Moron National Employee UN-Appreciation Day
My cynicism continues this morning as I read more about the dis-connection of so many workers as I write on my developing toolkits of Roadblock Management and of Facilitation for Workplace improvement. They should be ready soon for distribution.
The data about feeling appreciated are horrific and they improve only incrementally. We are spending many millions of dollars on surveys of attitudes but little is happening (based on those surveys) at that critical interface between supervisors and workers. Lots can be improved there, for sure.
In a 2012 Gallup research paper, questions to 1.4 million people in almost 50,000 organizations showed the benefits of an involved and engaged workplace. Comparing top 25% of organizations to the bottom 25%, the differences are striking:
- 37% lower absenteeism
- 25% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations)
- 65% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations)
- 28% less shrinkage (includes employee theft)
- 48%fewer safety incidents
- 41% fewer patient/safety incidents
- 41% fewer quality incidents (defects)
- 10% higher customer metrics
- 21% higher productivity
- 22% higher profitability
Engagement and involvement a silver bullet to cure all ills? NO. But it is a solution to a wide variety of problems.
And the data are from Gallup, the same organization where the CEO said that the data over the years supported the immediate termination of 7,000,000 managers who do a poor job of managing people!
So, HOW do we get more engagement and involvement and interest and motivation? The most straightforward solution is simple:
ASK
Let me repeat that for those who might have missed it: ASK.
Have some meetings and ask people what is going on, where they think they need to go, what is blocking them from making progress, etc. It is pretty easy to ask some questions to generate some interest. Most of this can occur between the supervisor and their people. And this is not about telling them anything, it is about asking for their thoughts and perceptions about work. Organizationally, you need to free up the time so that they can do that.
But then there is reality, that I illustrate in this poster:
PMC offers a simple Square Wheels approach to having discussions, including a highly effective $20 communications toolkit.
For the FUN of It!
Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools. Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant.
Connect with Scott on Google+ – you can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com
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Scott’s blog on People and Performance is here.
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