Engage, Communicate & Act: Getting the most from your Team

Sean Fletcher Principal Consultant

The Presenter• Sean Fletcher is the Principal

Consultant at Strategic Teams based in Perth, Western Australia.

• He is also a training consultant with WALGA and a former local government CEO.

• Sean holds qualifications in management, and regional development. He is also a member of the LGMA.

2

Agenda• Introduction

• Our most important resource

• What is employee engagement?

• What does engagement look like?

• The Engagement Diamond

• The key elements

• Examples of engagement tools

• The implementation process

• What to do next!

• References

3Elected Members: Avon Region Western Australia

4

Introduction"Presented as food for thought are key issues regarding how to engage employees to achieve better outcomes "

Our Most Important Resource

• Employees (or volunteers, board members and so on) are the most important resource we have

• Nothing we do, or wish to achieve in the workplace can be done without them

• Like engaging customers, or members of the community, employees must also be engaged

5

What is Staff Engagement?

Engagement itself, is a many varied mechanism

that can be used to encourage and involve

employees in the seeking of better outcomes on an

ongoing basis.

6

What Does Engagement Look Like?

Zinger:

"Good work done well with others every day".

7

8

The Engagement Diamond

"We believe there are four key elements that are emerging regarding employee engagement "

9

Embrace Leadership

Keep Staff Informed

Promote Collaboration

Support &

Develop

The Key Elements

1. Embrace Leadership

There must be commitment from the leadership of the organisation regarding an appropriate employee engagement process

10

The Key Elements

2. Staff Are Informed

It is essential that employees know how the organisation works, what is happening, and that they keep each other informed on what they themselves are up to

11

The Key Elements

3. Promote Collaboration

Employees need to be encouraged to work together and not against each other - to be a team

12

The Key Elements

4. Support & Development

Employees must be aligned to the organisation t h rough an appropr i a te suppor t and development process

13

14

Examples of

Engagement Tools

Key Concepts Context Tools e.g.

• Promote Citizenship Behaviour

• Foster a sense of Community

• Seek Buy-in

• Be ethical i.e. act with respect, openness and honesty

• Staff need to be empowered to:

• Manage their own behaviour

• Make decisions

• Support one another

Embrace Leadership

• Promote happiness • Encourage pitching

of proposals to the executive

• Foster staff presenting at events

• Facilitate access to mentors, coaches, subject matter experts

Case Study - The Happiness Dividend

16

KPMG And The Happiness Dividend

Achor (2011) tested his findings that the single greatest advantage in the modern economy is a happy and engaged workforce during KPMGs* most stressful time of the year: January to April.

Half of the managers in the study were provided a three-hour introduction to positive psychology research and how to apply its principles at work

Anchor and his team then provided training suggesting five key habits including write down three things you are greatful for each day, take two minutes to write about one positive thing thing that happened in the last 24 hours, exercise for ten minutes a day, do meditation for two minutes a day, write one quick email first up each morning praising /thanking one team member

Testing was done throughout the trial period with every positive metric showing a significant increase on scores prior to the training commencing and compared to the control group Achor concluded that not only can a company influence the happiness of its employees with a short intervention and low investment of resources, but the effects are sustained even in times of great challenge

*New Jersey and New York offices

Key Concepts Context Tools e.g.

• Tell employees what's happening

• Tell employees how the organisation works

• Need to cater to the different generations in the workplace

• Staff need to know what is happening in the organisation and how the business works

• They also need to keep each other informed

Keep Staff Informed

• Staff meetings • Newsletters, Email • Briefings and

workshops • Surveys • Intranet, Wiki, Texts

(SMS) • Social Media, Blogs

Case Study - Performance of the Organisation

Shire of Lake Grace - Performance of the Organisation

As the former CEO at the Shire of Lake Grace, the author implemented a change management process with the aim of improving the work culture through:

• Aligning the staff to the organisation through a complete review of everyone's skills, knowledge, capability and expectations

• Providing information to all staff on the performance of the organisation at a BBQ breakfast each quarter

Feedback from the quarterly information sessions became a key part of employees committing to the organisation that contributed to turnover rates reducing from 40% down to 18% over two years

18

*The Shire of Lake Grace is a local government in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia covering 11,000km2

Key Concepts Context Tools e.g.

