Employee Engagement

I have been conducting WSQ-HR training in the areas of Performance Management, Talent Management, Recruitment & Selection and have had the opportunity to work with many corporate groups as well as heterogenous groups in public runs.

Often, whether the discussion topic is on employee performance, retention, motivation or satisfaction etc, as I facilitate the discussions further, invariably the issue of employee engagement comes to the fore. And rightly so.

"Research by Gallup and others shows that engaged employees are more productive. They are more profitable, more customer-focused, safer, and more likely to withstand temptations to leave. The best-performing companies know that an employee engagement improvement strategy linked to the achievement of corporate goals will help them win in the marketplace.

Top-performing organizations understand that employee engagement is a force that drives performance outcomes. In the best organizations, engagement is more than a human resources initiative -- it is a strategic foundation for the way they do business."
Source:Gallup

And when discussing engagement, the matter of motivation and hence motivation theory - like Hertzberg's 2-Factor Theory or Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs would also inevitably be raised.

In the book, "The Enthusiastic Employee - how companies profit by giving workers what they want", Wharton School Publishing 2005, authors David Sirota, Louis A Mischkind & Michael Irwin Meltzer look into worker enthusiasm as a factor for organizational success.

They put forth that "the overwhelming majority of people begin a new job with a sense of enthusiasm......people are naturally excited about their work and their organizations, eager to be part of a productive team of co-workers, and reasonable in how they expect to be treated".

In their studies they note that invariably, "something happens to the great masses of employees who begin work enthusiasitcally", they found "significant declines in morale in 9 out of 10 companies" after 6 months of joining. They go on to confidently say that "in fact..often...it is management that kills enthusiasm!".

They go on to "assert that there are three primary sets of goals of people at work: equity, achievement, and camraderie." What they call as their "Three Factor Theory of Human Motivation".

I found the book easy to read, the many examples provided useful and their propositions relevant.

Organizations would do well to consider doing an employee engagement assessment before embarking on new & costly company-wide performance management, reward & compensation, learning & development or talent management & development initiatives.

Teams Need "Time-Outs"

It's been a whirlwind past few weeks with kids back to school, tuition and CCAs and a very busy work schedule.

So when we had a break this afternoon because my daughter did not have her regular ballet class from 4-6pm, the family decided to have a time-out so we went for a family movie to Iluma in town to catch Pixar's Toy Story 3 and then to a calorie-busting dinner at Empire State Cafe of ribs, coney dog and herb chicken.

I enjoyed this 5 hours outing tremendously. We spent some quality time catching the 3rd installment of a movie trilogy we loved, had a great time bonding over dinner and just chiilin out and hanging out together, without any other agenda, except to relax, have fun - together!

I have been busy doing many team building programs these past weeks, many teams catching the upturn to come together for some R&R, team bonding and team building.

Many have openly said at the end debrief and sharing that "these sessions were long overdue" and that they needed "more of them" to continue this climate of fostering communication and collaboration.

Cost of the training intervention - a few thousand ; cost of the venue and food & beverages - a few hundreds; improved team understanding, communication and collaboration - priceless.

Everyone - individuals, families and of course work teams all need to have regular "time-outs" to recharge and refresh themselves.

If you haven't organised anything these last 6 months for your work teams, I really suggest you do something now and just see the results you can get when you foster high performing teams.

I'll see you at your next teambuilding session!

Bite-Sized Training

Recently, a few of my more "sedentary" friends have decided to climb on the running bandwagon. They have found encouragement and success via a program called 'couch to 5K' from Cool Running.

The program has been successful as it offers many starting from scratch a simple, practical but do-able program entailing about just 30min workouts for 3 times a week.

Participants would be able to run 5K within about 2 months or 9 weeks i.e. 27 sessions.

I remember first starting out on my running training and how difficult it was to sustain the momentum and sticking to a training regime week in week out. This program has proven successful even for the most die-hards of 'couch potatoes' as it offers a simple, routine program that is "bite-sized" and which builds up into a comprehensive and sustaining overall training regime.

Since early last year, I have been involved in a national training system set up by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) of Singapore called Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ). The Minister of Manpower recently made an announcement that WSQ has now been elevated to a national credentialling system for post-secondary leavers under the Singapore Standard Educational Classification.

What WSQ offers for the workforce in Singapore are "bite-sized" competency-based training for working adults to upskill their work skills, knoweldge and qualifications over a period of time whilst remaining a productive member of the workforce.

WSQ now also offers individuals a recognised national qualification for job employment similar to that offered from ITE, polys and junior colleges. An initiative that will no doubt be a boost for the need to promote productivity and innovation in Singapore, so that we can compete "cheaper, better, faster".

Climate for Innovation

Much attention has been focused on innovation and revisiting productivity since the Economic Steering Committee’s (ESC) report was released in February.

I first became aware of innovation as a discipline just at the turn of the millennium some 10 years back when I was doing work on organizational climate surveys.

Charles W Prather, Ph.D. in his article How is Your Climate for Innovation lists nine dimensions of the climate for innovation as follows:

1. Challenge (How challenged, emotionally involved and committed are employees to the work)

2. Freedom (How free is the staff to decide how to do their job?)

3. Idea time (Do employees have time to think things through before having to act?)

4. Idea support (Are there resources to give new ideas a try?)

5. Trust and Openness (Do people feel safe speaking their minds and offering different points of view?)

6. Playfulness and humor (How relaxed is the workplace-is it okay to have fun. )

7. Conflicts (To what degree do people engage in interpersonal conflict or 'warfare?")

8. Debates (To what degree do people engage in lively debates about the issues')

9. Risk-taking (Is it okay to fail?)

This was based on the pioneering work of Goran Ekvall in Sweden some 20 years ago where he was able to validate the climate for innovation as a determinant of business success. Ekvall's work has now been further refined and validated by Scott Isaksen and others at the Center for Creative studies, State University of New York-Buffalo.

