The increase in your employees’ engagement levels is definitely worthy of the time and effort and not just in the bottom line and even the triple bottom line. But within the culture of your business, and that can result in can be hard to define stuff that can make your company an excellent place to work.
Employees who are engaged stand out from other employees with a satisfying attitude due to the extra efforts they’re willing to their job. They’re willing to take the additional step (or two) and blend what they do with enthusiasm and a deep connection to your business and its purpose. They find solutions to problems and gain new customers. They are the ones who inspire innovation and increase growth.
Gallup’s latest State of the American Workplace research revealed that the highest percentile of employees’ engagement scored better in terms of customer ratings as well as productivity, sales, and profitability, and had lower shrinkage, turnover, absence, as well as lower incidents of safety and quality problems.
The engagement of employees isn’t just an HR department concern. It’s a crucial issue to ensure long-term growth.
Here are the tales of three companies that illustrate three strategies to increase the engagement of employees:
Develop a Clear Statement of Your Impact Purpose to Inspire and Attract the Right People
Employee engagement is improved by the clearness of your mission and Impact Goal. KIND Snacks’ founder and CEO Daniel Lubetzky believe that impact isn’t just something you apply as a finishing touch to an organization with a cause marketing campaign. It goes deeper. It starts by defining your impact Purpose statement.
If that’s clear, it is time to energize your team members currently on the job and begin to recruit those who are aligned to your Purpose. KIND Snacks has recognized that employees and applicants from all levels view environmental or social goals as necessary. They seek employees who are more than just ‘fitting in’ and are committed to building the culture of the team.
It is possible to do the same thing by trying to find a connection between your Impact Goal and the candidate’s ongoing curiosity. KIND Snacks looks for authentic passion and enthusiasm for the mission of the candidate as well as solving problems with aplomb, agility, and the ability to think like an entrepreneurial person. Have they conducted their studies? Do they know the firm’s Impact Purpose? Do their interests show up in their hobbies and activities? Do they reflect in their social media accounts? You can refine and enhance your hiring process in the future to take into account these factors.
Your mission’s clarity can aid both team members in determining what they can do to contribute to your business more effectively.
Develop a sense of interconnection with one another and with the work
The creation of a culture that is supportive of the Impact Purpose and that truly benefits every person who is connected to the business and beyond is a continuous process. Connection is a critical element of the culture of your business. The closer your employees feel each other and the impact you’re committed to achieving an impact on the world, the more likely it will be able to contribute in a creative way and help one another actively, and ultimately to be ambassadors for your company’s brand.
ResolutionCare is a B-corporation that provides palliative care in northern California. It incorporates weekly routines into each location to create bonds among team members. Every weekly meeting starts by ringing the Tibetan prayers bowl. In order to further ensure that the meeting is an enclave of sacredness, everyone is welcome, including those who join the meeting via video is invited to pass candles each time they make their way to check-in, and then the stone is a representation of an individual who is a current or former ResolutionCare patient who passed away in the same week. The candle is lit during the entire meeting when they discuss practical operational questions.
The spiritual connection to ResolutionCare’s primary focus, their patients, allows team members to respect, listen to, and be respectful of each one another. The culture of ResolutionCare is reflected in the small gestures that make such a significant impact: giving a patient who has a background of having pulmonary embolisms and moving him to a lounger so that he can raise his legs and ease the pressure on his veins that are delicate or locating an accessible walker for patients that insurance companies won’t pay for. This is evident when picking up patients, transporting them to appointments, or calling the patients to remind them to take their medicine. It can even be seen as taking an elderly woman who has been suffering from chronic pain on a gurney to her front door to enjoy the sun’s warmth upon her skin.
In ResolutionCare’s team-oriented, democratic method, the team members are supportive of one another. It was decided that asking patients to complete their paperwork in a noisy and chaotic chemotherapy environment wasn’t something they wanted to do again: it was difficult to hold an actual dialogue with the person.
The company has expanded exponentially, and they permit teams to look at strategies that mirror their core values and goals. It has been a challenge for the founder Michael Fratkin, as they attempt to preserve their lofty visions; however, they are also a source of satisfaction and love.
Consider Employee Ownership
If you’re thinking about retirement or a sale of your business, the possibility of the 100% employee ownership option by way of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) could be the best way to ensure the uniqueness of your business’s character and influence. What better way to get employees involved than to make them part owners along with all the people they work with?
The B-Corp Butler/Till, a marketing and advertising company, has always emphasized collaboration and teamwork. Their ethos, “if we lift each other up, we are all going to rise together faster,” has allowed them to rise to gross media billings of more than $70 million and over 60 employees over the course of 11 years. When the owner’s Sue Butler and Tracy Till, thought about their departure, they saw a chance to give their employees a boost and secure job opportunities while also benefiting from tax-free capital gains upon the sale.
The process of making a successful transition from a privately-owned company to an ESOP took three years and another three years to achieve the goal of 100% employee ownership. It was a natural result of their open-book style of management. The company introduced in-house training so that the owners of employees know the impact their work has on the company’s value.
Was it worth the cost? Butler/Till has seen increased efficiency, less turnover, and an ownership system that includes involvement in hiring employees who will become owners. The President of Butler/Till, Kimberly Jones, believes that ownership by employees “strengthens communities, fosters a financially savvy workforce, increases resiliency during recessions, and offers big benefits during economic booms.”
Three stories illustrate the financial and impact benefits of engagement of employees in a high-quality manner. What can you implement in your organization to improve your financial impact and health?
Ursula Jorch is a speaker business coach, consultant, and speaker who assists entrepreneurs in building an effective business that makes an impact in the world. As a successful entrepreneur of 21 years, Ursula helps you define your goals for the impact you wish to create in the world and design a strategy and plan of marketing to ensure you can make an impact that is ever-growing.