Throughout our work with business leaders it is frequent that the subject matter of employee engagement or satisfaction or motivation is brought up.
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And while the novel coronavirus COVID-19 did heighten some of the employer’s anticipation of decreased employee motivation, the reality is in fact quite positive.
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You know the saying, ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’, well it seems like there are quite a few tough people out there.
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The resilience shown by both employers and employees has been the backbone of the successful outcome – as much as that can be given the context – that industries have demonstrated.
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Granted not all industries managed to weather the storm to the same extent. We know that the hospitality, events, entertainment, education and other industries that are reliant on the physical presence of patrons suffered tremendously.
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However, the people, stood strong in the midst of it all.
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Where salaries had to be cut, people stayed.
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Where people had to be furloughed , they showed resilience.
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Where does this resilience come from?
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In this context, it comes from a strong organisational culture, which is based on a strong organisational purpose.
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More and more we are seeing that those organisations that have a strong sense of purpose develop deep cultures.
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This develops a behaviour set that transcends economic downturns or global pandemics.
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Again, I speak in broad terms, but they resonate with every business owner we have spoken to.
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Over time, we have seen that the ‘stickiness’ of an employee to the company they work for goes well beyond the salary, the team building event of the roof-top terrace. Essentially, what an employee wants is to identify with whom they work for, what they wrk for and, most importantly, why they work for that organisation.
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If someone didn’t know or believe their employer would stand up for them in times of crises, then they wouldn’t stick around too long. What COVID-19 showed was that many business owners did, in fact, stand by their people. And this is being rewarded by an even ‘stickier’ workforce.
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How does one develop organisational ‘stickiness’?
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This is another question we hear very frequently, and it is also why we are pleased to announce that UP Ltd has been appointed local partner for global firm Engagement Multiplier to help businesses become, well, stickier.
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The partnership with Engagement Multiplier will help organisations take stock, analyse, act, and review how their people are actually feeling. through our assistance, organisations will then be able to put a plan together and implement what their people are asking of them in a structured, organised and timely manner.
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During a recent workshop on enhancing employee engagement we run (you can watch the recording below), only 11% used a formal tool to measure employee engagement. An additional 20% use a system developed in-house, with the rest relying on free versions, e-mail surveys, or nothing formal whatsoever.
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The issue with the results is the untapped potential to leverage what is called ‘collective intelligence’ within these entities.
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The latter sums up intellectually, two pairs of eyes are better than one.
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The collective capability to provide insight should be embraced by business owners rather than feared.
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The trick is to set-expectations.
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What an engaged organisation manages to do well is what author Patrick Lencioni (who I have referenced in a previous article) refers to as the consistent, continued communication of their ‘rallying cry’. The ‘WHY‘ (as intended by author Simon Sinek) of the organisation.
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A well structured employee engagement strategy should therefore ensure the people’s WHY is aligned with the organisation’s WHY.
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The results will enable leadership to take an introspective look at their own leadership (first and foremost), and their own alignment to the organisation’s WHY. It will tell them how well their management team live up to their purpose, and how engaged employees feel with this purpose. Finally, it will also tell them how well – at least from a perception point of view – they feel their own customers ‘get what the organisation is all about’.
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What all this does is it allows an organisation to position itself in such a manner that an employee, or a customer, can immediately identify themself with this ‘rallying cry’. The decision to remain ‘sticky’ becomes easy – one way or another.
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And contrary to what some may think, organisations need a certain level of attrition in order to ensure the entity remains vibrant, fresh and up to date with times. This is not to say that an organisation that is 100% sticky is outdated, dull or stale, but it means change becomes tougher to address and instigate.
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During the workshop referenced above I shared a framework we developed to help organisations build stickiness and for those who do not want to spend more time listening to me speak (i do recommend it though), the 3XP framework is based on: Purpose, People, Position.
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Practice the 3XP principle
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Your PURPOSE is going to be the reason why your employees get out of bed in the morning every single day. It is going to be the reason why your customers will remain loyal to your brand, and it is the reason you will outlive other businesses that have a weaker purpose than yours.
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Your PEOPLE is what you are about. NO business is about anything other than their people;; whether we talk about employees, customers or supplychain,, a business is ultimately about one thing: People. so make sure they are your priority.
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Finally, if you take care of your purpose and your people, your POSITION in the market becomes a ‘no brainer’. Customer will seek you out and prospective employees will come knocking on your door to be part of your ‘rallying cry’.
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Your Opportunity
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As part of our partnership announcement we are offering FREE access to the Engagement Multiplier platform for you to run your first FREE benchmark survey.
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Click here to register for your FREE survey.
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We are also, thanks to Engagement Multiplier, offering you a practical guide to creating an engaged purpose. If you would like a copy of this guide send an e-mail on [email protected].
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