5 Values and culture
An organisation’s values are its DNA: they define how the business behaves and what it intrinsically stands for. If your employees share these same values, of course they are more likely to believe in the organisation. While recruiting professionals who identify with your corporate values is a good start, your organisational culture must empower them in practice. A firm that prides itself on teamwork is likely to stifle its people if collaborative working isn’t actively encouraged, recognised or barriers to it aren’t removed, for instance. By fostering the type of environment where your chosen values can be lived, breathed and tangibly demonstrated, you are more likely to motivate your people to want to connect with their work, as the CIPD suggests.
6 Know what success looks like
It’s human nature to aspire, whether personally, socially or professionally. So clearly communicate the vision of where your organisation wants to be, and how every member of staff plays a part in achieving that aspiration by upholding the corporate strategy. Painting a picture of what success looks like – at an individual, team, divisional and corporate level – will help keep it real and ultimately achievable. Ensure there are milestones and make these even more tangible by showcasing individual and corporate successes along the way. Charting progress and recognising key milestones will help foster unilateral positivity, pride and a sense of achievement.
Having an ongoing programme for recognising employees can be effective in creating a culture of appreciation and a highly motivated workforce. Recognising employees doesn’t need to be an expensive.
7 Offer recognition
Having an ongoing programme for recognising employees can be effective in creating a culture of appreciation and a highly motivated workforce. Recognising employees doesn’t need to be an expensive exercise and it’s often the personal touch which makes all the difference. However you do it, it should be linked to your company mission or vision. It’s also important to encourage employees at all levels to openly and visibly recognise their colleagues, not always relying on the management team to be responsible for making it happen. Get your approach to recognition right and it could improve your financial performance. Research suggests that there is a direct link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, and between customer satisfaction and improved financial performance.
8 Empowerment
People will flourish in an environment that builds independence, self-belief and personal achievement. As a manager, it is your responsibility to allow your people to be participative, involved, accountable, encouraged and to get on with the tasks they think they should be doing – to be treated like an adult no matter where they sit in the hierarchy. Giving your employees the leeway – and encouragement – to succeed is an essential building block of engagement. Focus on the results, rather than detailing exactly how the work should be done. Helping others to reach their true potential doesn’t come easily to every manager, but micromanaging is a sure fire way of turning your employees off. Learn to strike the balance between giving your people enough space to use their abilities to best effect, whilst still monitoring and supporting closely enough to ensure that the job is done correctly and effectively.
9 What to communicate
It is reasonable for employees to expect to be kept informed and even more important in times of economic uncertainty and change – the alternative is a rumour mill. Employers need to think about what they are going to communicate. Show respect for your employees by not covering up bad news with positive spin or most people will be able to see straight through you – tell it how it is. Employees will not be able to help their department or company to proactively embrace change if they are not made aware of the situation, what senior managements’ view is and what the benefits of your chosen course of action will be. You need to be able to tell your employees what you expect of them, sympathise with their situation and publically recognise individual and team performances. In short, communicate as much as possible about as much as possible. And don’t worry about repeating yourself. Constant reinforcement of key messages improves memory and
understanding.
10 How to communicate
There’s no doubt about it: face to face communication is always the best – and particularly when times are challenging. Make good use of your line managers. Our research suggests that employees are far more likely to believe what their immediate boss tells them than the senior management. Our recent Employment Study results showed an alarming 85% of UK workers wary of at least some of the information from higher up their organisation. Line managers can listen, debate and connect on an emotional level with their teams which is vital to building and maintaining trust. But beware, the big bang approach to communicating isn’t enough. Constant reinforcement of key messages on a daily basis is essential. Email is no longer the weapon of mass communication and dialogue is crucial for engagement. Make appropriate use of all available mediums – company intranets, blogs, social networks, team briefings and newsletters all have their place.
