4 Keys to Heightened Employee Engagement

“The Customer Comes Second: Put Your People First and Watch ’em Kick Butt.” (Hal Rosenbluth) And once you’ve recognized the role your people play, keep in mind that “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” (Sam Walton of Walmart)

Jack Welch is noted for saying “The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important – and then get out of their way while they do it.” And Peter Drucker (Business Guru, Author & Professor of Business) has affirmed that “Employees will only complain or make suggestions three times on the average without a response. After that they conclude that if they don’t keep quiet they will be thought to be troublemakers or that management doesn’t care.”

These 4 quotes are evidenced in every successful company that can claim to have heightened employee engagement.

The four keys that enable these quotes to come to fruition are;

1. Clear set of Core Values

Ensuring that most of your employees know, understand and are aligned with the (core values) rules of engagement with both internal & external customers when representing your company is the corner-stone to success.

2. Transparent and Consistent Communication

Regularly measuring customer satisfaction, continuously measuring quality and regularly sharing these quality metrics with your employees will guarantee their participation in perfecting your results and projecting your company forward.

3. Objective & Periodic Performance Appraisals

It’s not enough to do it once per year if you want to grow at a rapid & agile pace. At minimum you should formally provide objective feedback every six months, and ideally you’re doing this every quarter.. mixing up Top-Down and 360º reviews.

The best-companies-to-work-for typically have a performance measurement practice that gives employees a real-time assessment of their performance & productive contribution on an ongoing fashion that requires minimal management intervention through the use of tools like WorkMeter.

4. Continual Development & Growth

What are the company-sponsored opportunities for personal and professional development & growth you’ve given your teams within the last twelve months? We said at the outset that “Put Your People First and Watch ’em Kick Butt”. Give your people the skills to outperform and they will do just that.. taking you along for the ride, outperforming your competitors, and ensuring that your customers continue to do business with you.