Dear Friends: In addition to our regular quarterly issue of Reflections on Leadership, we are pleased to offer this special update on employee engagement, a topic that we have been addressing lately within many organizations. The timing of this special issue is no coincidence, as we are offering our first open “Taking Charge of Your Career” workshop—a daylong workshop on February 27, 2007—for companies that want to send a few key employees to an event dedicated to helping them learn how to engage themselves. We hope you enjoy the article on building employee loyalty. If the article brings any particular people to mind, consider sending them to our “Taking Charge” workshop. We’ll be back in February with our regularly-scheduled edition. Until then, please let us know how we can serve you Building Loyalty Through Employee Engagement By Barb Krantz Taylor Think for a moment about the people that make up the backbone of your company: the group of employees who can be counted upon to perform consistently at a high level, accept key roles in new projects, and become known as the best contributors at a variety of levels. You might consider these individuals within your organization as workhorses. They are the high achievers, characterized by extreme loyalty, competence, and reliability. I have observed that high achievers are vital to their organizations, often most responsible for keeping a company running. Because these employees are autonomous, capable, and reliable, they are often left alone to accomplish their work because they are so trustworthy. But there can be problems with high achievers below the surface, and you may not know about them until one marches into your office and delivers their resignation. That’s a problem. Here’s the good news: there is a great return on investment when high achievers receive special attention. They are engaged and dedicated, and often respond to this attention with renewed passion and energy for their work. How do problems manifest themselves among high achievers? For many of these high achievers, the reward for their good work is often MORE work. And they do it well, with few complaints. Since they are so reliable, they tend not to complain when they notice problems, but rather put their nose to the grindstone and work harder. As a result, they may become overworked without anyone noticing. That can foster resentment and undermine their loyalty. Instead of telling someone, they might send out a few resumes instead. Their manager may not realize their unhappiness until they leave, with a gaping hole in their wake. It’s the job of a company’s employee engagement efforts to figure out what these high achievers really want. Achievers want to feel like they make a difference in your company’s mission, and are contributing to the cause. Sometimes high achievers have their eyes on different positions within your company, but won’t approach the subject unless their manager offers an opportunity. Managers need to find out—on an individual basis—what makes them tick. If they don’t, they may lose them. From an employee engagement perspective, high achievers are working to discover their talents, but need the assistance of others to help them discover how best to utilize them. You don’t need to offer huge raises to encourage them. Instead, helping to show them the path to career growth will help them to engage themselves. Here are some steps you can take to keep your high acheivers reliable, loyal and productive:
Companies that invest in ways to assist these high achievers will build a workforce of loyal, productive, and engaged employees who will take initiative and raise the bar on competency. Leaders can count on seeing bottom line benefits from recognizing the potential offered by these performers. Taking Charge of Your Career Workshop Give them a day to learn how to engage themselves! Taking Charge of Your Career Presented by The Bailey Consulting Group Research suggests that individuals own 70% of the responsibility to make their careers satisfying and successful. This workshop will help them understand how they can shape their work lives and become more positive contributors. Tuesday, February 27, 2007 Doubletree Park Place Hotel Cost: $350 per person This program is open to employees at all levels. We invite organizations to send small groups of employees to participate together. Workshop size is limited. To reserve spaces, contact The Bailey Consulting Group at 763-545-5997, or email bktaylor@thebaileygroup.com (A limited number of scholarships to Taking Charge are available for individuals in career transition. Please ask about them if you are interested.) |
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