• Develop cross organisation teams

• Promote work groups/teams and

• Promote project teams

• Silos are still very much in existence

• Work today is too complex for an individual to consistently deliver outcomes

Promote Collaboration

• Walk the Talk: attend project/staff meetings from time to time

• Ensure access to collaborative tools e.g. software and hardware

Case Study - The Culture of Helping

IDEO - The Culture of Helping

Amabile, Fisher and Pillemer (2014), surveyed and mapped the staff at an IDEO* office revealing a dense network of mutual assistance, or collaborative help underpinning the success experienced at this workplace.

In particular, they found: • That helpfulness must be nurtured, not forced; and • As this is discretionary behaviour, it must be inspired!

They concluded that by promoting collaborative help: employees will keep finding ways to improve on what they do, serve customers better and more effectively execute the organisation's strategy.

20*IDEO is a design firm in the USA

Key Concepts Context Tools e.g.

• Employees need to be aligned to the organisation - but not through performance management

• Employees must have room to breathe

• Employees must feel a part of the organisation

• Employees are required to maintain their skills and knowledge, and enhance them as well

• Downtime and work/life balance are key to preventing burnout

• The employee must be matched to the role

Support & Develop

• Celebrate achievements

• Implement a relevant Training and Development plan

• Tweak job descriptions

• "Retool" Attraction & Retention strategies

Case Study - Employer of Choice

City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder - Employer of Choice

At the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder*, we developed and implemented an Employer of Choice program to support and develop staff as a key attraction and retention strategy

The focus was very much based on a collaborative effort across the organisation with key proposals focused on work/life balance and equity. These were reviewed with the:

• Staff Consultative Committee (SCC) • Executive • Council • Other key stakeholders: unions, industry bodies and Fair Work Australia

The SCC then implemented a consultation process with all staff

The outcome included an ongoing program that has reduced turnover rates from 35% to 16%

22

*The City of Kalgoorlie Boulder is a local government in the Goldfields Esperance Region of Western Australia

23

The Engagement Cycle"The Engagement Cycle consists of four very familiar planning steps"

Review the Plan

Develop the Plan

Plan the Plan Implement the Plan

24

How To Use The Engagement CyclePlan the Plan

• Who or what is the engagement plan for? Is it for your team, branch, department, organisation, group or board?

• Who is going to be responsible for the plan?:

• Team members

• Team leader25

How To Use The Engagement CycleDevelop the Plan

• Is a further proposal required to flesh out a framework to develop the plan?

• Which of the four key elements are required i.e. Leadership, Keep Staff Informed, Promote Collaboration, Support & Develop:

• All four elements; or

• Individual element; or

• Combination of elements

• How will the engagement team develop the plan?

26

How To Use The Engagement Cycle

Implement the Plan

• How will the plan be rolled out? What are the milestones to implement the plan?

27

How To Use The Engagement Cycle

Review the Plan

• How effective is the plan? Will the plan be audited? Are changes required? Will the team be reconvened to implement the changes?

28

29

Where to Next?

Where to Next?• Help us develop an ongoing effective

approach to employee engagement through providing feedback, examples of experiences etc.

• Download the Strategic Teams e-Book: The Secret Art of Engaging Employees

• Review with your team the engagement process

• Contact Sean Fletcher at Strategic Teams to discuss how you can go about engaging your employees effectively:

30

E: seankfletcher@hotmail.comW: SeanFletcher.simpl.com

M: +61 0429 651 101

References

31

Research:

Achor, S 2011, The Happiness Dividend. 23 June 2011. HBR. Available from: <https://hbr.org/2011/06/the-happiness-dividend>. [20 March 2015]

Amabile, T, Fisher, C, & Pillemer, P, 2014, 'IDEO's Culture of Helping', Harvard Business Review. January - February 2014. pp 55 - 61

Harter, J 2015, Engage Your Long-Time Employees to Improve Performance. 16 March 2015. HBR. Available from: <https://hbr.org/2015/03/engage-your-long-time-employees-to-improve-performance>. [20 March 2015]

Zinger, D 2015, Employee Engagement is the New Great. 17 February 2015. Blog Notions: HR Blog. Available from: <http://hr.blognotions.com/author/dzinger/?_m=3l%2e000l%2e57%2eid0akw7oxf%2e44l>. [20 March 2015]

Images Page 32:

Business Woman and Young Business People Stock Photo: Image courtesy alexisdc at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Vehicles Moving Mulch Wood Pieces Stock Photo: Image courtesy Sailom at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Mixed Group in Business Meeting: Image courtesy franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yellow Trucks: Image courtesy Witthaya Phonsawat at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Doctor Team Making Discussion Over Phone: b. courtesy Photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welder: Image courtesy bugpai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Engage!

32