How To Engage Your Workforce

Teamwork
Photo courtesy of Roberdan.

Have you ever wondered why some companies (like mine, for example) struggle constantly with chronic turnover and low productivity, while others soar to the Top 50 Employers lists?

It really isn't a mystery. The answer lies, for the most part, in the satisfaction of the employees, and how much they feel they are valued by their employer.

Recently I read an article that came across my desk at work outlining how managers can more effectively engage their staff to be not only more of a team, but to feel more connected to the company for which they work. They called the following the six main influencers of engagement:

1. Employees must view their jobs as important, or vital to the success of the company.

2. Employees must be clear on what is expected of them, and how they will know they are being successful in their roles.

3. Job improvement, such as career advancement or additional responsibilities or interesting tasks must be available.

4. Regular and meaningful feedback should be administered.

5. Relationships among coworkers must be healthy and productive.

6. Employees must fit in with the company's culture and values.

Last year, my company announced at a large, area-wide convention that one-third of our current workforce was made up of employees hired within the previous year. They acted like this was a good thing, bragging that they must be doing something right, as they were able to attract so many talented people to their company. It was obvious to me that they completely missed the point: why did they have to hire so many new people when they could very likely have salvaged a good number of existing staff, thereby saving the company thousands and thousands of dollars in sourcing, recruiting, selecting, hiring and training roughly 100 new FTEs?

The ironic thing is that all of the corporate division's focus these days on the millions of dollars of lost sales we apparently had over the past few months. The president has insisted all hands on deck, forcing us to slash all the time spent on employee training and other non-income-producing activities, as well as putting a freeze on company perks (we weren't given any bonuses or funding for holiday parties this past Christmas). Yet the fact that people keep resigning in droves and are having to be replaced, which is costing the company an insane amount of money, especially since the replacements are being made in haste, and thus aren't the most suitable candidates, is being ignored.

The answers are unbelievably simple. What I find 'puzzling' is why the people with the six-figure salaries don't get it.

-Photo courtesy of roberdan