Bringing Employees into the Light

By Cliff Stevenson, Principal Analyst, Talent Management and Workforce Management

The most-cited drivers for establishing engagement strategies and initiatives, according to the Brandon Hall Group 2018 Employee Engagement research are: to enhance the organization’s culture (72%), to improve overall organizational performance (66%) and to encourage teamwork/collaboration (56%). That’s good data. But it’s also completely meaningless because that is a question about why you want to improve engagement, which does you no good if you ignore the how and the who.

This is a big issue with engagement and it’s something I’ve taken to calling the black hole of engagement (not to be confused with the other fifteen definitions of black holes of engagement I found online). The main issue I’m seeing with even the most optimized engagement efforts is that there’s a certain section of employees who basically don’t participate in engagement efforts at all.

Now whether this is because organizations intentionally or unintentionally leave them out or because they opt out, isn’t clear. What is clear is that almost a third of all employees just are not being reached, so even if you have the most well-thought-out, employee-centric, backed by Brandon Hall Group research engagement effort out there, you still could be losing a sizeable population.

This can be solved in a two-pronged approach: process and technology. Next week I’ll be presenting a webinar along with iSolved’s CEO Dave Dawson on this very subject. I’ll talk about some of the process improvements that must be made (spoiler alert: you need trained coaches and a culture of recognition) and Dave will discuss how his company’s Moho platform plays a part in reaching employees who otherwise might not be included in traditional engagement efforts.

Admittedly, there is no solution that will result in every employee being completely engaged with your organization, but by learning about and following best practices in this area, at least you gave them the opportunity to do so.

To sign up for the Align People, Engage Technology: Align Technology, Engage People webinar, click here.

Cliff Stevenson, (Twitter: @CliffordDarrell email: [email protected]) Principal Analyst, Talent Management and Workforce Management, Brandon Hall Group

For more information on Brandon Hall Group’s research, please visit www.brandonhall.com

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Mike Cooke

Chief Executive Officer of Brandon Hall Group Mike Cooke Prior to joining Brandon Hall Group, Mike Cooke was the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of AC Growth. Mike held leadership and executive positions for the majority of his career, at which he was responsible for steering sales and marketing teams to drive results and profitability. His background includes more than 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, management, and operations in the research, consulting, software and technology industries. Mike has extensive experience in sales, marketing and management having worked for several early high-growth emerging businesses and has implemented technology systems to support various critical sales, finance, marketing and client service functions. He is especially skilled in organizing the sales and service strategy to fully support a company’s growth strategy. The concept of growth was an absolute to Mike and a motivator in starting AC Growth, in order to help organizations achieve research driven results. Most recently, Mike was the VP and General Manager of Field Operations at Bersin & Associates, a global analyst and consulting services firm focused on all areas of enterprise learning, talent management and talent acquisition. Tasked with leading the company’s global expansion, Mike led all sales operations worldwide. During Mike’s tenure, the company has grown into a multi-national firm, conducting business in over 45 countries with over 4,500 multi-national organizations. Mike started his career at MicroVideo Learning Systems in 1992, eventually holding a senior management position and leading all corporate sales before founding Dynamic Minds. Mike was CEO and Co-Founder of Dynamic Minds, a custom developer of software programs, working with clients like Goldman Sachs, Prentice Hall, McGraw Hill and Merrill Lynch. Also, Mike worked for Oddcast, a leading provider of customer experience and marketing solutions, where he held a senior management position leading the company into new markets across various industries. Mike also serves on the Advisory Board for Carbon Solutions America, an independent sustainability consulting and carbon management firm that specializes in the design and implementation of greenhouse reduction and sustainability plans as well as managing the generation of carbon and renewal energy and energy efficiency credits. Mike attended University of Phoenix, studying Business Administration and Finance. He has also completed executive training at the Chicago Graduate School of Business in Chicago, IL.