than 1,000 employees. Other highlights from the survey:
More at www.amanet.org
Research shows employee and employer confidence in the health of the U.S. economy is growing, but it’s a bumpy ride. Employees have been beaten up over the past several years. They’ve survived budget cuts and layoffs, been asked to do more with less and have shouldered the burden of many of those decisions. As a result, two out of every three of your employees are likely to be heading for the exits and new jobs when the U.S. economy turns around. An engagement strategy focused on transparency, communication and recognition for their loyalty could stem that rush to the door. Three ways to quickly turn the situation around are 1) Build transparency within your organization, 2) Provide opportunities for growth, and 3) Reward employees for meeting or exceeding those expectations. Here’s how… Read the full report
This paper explores how to keep employee engagement alive, even during economic downturns. The ideal engaged employee has a proven track record of making meaningful contributions, speaks positively about the organization to friends, coworkers, clients and potential employees, and puts forth the extra effort to be successful over the long term. Since employee engagement is proven to have a measurable impact on profitability (due to enhanced productivity, innovation and the quality of goods and services delivered) the imperative for managers becomes development of engagement strategies and practical implementation. If you haven’t done so already, now is the time for you and your team members to take the initiative – define what your engagement objectives are, how they will be accomplished and get the necessary buy-in. Understand that engagement efforts don’t fall only to managers; the process needs to be a two-way street. Employees have high expectations of management, and management should have the same high expectations of their employees. Read the full white paper here
A recent survey by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation and Buck Consultants finds that the most common communication tools used to engage employees and foster productivity in organizations are email (83 percent) and an organization’s intranet (75 percent). The survey, IABC’s second “Employee Engagement Survey.” also found that nearly half of employers also communicate through Facebook, instant messaging, and Twitter.
The IABC/Buck Consultants survey connected with more than 900 corporate communications professionals throughout the country to determine how employers are communicating with employees to keep them engaged and productive. “This year’s respondents reported increases in the use of social media tools, and more of them say they have established internal and external policies for appropriate workplace use of social media,” says Robin McCasland, past chair of the IABC Research Foundation and president of Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. “When managed effectively, social media can be a great addition to an existing employee engagement strategy.”
The survey found that increasing productivity (66 percent) and retaining top talent (65 percent) are the top goals employers cite for keeping employees engaged. Other top factors include increasing employee morale and creating a new culture of work environment. To download a copy of this year’s “Employee Engagement Survey,” click here.
Motivation management & research firm Maritz recently released two white papers touching on key areas of engagement. The first, A New Paradigm for Loyalty Marketing: Building Loyalty Along the ‘Earn, Burn, Yearn’ Continuum, notes that just as advertising has evolved to address multiple consumer segments, loyalty marketing’s approach must also adapt to multiple customer personas. Program messages and communication should be tailored and segmented to reach these specific personas, and the value proposition of the rewards needs to appeal to enrolled participants. With this approach, a one-size-fits-all loyalty program instead becomes an authentic customer engagement program that’s based on relevance and relationships. To read the full report, click here. The second white paper, Health and Wellness Incentives: Motivating and Sustaining Program Participation to Improve Health Outcomes, examines Health & Productivity incentive programs designed to help improve the health outcomes and combat rising healthcare costs. The report notes that while their popularity increases, participation rates in such programs remain stagnant. Using incentives and rewards to stimulate member engagement in wellness programs can be highly effective, but only when the program uses the right combination of tools throughout the program’s continuous lifecycle. Maritz advocates a ‘whole-brained’ approach that taps into the areas of the brain that help people engage in and sustain the behaviors they want and need to keep them healthy. Read the full report here.
Brand Architecture is an essential process in all marketing, as it provides the framework for establishing an organization’s personality and unique selling proposition. In the old days, companies rarely concerned themselves with the cost of dissatisfied customers, as long as business was growing. Today, with the Internet and social networking, it is easier for companies to measure how their brand is interacting with people and the impact on sales and loyalty, and there is now considerable research validating the connection between customer loyalty, employee engagement and financial results. In essence, engagement requires organizations to add a sixth element to Brand Architecture: People. The most effective Brand Architecture looks beyond the icons, features and positions of an organization to understand how people directly or indirectly interface with customers; how vendors affect employees and customers; how the organization affects the community; and vice versa. Understanding these inter-connections can have profound and lasting effects on the way an organization puts its Brand Architecture into action. To read the complete report, go to: www.egrinternational.com.
A new white paper, 10 Tips to Build Brand Values Into Recognition Programs, notes that a large part of designing an employee incentive, rewards and recognition program is focused on productivity, compensation and profitability. An equal part of the strategy, however, is centered in how these initiatives tie back to the core messages that are integral to business values and brand promise. This article highlights 10 popular brand values, how they’re supported through incentive, rewards and recognition programs, and some of the communications ideas that can help build more creative, effective, and memorable programs. Get the full report >>
The Social Science Research Network website recently posted a research report by Alex Edmans, Lucius Li and Chendi Zhang entitled Employee Satisfaction, Labor Market Flexibility, and Stock Returns Around the World that examines the relationship between employee satisfaction and firm performance using lists of the “Best Companies to Work For” in 14 countries. Edmans, a visiting Professor at the London Business School and Professor at the Wharton School’s Institute of Finance and Accounting, has done extensive work promoting the link between engagement and financial performance. The authors note that “employee satisfaction is associated with superior long-run returns, valuation ratios, and profitability in countries with high labor market flexibility,” and that the results “are consistent with high employee satisfaction being a valuable tool for recruitment, retention, and motivation in flexible labor markets.” Read the full report >
Looking for independent verification that social recognition and reward programs have a direct impact on employee engagement and business outcomes? Globoforce notes that Gartner’s recent report, Social Employee Recognition Systems Reward the Business with Results, is a comprehensive analysis of the impact that SaaS-based social recognition can have on business results – including sustained employee engagement and culture alignment. Implemented as stand-alone programs, social reward and recognition programs deliver significant business value, as measured by performance across employee engagement, employee success, and customer and business success. As organizations explore opportunities to leverage the benefits from these programs into other talent management processes (such as performance, recruiting and onboarding), new benefits and process transformations surface to drive even greater business impact. There are, however, inherent risks to programs that incorporate gamification and social concepts, and organizations must plan accordingly and continuously monitor and adjust program components as necessary. More here.
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