What a Chicken and a Pig Have to Do With Employee Engagement

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Failure to Engage

Most corporate efforts to solve employee engagement problems is making things worse instead of better. It’s an epic fail.

Here’s why.

The Employee Engagement Dilemma

For the last several years now, organizations are becoming more and more aware of the epidemic proportions of employee disengagement. It’s not just in the United States, it is world-wide.

Despite the awareness and the efforts to stem the gushing flow of blood, the problem isn’t getting better.

In fact, there are some signs that it is getting worse.

Updated research from Gallup, OfficeVibe, and others reveals the awful truth.

A whopping 88% of employees don’t have a passion for their work!

An almost equally large 80% of Senior Managers are dispassionate!

The cost to corporations is now OVER $500 Billion annually!

Calculate Your Own Impact

If you want to figure it out for your company, try this ROI Calculator from OfficeVibe.

I did a sample just to give you an idea.

Say you are a small business. If you have

100 Employees
$50,000 Average Annual Salary
45% Turnover Rate (one local company I know of actually has this)

Then you could save over

$1, 405, 641 a year

through better engagement.

Let’s take a bigger company.

1,000 Employees
$80,000 Annual Average Salary
30% Turnover Rate (better but still high)

Then improved engagement will save you

$17, 666, 485 a year!

So why, then, in the face of the wonderful financial and productivity gains to be made with better engagement; why is it that we can’t seem to make things better?

Let’s start with a little story.

Bacon and Egg Breakfast

It’s an old joke but one of my favorites because it never really loses its relevance.

A chicken and a pig are walking down a street and walk by a diner. Painted on the plate glass storefront window of the diner is an advertisement for a Bacon and Egg breakfast. Probably with toast but that’s not relevant here.

The chicken proudly perks up and says, “Look! If it wasn’t for my contribution that breakfast would not be possible!”

The pig says, “Yeah, for you it’s a contribution! For me, it’s total commitment!“

It’s a great story for the difference between involvement and commitment. It’s also a great reason why our engagement efforts are failing.

Failure to Commit

From researching this, the conclusion I have drawn is that most organizations are failing to resolve employee engagement issues because they have not made it a priority in their strategic plan.

They are INVOLVED in employee engagement but are not fully COMMITTED to it.

In other words, they are the chicken and not the pig.

Here’s some examples of “solutions” to employee engagement that I have seen:

Taking the annual employee survey and re-packaging it as an Employee Engagement Survey.
Incidentally, most companies are taking about the same amount of action from it now as they did when it was just an Employee Survey; that is to say very little if at all.
Creating new metrics to study employee engagement
Don’t misunderstand. Metrics can be a valuable information source – if you know what you actually need to measure and if they can provide guidance to resolve issues. Otherwise, it’s just numbers. The other issue I have here is it is important to remember that with Employee Engagement not everything that counts can be counted.
Adding new benefits to the employment package.
This is related to the old-school thought that all you have to do to make people happy is offer them more money and more bennies. Despite the mounting evidence that is doesn’t work and never did work, people still use it.
They focus on improving employee happiness
On the surface, that seems logical. Where it falls down is that it makes an incorrect assumption. This approach assumes that a happy employee is a productive employee, yet this is NO EVIDENCE to support this.

These and other approaches will likely fail. While there is no one cure-all for employee engagement, the evidence seems to suggest that until Employee Engagement is made a STRATEGIC PRIORITY FROM THE TOP DOWN that anything we try will be a failure.

What does that look like?

A clear and concise mission statement and corporate value set lived out (and emphasized) from the top.
A well-defined leadership development track that focuses less on management technique and more on real leadership skills.
A improved system of hiring that focuses on character traits as strongly as skill sets.
A structured ongoing program to equip and empower employees to perform with excellence.

It’s time to stop being the chicken and become committed like the pig.

What engagement fails have you seen? What hurdles do you see in implementing real solutions? Share your thoughts here or email me at psimkins@BoldlyLead.com

What Mordecai Taught Me About Culture and Influence

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Influencing Culture

What if…

What you do and what you say in every situation made a difference?

Of course, you know what’s coming next.

It does!

Two things inspired me to write this today.

First, I was reading my morning devotional. It was Esther 4.

If you are not a person of faith before you stray away: there is a valuable lesson in here for everyone.

In the story, the Jews are facing annihilation at the hands of Haman through his influence on King Xerxes. Mordecai, a Jew, had managed to get his cousin Esther, also a Jew, placed as Queen. Mordecai sends her a message to intervene with the King on behalf of the Jews but doing so could endanger Esther’s life and she hesitates, doubting her influence.

