Re-Engage: How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times - Hardcover

BRANHAM

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0071703101 ISBN 13: 9780071703109

Publisher: McGraw Hill, 2010

Synopsis

WHY SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT KEEPING WORKERS HAPPY IN A TIME OF RISING UNEMPLOYMENT?

Because you can't afford not to. In an eye-opening survey of 10,000 employers in 43 states, the Best Places to Work are not only the most engaging work environments for employees―they are also the most efficient, productive, and successful. Even in the toughest economic times.

WHAT SEPARATES THE "BEST" FROM THE REST?

These companies understand and utilize the six "universal drivers" of employee engagement:

1. Caring, Competent, and Engaging Senior Leaders
2. Effective Managers Who Keep Employees Aligned and Engaged
3. Effective Teamwork at All Levels
4. Job Enrichment and Professional Growth
5. Valuing Employee Contributions
6. Concern for Employee Well-Being

HOW CAN I GET THE "BEST" FROM MY EMPLOYEES, MY COMPANY, AND MYSELF?

Simple. Re-engage them.

Praise for Re-Engage

"Authors Leigh Branham, SPHR, and Mark Hirschfeld delve into how the best places to work keep employees at all levels engaged and productive, and offer lessons on how to revitalize your own employees’ engagement."
―SHRM/HR Magazine

About this title

About the Author

Leigh Branham, SPHR, is Founder and Principal of Keeping the People, Inc., a talent management consulting firm that helps organizations analyze root causes of turnover and employee disengagement, then develop and implement employer-of-choice strategies. His previous experience includes serving as Leader of Talent Management for Right Management Consultants.Branham is the author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It's Too Late (AMACOM, 2005), was based on post-exit surveys of employees in 17 industries conducted from 1998 through 2003. Selected by businessbookreview.com and The Library Journal as one of the top 30 business books of the year, it was released in audio form by Executive Soundview.

Mark Hirschfeld (Omaha, NE) is Principal of SilverStone Group Management consultants and has written numerous articles.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

RE-ENGAGE

HOW AMERICA'S BEST PLACES TO WORK INSPIRE EXTRA EFFORT IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES

By LEIGH BRANHAM, MARK HIRSCHFELD

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Leigh Branham and Mark Hirschfeld
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-170310-9

Contents

Foreword
Preface
Chapter One: Employee Engagement
Chapter Two: Crosswind Factors
Chapter Three: What Separates the Best from the Rest?
Chapter Four: Steering the Ship and Inspiring the Crew
Chapter Five: The Real Job of Managers
Chapter Six: The Power of "We" to Magnify Engagement
Chapter Seven: Job Enrichment and Professional Growth 181
Chapter Eight: The Never-Ending Source of Engagement 219
Chapter Nine: Employee Well-Being
Chapter Ten: Self-Engagement
Chapter Eleven: Becoming a More Engaged Workplace
Notes
Index

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Employee Engagement

The Key to Building a Best Place to Work

The best companies now know, without a doubt, where productivity—real andlimitless—comes from. It comes from challenged, empowered, excited,rewarded teams of people. It comes from engaging every single mind in theorganization, making everyone part of the action, and allowing everyone to havea voice—a role—in the success of the enterprise. Doing so raisesproductivity not incrementally, but by multiples.

—Jack Welch, former CEO and Chairman, General Electric

* MARY: FEELING THE DIFFERENCE

As a single mom supporting two children, Mary needed reliable work that helpedher make ends meet. Before starting at her latest employer, Mary never felt muchsatisfaction in her work beyond the paycheck. "To me," Mary reflected,"work was just something you had to do in order to enjoy the other parts ofyour life. It never occurred to me that work could be a place where I could havefun, be valued for what I do, and feel like I'm really making acontribution."

When asked about what has made the biggest difference in her current jobcompared with other places of employment, Mary boiled it down to three things: acaring manager, great coworkers, and a feeling that she is part of something.

Her family has noticed her attitude change. "When I used to come home fromwork, I was tired and moody. Although I still have a bad day every now and then,I'm much more positive and energized when I get home. It's funny, but I neverrealized how draining my old job was. Now that I'm here, I just feel betterabout myself, and that's making a difference at home."

Mary continued: "I can honestly say that I look forward to going to work inthe morning. Some of my friends think I'm crazy, but I really do feel that way.I've been here for six years now, and I can't imagine going to work anyplaceelse."

When asked about her company winning the Best-Places-to-Workdesignation, Mary told us: "It was easy giving them good ratings on thesurvey. Our leadership works hard to create this culture, and the survey resultsreflect that. All of us love this company and want to see it grow. I know peoplewho could make a little more elsewhere or find a job closer to their home, butwe stay here because we love it. That's why we're a great place to work!"

