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Ask yourself if your employees are highly motivated and driven throughout the year or do they need a motivational boost? Does everyone buy-into your company mission statement; your vision and employer brand? Are they 100% loyal to the company? If the answer is no, then your employee engagement processes need some work.
Author: Stephen Archer, director, Spring Partnerships
Topic: Employee engagement
OVERVIEW
• Every year, GE Healthcare holds a sales conference for its Life Sciences business to bring together employees from Europe and North America to learn about the company’s goals for the year. It's a training opportunity and a chance for employees to learn new skills. For the past seven years, the company has engaged us to put help it stage creative business conferences that focus on employee development and help deliver business growth.
• In 2007, GE Healthcare presented us with an additional challenge, having recently acquired a new business, the conference would be the first opportunity for employees from this company to meet with colleagues from GE Healthcare. The goal of the conference was to integrate staff; encourage team bonding and for everyone to work together to share the company’s business goals and vision for the future.
• The aim was to create a conference that would not only focus on employee development, but motivate all the sales teams so they would then apply their enthusiasm to the business. The conference was to be held in Montreal, Canada.
• We wanted to do something completely different, so we engaged the help of a circus skills company to bring a new dimension to the conference.
• Everyone was challenged with learning circus skills. The idea was to expand everyone’s horizons and to surprise them about their capabilities of learning new things. It was designed to be a bonding experience for everyone and it provided a healthy break from the more business-focused sessions.
• All 650 employees were in the same boat and were complete novices. The idea was for everyone to be pushed out of their comfort zones and onto a level playing field whatever their level within the company.
• Senior management were reminded of how hard it is to learn new things, which helped created empathy with more junior staff.
• Everyone also had the chance to try out different skills – from juggling to riding Unicycles through to trapeze and forming human pyramids. The delegates were amazed at how far they had developed, how much they had learnt and the new skills they had mastered in such a short time.
• The circus training worked well because it really pushed people into new territories and made even the most sceptical open up to new ideas and become more flexible. They also had to work together and ask for help where needed, which was essential for their continuous learning and employee.
WHEN TO USE THIS GUIDE
• When HR has a specific need to motivate and enthuse staff.
• To address a specific business challenge such as business change; if a company is going through a merger or acquisition or to address high levels of staff churn.
• To ensure a company is developing its talent for the future.
• To improve internal communications, strengthen employee brand and improve staff loyalty.
10-STEP ACTION PLAN
1. Planning
• Set down your goals for employee engagement, but firstly examine the challenges you face.
2. Communicate at all times
• Clear and honest communication is key to retaining engaged and motivated employees. Managers should provide regular feedback to employees every week, not just at appraisal time or at conferences or team building events.
3. Canvas your employees
• Use your staff as a sounding board. There is no point in putting in place an employee engagement programme if it does not meet the needs of your staff. So find out what makes them tick. You could try an anonymous survey asking them what motivates them; what team building events they enjoy and what employee benefits matter most to them.
4. Team building events – be clear about your goals
• Like GE Healthcare – a dedicated conference or event can work wonders in terms of engaging employees, solving specific business issues and boosting morale. But, these events can be expensive, so be clear about your objectives and make sure the format of the event will deliver your goals.
5. Make sure your format is fresh
• Remember that some team building events are considered tired and stale, so make sure you are offering your employee the chance the opportunity to learn something new at the event. Learning new skills can enthuse and engage staff at all levels and it doesn’t need to be expensive. You could for example, take a team horse riding, gorge walking or abseiling – as long as they haven’t done it before, it will be new and exciting.
6. Sort out your logistics
• If like GE Healthcare you are planning a large scale international event, then call in the experts to help you as event organisation and logistics can be time consuming and arduous.
7. Review engagement levels post event
• It's critical that you ask your employees feedback about the event – you need to know if it worked and achieved the goals you set out. What are employee motivation levels like post event? Do people feel enthused about the business goals for the year ahead? Surveying your staff will help you determine how much more work is needed throughout the year.
8. Set up a rewards programme
• Another way of engaging staff throughout the year is to implement a well planned rewards programme, which can be positive and profitable. However, do your research first and make sure the correct rewards are being offered – financial remuneration is not always the answer.
9. Plan your finances
• The financial planning of any reward programme is crucial to its success. It almost goes without saying that the incremental increase in profit created by the programme must outweigh the total reward cost (remembering to include calculations for any BIK tax implications).
10. Tell people how it works
• The most criticised element of any incentive programme is the perception of it being ‘unfair’. In many cases this isn’t actually the case, but because the communication of the programme is not clear, and the calculation of the criteria is too complicated, employees do not understand and therefore assume the worst.
• Lastly, remember, employee engagement isn’t about a one-off event or a rewards programme, it needs continuous work. Its success depends on business managers giving clear direction, leading by example and communicating honestly with their staff at all times. If an employee feels they are valued and included in the business plan, they will be engaged and motivated.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES | RESULTS
• By expanding the horizons of employees they will be more open to learning new things.
• You should expect a noticeable boost in employee motivation levels.
• Internal communications will improve as everyone will feel more comfortable with each other having shared a new learning experience.
• Staff may be keen to continue the process of learning and development during the year.
• You should see a rise in productivity levels and experience a more positive working culture.
• Employee churn may be reduced.
ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE
GE Healthcare is a leading medical technology and services company and a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company that is headquartered in the UK. Its broad offering enables healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases and other conditions. Worldwide, the company employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Spring Partnerships
Director, Stephen Archer
T: +44 (0) 1494 545 880
www.springpartnerships.com
ADDRESS
Spring Partnerships
5 Beacon Heights
Ibstone Road
Stokenchurch
Buckinghamshire
HP14 3XR
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