I’ve written number of times about employee engagement, and my guess is by now you have been convinced of the value of engaged employees. Study after study proves that an engaged workforce positively impacts productivity, shareholder value, customer satisfaction, and even bottom line profitability.
I have no doubt we in HR not only understand this, but have also taken ownership of improving employee engagement in our organizations. However, productivity, shareholder value, customer satisfaction, and profitability are not things on which HR is generally evaluated.
- Infographic courtesy of Madison Perfomance Group – click to enlarge
Now, it is true that we need to justify HR investments in terms of business results, but only looking at the business measures of engagement creates a bit of a “disconnect” between HR investments and outcomes, and allows HR to push the accountability for those results to others.
In short, we must look for evidence of engagement in day-to-day employee behaviors. It is these behaviors, after all, that we in HR can directly influence, and when displayed by disengaged employees fall directly on us.
Madison Performance Group created the infographic here, and frames the employee engagement discussion around Brand Ambassadors vs. Disengaged Employees. Their research delivers the requisite business metrics around shareholder value, improved productivity, and profitability but also taps into specific employee behaviors that are strong indicators of a disengaged workforce.
Examining these behaviors show a clear distinction between employees that are Brand Ambassadors, and those who are disengaged. These few simple measures are critical indicators of engagement and if you don’t know how your workforce stacks up, you need to ask your employees these 5 questions:
- Do you know how to meet customer needs?
- Would you recommend our products?
- Do you actively advocate for our company?
- Does your job bring out your creativity?
- Are you often happy at work?
You can benchmark your results with Madison Performance Group’s, who found:
Employees who say they know how to meet customer needs:
Companies that foster Brand Ambassadors: 70%
Companies with disengaged employees: 17%
Employees who would recommend their company’s products:
Companies that foster Brand Ambassadors: 78%
Companies with disengaged employees: 13%
Employees who say actively advocate for their company:
Companies that foster Brand Ambassadors: 67
Companies with disengaged employees: 3%
Employees who say their job brings out their creativity:
Companies that foster Brand Ambassadors: 59%
Companies with disengaged employees: 3%
Employees who say they are often happy at work:
Companies that foster Brand Ambassadors: 86%
Companies with disengaged employees: 11%
This same EXACT concept goes for any HR or Talent Management process/technology change you are looking to rollout and deploy. Do you have “BRAND AMBASSADORS” today for all of your HR technology initiatives? If you do not, chances of success are limited. Do you keep your “BRAND AMBASSADORS” engaged after “Go Live”? If you do not, I would highly recommend you do.
I like the idea of thinking about engaged employees as Brand Ambassadors. Even if you don’t call it that in your organization, it brings the idea of employee engagement closer to home and gives HR that punched-in-the-gut feeling to think about employees who wouldn’t feel good about recommending their company’s product, or don’t often feel happy on the job – or at least it should.
Another infusion of knowledge…
Tags: employee engagement