* NOT ENOUGH EMPLOYEES ARE SAYING, "I FEEL SO LUCKY TO WORK HERE!"

Although Mary's story is inspiring, it is certainly not unique, at least to theemployees who work for employers that have been recognized as Best Places toWork. Indeed, we hear many employees from these special organizationsoffering the same all-too-rare sentiment—we feel lucky to workhere because it's a pleasure to go to work each day.

This book is based on in-depth research of winning workplaces, including anextraordinary number of employee surveys—2.1 million—along with morethan a million verbatim comments, from the Best-Places-to-Workcompetitions and awards events conducted annually in 45 cities across the UnitedStates. The survey research conducted in these events has been collectedannually since 2004 by Quantum Workplace of Omaha, Nebraska.

As surveys began to flow into the servers at Quantum Workplace in 2004, weimmediately began noticing results and trends we found interesting. We wereoccasionally inspired by reading the positive employee comments at winningcompanies and often horrified at comments from companies where employeeengagement scores were low. (After reading remarks from employees at a hospitalin one small town, we resolved that if we ever find ourselves driving throughthat community and happen to take ill, we'll just pop a couple of aspirin andkeep driving!)

* THE BEST-PLACES-TO-WORK DATABASE

With millions of surveys collected from over 10,000 employers, we believe ouranalysis of Quantum Workplace's ongoing research to be, in some respects, themost comprehensive analysis of employee engagement in the United States.According to Greg Harris, president of Quantum Workplace: "Other researchersmay have collected as many or more individual surveys, but theBest-Places-to-Work project has allowed us to view a larger and more diversesample of employers, especially with regard to company size." The breadth ofthe Quantum Workplace database has had a significant impact on the insights wepresent in this book. Simply stated, with this wider perspective of employeeengagement from so many employers—small, medium-size, and large—wewere able to glean insights that other researchers may not have been able touncover because of the more limited scope of their data.

* CAN A BEST-PLACE-TO-WORK BE ANYPLACE?

Conventional thinking might suggest that Best-Places-to-Work winnersmust come from trendy, high-profile industries, such as fast-growth, high-technology businesses. Wouldn't the best and brightest want to go where the "hotjobs" are? And wouldn't those industries have a head start in creating a highlyengaged workforce? We note that high-profile companies like Microsoft and SAShave indeed made the Best-Places-to-Work winner's circle, and they areto be congratulated for the reviews their employees have provided that broughtthem this recognition.

And, you may well think, some industries must be at a distinct disadvantage whenit comes to creating great workplaces. For example, how could companies withemployee populations that are paid less, or are less skilled, or are less welleducated be expected to create highly engaging workplaces? And for some "lessdesirable" industries, it may seem almost impossible to attract and retain greattalent.

And yet we found survey comments like this from an employee at one winningcompany: "Few people say, 'I want to work for a moving company when I growup,' yet here we are and here we stay."

Four researchers recently published a study of "dirty work" occupations that areviewed by society as physically, socially, or morally tainted." The notion hasbeen popularized by a television show on the Discovery Channel called DirtyJobs. The show's host, Mike Rowe, places himself in jobs that most of uswould not consider doing—exterminator, hot tar roofer, alligatorfarmer—you get the picture. We can chuckle at his exploits and privatelybe thankful we don't have one of these roles as our daily occupation.

Society in general may view many industries and lines of work as lessprestigious, but we can emphatically state that this does not mean thatemployers in these industries are precluded from creating high-morale, engaging,and productive workplaces.

In a recent Best Places to Work in Omaha (Nebraska) recognition event,two of the companies that were recognized in the large-company category wereQuality Living, Inc., and Greater Omaha Packing. The winner, Quality Living,which we will profile in greater length because of its outstanding leadershippractices, is a long-term nursing-care facility for individuals with severebrain injuries; and Greater Omaha Packing is a locally owned meat-packing plant.The employee engagement scores of these two companies were outstanding—anyemployer from any industry would be delighted to have their results.

At the conclusion of the awards luncheon, a number of guests were heard toremark, "Well, I guess if a nursing home and meat-packing plant can win, wedon't have any excuse for not creating a great workplace in our line ofwork."

Some of the stereotypes we have about certain jobs, and the companies thatprovide them, may be well-founded in some respects. But the leaders at placeslike Quality Living and Greater Omaha Packing knew that great leadership and apositive culture could trump any preconceptions their communities may have hadabout their respective businesses. And because they declined to buy into thosepredispositions, they are thriving in achieving their respective missions.

In short, becoming a Best-Places-to-Work winner is not about whetheryour industry is cutting edge or whether you are located in an area of thecountry that has a mild climate. It is about embracing and committing to a setof principles about how people should be managed and about executing thoseprinciples with passion.

* GREAT WORKPLACES: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PERKS, RIGHT?