Mordecai’s response moved her: “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

How would that hit you?

That one moment where she doubts she has influence and doubts she can make a difference is where she ends up having a huge impact and makes the biggest difference of all!

Secondly, I read a blog post from my mentor John C. Maxwell, also talking about influence

He also says those moments when we don’t think about who or how we influence is where we can have the greatest influence. The chance encounters, the seemingly insignificant.

[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#culturecounts” display_mode=”box”]We think about major moments so much that we forget that minor moments count as well.[/tweetthis]

Think about those moments and think about your day so far

Are there moments you miss? What about your family this morning as everyone woke up? The person behind the counter at the coffee shop? The security guard at the front door to the office? The co-worker you walked by this morning?

In every circumstance, our choices help create examples for others to mirror. For example, most people will smile back at you if you smile at them. By making those same choices consistently, we encourage it in others, and that helps build culture.

Therefore, culture is created, it doesn’t just evolve. We help shape culture by our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#CultureCounts #Ahhamoment”]Our daily choices influence culture in every circumstance.[/tweetthis]

What if you were in a particular time and place for such a time as this?

What if this person or group was where your influence counted the most?

What will your next choice be?

What thoughts and suggestions do you have to help others shape culture?

Why Leaders are Learners – Part IV

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Double-Dose of Leadership

We had the benefit at the 2014 L2:Learn-Lead simulcast to hear from John C. Maxwell twice. He opened the proceedings, which I documented in the post Why Leaders are Learners – Part I, and then closed it with another talk. This was an excellent close for many, who left raving about what they learned from this. I did too!

Leaders are Learners By What They Ask Themselves

John emphasized that the first place he looks to ask questions is to ask questions of himself. The questions we ask ourselves direct us — and sometimes re-direct us — to keep us focused on our vision and goals. They help us determine if we are improving, if we are making an impact, and if we are truly leading.

Asking yourself questions on a regular basis helps keep the main thing the main thing. It keeps us from majoring in the minors and getting lost in the details. It helps us maintain a big picture view.

Three Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Am I investing in myself?

When we take time, energy, and money to invest in our own growth, we prepare ourselves to lead more effectively, to be a more productive contributor, and primarily to unlock more of the potential in others.

[snaptweet]It doesn’t get any better for my people until it gets better for me.[/snaptweet]

This requires DAILY, INTENTIONAL growth. I call it being a 1%er.

[snaptweet]Focus on growing yourself by just 1% a day.[/snaptweet] That seemingly small 1% compounds quickly and soon you find yourself doing great things before you realize it.

Three Investment Indicators

MY SELF-IMAGE – How do I perceive myself? Do I truly believe in myself? Quickly gauge yourself on this on a scale of one to ten. Where are you?
MY DREAMS – Do I have BIG dreams of what I want to achieve? Are they scary and yet exciting? Quickly gauge yourself on this on a scale of one to ten. Where are you?
MY FRIENDS – The Law of Environment kicks in here. Are the people around you encouraging and uplifting? Do they challenge you? Do they add value to you? Are you able to encourage, uplift, challenge, and add value to them? Quickly gauge yourself on this on a scale of one to ten. Where are you?

We will only invest in ourselves if we can honestly rate ourselves high in these areas.

2. Am I investing in the right people?

Do they influence others? Who do they influence? How many do they influence?
Do they have potential to grow?
What is their attitude and competence level?
Chemistry Factor – Do they fit into the formula? Do I like them? Do others like them?
Passion Factor – Do they have a genuine passion for what they do? Are they motivated?
Character Factor – Do their character traits fit in with the character traits I desire for my team? Are they grounded? Trustworthy?
Values Factor – Are their values compatible with the team or organization (or my) values? Critical to have this for the right culture within your team or organization.

[snaptweet]Culture eats vision for lunch![/snaptweet]

Team Work Factor – Are they able to fit in and perform well as part of the whole? Or are they a lone wolf?
Support Factor – Are they supportive of other team members and organization objectives? Can they support and complete me?
Creative Factor – Can I count on them to seek out creative solutions to challenges? Can they find possibilities out of impossibilities?
Options Factor – Can they give me options?
Ten Percent Factor – Can they give me the last 10%? All the fruit is in the last 10%. Can they stay for the harvest?

3. Am I genuinely interested in people?

Leaders see more than others see and see before others see. Do I really care for others? If so, I can use my advantage to add value to others. If not, I will only use it to add value to me.

Where did you find yourself on this? What questions do you ask yourself regularly? Do you set aside time to think?

Add your thoughts and comments below.

