3 Reasons Why "Employee
Engagement" Isn't Enough
Your employees
aren’t afraid to jump ship if you can't give them a meaningful reason to stay
on board.
You're sick of hearing about "employee engagement." You already know why
it's so important for your team members to be happy at their jobs, and you're
fully aware that legions are not. To be sure, low
engagement has real problems: productivity, work quality, and collaborative
abilities are all on the line. When team morale sinks, work culture suffers, and a whole manner of
consequences can follow.
But knowing all that isn't the
same as solving it. And one reason so many companies manifestly fail to solve
it is because the bar is set too low: Your employees shouldn’t just be content
or "engaged." In order to really succeed as a company, they need to
be passionate. You need to hire people who genuinely fall in love with
everything about your company—your brand, your services, your products, your
passion. Some businesses are already figuring out how to tap into the
enthusiasm of their most loyal customers for recruiting purposes. This way, consumer and employer brands can
become mutually reinforcing.
That's no easy thing to do, but it's the goal every company needs
to aim for. More modest efforts are arguably even likelier to fail. But however
you choose to do it, there are certain benefits that there's simply no other
way to achieve without a deeply passionate staff. Here are a few of them.
That's something your business probably understands in principle
but may not be sure how to respond to in practice. The job market is as
competitive as ever. We're now a few years into a millennial-dominant
workforce, and that means certain work practices and expectations are shifting.
Companies can no longer compete strictly on the basis of salary and benefits.
Armed with more information than ever before, job seekers are now prone to
weigh prospective employers' cultures alongside other, less tangible aspects.
"Today, the companies with
the happiest, most engaged employees boast cultures that are fun and enjoyable
but still encourage good work ethics."
In order to stand out, your business needs a strong core belief
that resonates with both customers and employees. If your employees don't set
foot in your office on their very first day feeling some sort of personal stake
in your company's ethos, that lack of commitment and inspiration will begin to
show real costs.
If you don't have enough to offer
them on that front, they’ll find somewhere else that appeals better to their
passions and beliefs. "Today, the companies with the happiest, most
engaged employees boast cultures that are fun and enjoyable but still encourage
good work ethics," Ami Gal, CEO of SQream, tells me. "We don’t take ourselves too seriously,
but we definitely bring results and accomplish tasks nobody believed we’d be
able to do."
That isn't possible with employees who are just there to collect a
paycheck and clock out at 5 p.m. Employees aren’t afraid to jump ship. You need
to give them a reason to stay on board.
Marketing has evolved quite a bit
over the years, driven largely by changing consumer expectations. Thanks to
tools like Yelp, word-of-mouth recommendations play a massive role in
influencing potential customers. Nothing means more to a potential buyer,
though, than an employee who genuinely believes in what they do. Always
remember that employees talk about their company, for better or worse. If they
love it, they'll share their positive outlook with
others,
cementing the trust between a company and its customers better than any
multimillion-dollar ad campaign.
"When running a company, you
have a great opportunity to turn employees into brand ambassadors," says
Oren Ezra, CMO of
Pepperi. "From the beginning of our relationship with new employees, we develop open channels of communication so they can express their concerns. This way, employees feel as though their feedback is important for moving our business forward."
Pepperi. "From the beginning of our relationship with new employees, we develop open channels of communication so they can express their concerns. This way, employees feel as though their feedback is important for moving our business forward."
Nothing means more to a
potential buyer than an employee who genuinely believes in what they do.
The people who work for you don't
just need to feel like they can make a difference in how
things work at their employer, they need to see that. As Ezra
explains, that in turn "gives employees pride about their workplace and
encourages them to speak positively about our brand to others." The
credibility that accompanies an employee's recommendation comes free, and it
all starts with making your employees love their jobs.
Like-minded people tend to flock together. The adage that
"you reap what you sow" applies here: If you can build a culture that
attracts job seekers who already love your company and then sustains and
deepens their passion once they're on board, they'll bring in more people just
like them. That's why a powerful work culture is such an important long-term
investment. Finding the right employees is tricky. But patience and
selectiveness can pay off.
That boon to recruitment can have other strategic upsides, too.
Companies want to attract not just passionate employees but passionate
consumers, too. More and more, broad targeting isn’t a viable long-term
branding option. But when you can build and sustain a positive culture that's
based around deeply committed team members, potential customers begin to take
note. And the virtuous circle keeps turning.
BARRY S. SALTZMAN
http://www.fastcompany.com/3057445/work-smart/3-reasons-why-employee-engagement-isnt-enough?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=4&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=03052016
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