Human Resource Executive magazine in their September 16 issue reported the results of the 2013 “What’s Keeping You Up at Night” survey. As in past years 35% of the respondents replied that getting employees engaged within the organization. The ongoing solution was employee engagement surveys every 12-16 months. While surveys are fine, they tend not to explain some of the reasons for the non-engagement.
Without exception every organization is seeking to find and retain
engaged employees to make their operations run smoother, but there is a
constant disconnect between what the employee needs or wants and what most
organizations are willing to provide.
·
We tell our human capital assets that we want
them to be engaged but we submit them to rigorous command and control tactics
on the part of management. The message is not become engaged, become this robot
that does as they are commanded to do and do not stray from the message. We
tell our employees that we want engagement but than do not recognize their
value in the workplace.
·
We tell our human capital assets that we want
engagement, but even though the organization is not on its final legs financially,
we hire and then fire on a regular basis. We send the message that our
employees are of value only during good times.
When we look for engagement we are seeking an environment where the
employment basis is aligned with the organization in its initiatives and is
customers. Kevin Duggan defines operational excellence as the acquisition and
integration of passionate and culturally aligned employees who are engaged and
aligned with the organization’s goals and in which the employee is empowered to
make changes to the corporate processes which are slowing down the productivity
with or without approval from management. Engaged employees respond best when
they feel and are confident that management is relying on the true experts
within the organization on what is working and what is not.
So what is missing out there? What
is missing is the majority of organizations who utilize employee engagement
survey only to learn that 70% of their knowledge base is considering jumping
ship because the organization is not working for them. What is missing is the
majority of organizations who seek engagement but still consider their human
capital assets as just numbers on an expense sheet. What is missing is the
majority of organizations that do not fully understand that their employees in
today’s workplace are seeking a workplace environment which brings value to
their lives. Failure to do so means they jump ship in search of an organization
that will meet those needs. I have in my work career had those micromanagers
that in the course of their dealings with the human capital assets of the organization
kill the engagement piece due to the feeling that everything they do does not
meet the demands of the manager. The manager fails to appreciate that those
assets today are non-owned leased assets and they can move as quickly as
tomorrow.
So realistically how engaged
are your human capital assets? Is your response based on the results of
employee engagement surveys or does management truly rely on the feelings of
the front line worker as to how the organization is functioning? It is not too
late for you as a strategic, innovative and aligned organization to change the
direction you are currently headed to focus on the employees and the voice of
the customer.
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