Why Leaders Are Learners – Part 3

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Rich Leaders and Learners

Tim Sanders was the third speaker at the L2:Learn-Lead event on October 10, 2014. Tim was the “Maverick CEO” of a company called NetMinds and is a former Yahoo executive and a noted author and speaker.

Tim’s emphasis was on People-Centric Tools for Leadership. Here are some notes from his talk at L2.

Talking about purpose, he remembered a book he read titled Working the Room by Nick Morgan. Nick said that the only reason for giving a speech was to change the world.

If you don’t want to change the world, then get off the stage. -Nick Morgan

Success is not a destination, it is a direction: FORWARD.

The Modern Leader Needs to be Able to Lead With

A Clear Mind

To Unclutter and Clear Your Mind

Reduce your sources of information. Own the first 45 minutes of your day and avoid email and social media. Spend the time in devotion and reflecting on someone who helped you in the past and think of someone who will help you.
Create a culture in the workplace that is upbeat and hopeful and action-oriented. Remember that culture is a conversation about how we do things around here.
A Clear Mind is an educated mind. READ DAILY books and periodicals of significance that help you grow.
Remember if you let your calendar get full you will be an ineffective leader. You need time to think; to be curious.

Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, it killed the competition. -Sam Walton

A Creative Tendency

Most issues in a company are design issues, not people issues and need creative solutions
He has found that highly successful salespeople have creative projects within their life.
- Creativity = Problem Solving
Make NEW mistakes
Trust people
Policy is the scar tissue of an organization.

If you have to rely on policy, you need a corporate cultural change.

A Compassionate Way

You can only effectively lead those you love.
Treat everyone like family

Mentorship is a program of highly effective leaders, not HR

Learn to listen without power – give empathy

What I like about Tim Sanders is that I believe he “gets it”. Tim has learned that motivating through fear, dismissal, and non-emotional focus just doesn’t work for any extended period of time. Either people burn out or they become totally disengaged.

Work is personal.

You can’t spend 1/3 or more of your day in one place and not have it be personal. As a result, the rest of our lives are influenced by what happens at work and what happens at work is influenced by what’s happening in the rest of our lives.

If you want to create sustainable productivity and empowering employee engagement, as a leader you must spend time learning about your people. Their hopes, their dreams, their fears. You don’t have to solve their problems, in fact if you do then you are doing them a disservice; but you do have to know where they are and what’s going through their minds.

That’s how a modern leader achieves success.

What do you think? Is there a “fine line” between relational leading and task-orientation? What would be your two-word theme for how you lead?

Saying NO in the Face of Amazing Opportunity

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Taking Work as it Comes

When you work for yourself opportunities to earn money are precious. Anyone who doesn’t think that way doesn’t last long in business for themselves.

The challenge comes in deciding what to take and what to refuse. I have heard many advise to take everything, especially when money is tight. One of the popular quotes cited lately by Richard Branson concerns opportunity:

If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!

The interpretation by many is to simply take every opportunity that comes along and then figure it out. Yet, that’s not really what Branson is saying here. You need to emphasize the word amazing in that; for it is the amazing opportunities we don’t want to pass up as they don’t come very often and are usually the launching points for greater things.

What’s an Amazing Opportunity?

How we define an amazing opportunity is what makes a difference. An opportunity for steady work, or to increase our reach, or increase our income significantly is not necessarily an amazing opportunity; especially if it takes us into areas that don’t speak to our strengths.

[snaptweet]We are most significant when we embrace the amazing opportunities that utilize and challenge our strengths.[/snaptweet]

Anything else not only is second best, but threatens to compromise everything we have worked towards prior to that.

Saying No to the Amazing Opportunity

That doesn’t always make it easy.

Earlier this week, I was presented with an opportunity to lead training on a course in Social Media for Business. I had nothing else income generating going that week in question and my first impulse was to say, “why not?” It’s important to note that while I blog (as you can see here), have a Facebook fan page for both my company and for the L2:Learn-Lead Orlando simulcast event, post frequently on Twitter, have a LinkedIn page, and a Google+ page; I am not what you would call a “social media expert”. It would have been a significant and sharp learning curve to overcome to be considered authoritative enough to teach a course on it. It’s not my area of strength.

[snaptweet]I have a policy that I stick with what I am good at and try not to pretend to be good at something I’m not.[/snaptweet]

NO is sometimes the best answer

It speaks to my integrity with myself and others and to my core values. I never want to present myself as an expert on something I’m not and just as important is I don’t want to spend my time trying to be good at something I’m not and neglect getting better at my areas of strength.

I turned the job down. As I said, I’m not a social media expert but fortunately I know people who are. So I was able to refer them to someone who was able to meet their needs and provided an “amazing opportunity” for someone else.