So, as Singapore embarks on this journey of innovation - organizations, teams and individuals should be mindful of these dimensions as a basis for self-assessment, self-reflection and action.

LEAP

I was at the Fullerton Hotel today doing a team-building program for an MNC involved in providing integrated solutions for the area of genetics and health.

Looking back at the program, the outcomes, the discussions and thoughts arising from the day's session, I could not but help think about how teams can really perform and I came up with this:

LEAP!

Leadership
Engagement
Alignment
Performance

(ha ha - let it be so documented that I came up with this on this day/date....just in case)

Leadership
Leadership is important for teams to perform. The right type of leadership provides the safe and secure environment for teams to work together, explore and create. The right leadership supports the team by providing them the necessary resources to succeed. The right type of leadership allows for failure as a stepping stone to success. The right type of leadership inspires and motivates.

Engagement
With the right leadership, the team will be energized and engaged. And we all know what a big thing engagement is with organizations when they talk about talent and performance management today. Engagement occurs when there is true buy-in to the "cause".

Alignment
When every team member is engaged, then it becomes so much easier for them to achieve consensus, overcome conflict and achieve harmony, gaining alignment to targets, objectives, goals, KPIs, whatever.

Performance
Finally, once the team gets it's leadership, engagement and alignment in order, what results can only be performance. And performance of the long and sustaining nature, not the short-termed malaise affecting so many organizations that rely on incentives or cohersion, preying on employee's insecurities about job security and advancement. Performance that arises from staff who believe in the vision, feel for the mission and live the values the organisation espouses.

I would dearly like to see teams today take this big LEAP forward.

Happy Lunar New Year

2010 began hectic as with the start of every school and work year. But with my daughter beginning Secondary school this year, old routines had to be changed and remained fluid to accomodate the various changes to the time tables for both school, work and family.

Hence I apologise for my tardiness in updating my blog these past weeks but please bear with me just a little more ( I am seeing light at the end of the "scheduling" tunnel).

The Year of the Golden Tiger is upon us - please let me wish one and all

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Wan Shi Ru Yi!

and to the romantics out there - Happy Valentine's Day too! :)

Happy New Year

2010 is not only a New Year, it will also mark the start of a new decade.
Amazing that it’s been 10 years already since the Millennium.

So I suspect this year, many individuals, even if they have not previously been the enthusiastic “New Year Resolution types”, would be hard pressed not to contemplate about life, work and family and find at least an area they would like to “do something about”.

And now, with the global economy showing signs of a recovery, however fragile naysayers say it may be, many organizations I bet are gearing up for the “upturn” – planning and setting targets & goals, managing expectations from their stakeholders.

One of the programs I facilitate is Performance Management and a common recurring theme that crops up again and again that invariably impacts the entire process, happens right at the front-end of the cycle i.e. proper or rather, the lack of proper goal setting.

So whether we are individuals looking to “do something about” their personal lives - like giving up smoking, exercising more, lose weight, learn a new skill, or a corporation - looking to regain lost market share, to improve on profitability, to improve their customer satisfaction index or reduce manufacturing wastes etc , a key success factor is ensuring the Goal-Setting is done right!

Here are some ways to give you a better shot at success:-

1)Set Realistic and Specific Goals

Trainers oft refer to this as setting SMART goals ie
Specific , Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time Frame

For example, do not set a goal to stop smoking in 4 weeks when you are doing 2 packs a day or say you are going to exercise everyday when you can count the number of days you have excercised in the last 6 months on your hands.

Be realistic – like gradually cutting down to 1.5 packs per day by Chinese New Year or I will schedule to do 1 or 2 half hour sessions a week for January.

2) Write your Goal(s) and Action Plan(s) Down

There is no better or constant reminder for you if your goal is written and visible to you on a daily basis. Not only can it act as motivation to achieve, but also a reminder to act, if you are falling behind.

3) Act – Just Do It® as Nike says!

Do not get obsessed with immediate results – just take it one step at a time, small goals at a time. More importantly, just focus on getting started and keeping the momentum going.

4) Celebrate Success & Reward Yourself

Do not forget to celebrate and reward yourself once your goal (no matter how small) is achieved. An example is to reward yourself with new sports gear after successfully doing 2 half hour sessions of exercise per week during January. Or a new watch from the savings of reducing half a pack a day of cigarettes for 6 months!

Finally, go back and set the next (realistic and specific) goal – perhaps 3 sessions per week for February and March and plan a reward of say a new pair of running/gym/tennis shoes when you achieve that.

Suddenly by Q12010, you find yourself exercising regularly – up to 3 times a week. Or you are down to 1 pack per day, then half a pack by May 2010 and then a ¼ pack by September and just 5 sticks a day by November.

So even if you did not achieve your original goal of stopping smoking in 2010 or exercising daily, the improvement would still be significant and worth celebrating. So then work on improving on 2010 in 2011 and so on.

Invariably, these “smaller” goals amount to a great step forward, even if it was not in the time-line you expected.

Not everyone, or every organization can do quantum leaps. And many fail in trying to do too much too soon.

Juggling your personal, family and work lives is not easy. But isn’t it better to ensure we finish the races we started than not even managing to complete them, even if we were leading the pack at the beginning.

As we spend some time in reflection this New Year’s Eve and as we cast our eyes towards the New Year and New Decade ahead, I wish that you will find your “success(es)” in 2010 and beyond!

I would like to also take this opportunity to thank you for joining my blog journey this past year and especially for your emails with your comments and words of encouragement - I am very appreciative of your support.

Here's Wishing You and your Loved Ones a Blessed and Wonderful holiday season!

Happy New Year !