In the articles that appear in the popular press from time to time about winningworkplaces, we often hear about the wonderful perks these employersprovide—volleyball courts, massage chairs, laundry service—the listcould go on. We suspect that the editors of these publications believe suchbenefits are worth highlighting and newsworthy. And although we too find ituseful to be aware of them, we are quite convinced these perks are not theessence of what makes highly engaged workplaces, particularly those that sustainemployee engagement over a prolonged period.

We are further convinced that these perks, although no doubt appreciated, simplyrepresent a deep commitment on the part of the employer to create a greatworkplace. An editorial in PR Week mirrors our sensibilities on thematter: "What's missing is clear direction for all companies and insights intohow to measure their employee efforts concretely.... Being the ideal employerhas less to do with what goodies are lavished on employees and more with howemployees feel about themselves and the organization."

So if you are looking for a silver-bullet benefit or a "plug-and-playengagement-in-a-box program," we strongly suggest you may be reading the wrongbook. This is a book about the true substance of employee engagement, thoseenduring and endearing elements that may include a few cool perks but encompassso much more.

* DISENGAGING MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOR STILL RAMPANT ... WHY?

If there is one thing company leaders know for sure, it's that they wantmotivated, enthusiastic, productive workers. Yet, by their actions, manydemonstrate daily that they do not know how to bring out the best in people.These actions include:

* Cranking up the negative consequences instead of recognizing positive results

* Setting goals so unattainably high that workers burn themselves out, reducingthe effectiveness of customer interactions

* Conducting employee surveys, then failing to take action

* Giving performance feedback just once a year, or even less often

* Making promises and not keeping them

* Ignoring and failing to solicit their employees' ideas

The list can go on and on. The Dilbert comic strip has thrived for yearsby humorously, and often cynically, documenting the many failures and foibles ofso-called leaders. The curious thing to us is that leaders and managers behavein so many ways that produce the exact opposite of the response they desire. Itis an important and vexing question: why do leaders act counter to their ownbest self-interests and the best interests of the organizations they are chargedwith leading?

Here are some examples of self-defeating management behavior from our ownexperience:

* A manager attempted to justify a salary inequity by telling an underpaidemployee, "You're lucky you have room to grow."

* A manager failed to confront a poorly performing worker who was reducing theeffectiveness of the team and causing good performers to leave. The poorperformer was not a bad person, just someone who was in the wrong job but hadcome to realize he could be "willfully useless" without having to pay aconsequence. Yet the problems he created continued year after year.

* A large consulting firm acquired a small regional firm that over the years hadbuilt a sterling reputation based on delivering more than clients expected. Whenrepresentatives from the acquiring firm came in to address employees of thenewly acquired firm, instead of commending them for the market-leader reputationthey had built, they berated the assembled managers and staff for"overdelivering" and left a proud team of professionals feeling devalued,demoralized, and resentful.

These are management sins of both commission and omission. The result in eithercase: disengaged employees who must now be reengaged ... or may never be.

* SO, WHAT IS EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT?

Here are two definitions:

* "... a heightened emotional and intellectual connection that anemployee has for his or her job, organization, manager, or coworkers that, inturn, influences him or her to apply additional discretionary effort tohis/her work."

* "... the extent to which employees commit to something or someone in theirorganization and how hard they work and how long they stay as a result of thatcommitment."

In terms of observable behavior, engaged employees have been described by thefollowing actions:

* They give more discretionary effort, defined as the expenditure of effortsolely at the discretion of the worker (what we do because we want to,not because we have to).

* They consistently exceed expectations, doing more than what is minimallyexpected.

* They take more responsibility for and "ownership" of the organization'sinterests and objectives.

* They receive better customer service ratings.

* They voice more ideas for ways to improve and innovate.

* They promote and model teamwork.

* They volunteer more for extra assignments and duties.

* They anticipate and adapt better to change, and they facilitate change.

* They resist changes they see as harmful to the organization.

* They persist at difficult work over time.

* They tend to tolerate limited periods of lower work satisfaction.

* They speak well of the organization to their friends and family.

* They are more likely to stay employed with the organization.

What Percentage of Employees in Your Work Unit Is Fully Engaged?

The employee who does all these things all the time would be the perfectemployee, and we all know there is no such person. Take a moment to reflect onthis question—how many employees in your own place of work consistentlydemonstrate the behavior described in the bullets above? Would you say 20percent, 40 percent, 60 percent—or more? Do certain employees comeimmediately to mind? Do you count yourself among them? Most people, when askedto point out the engaged people in their work units, are able to do so withouthaving to think too hard about it.

In some work teams, almost everyone is engaged. In others, almost no one is.Either way, the consequences are significant. The higher the percentage ofengaged employees in your organization, the more likely it is that customers arebeing served better or that better products are being made.

How many of the actions above do you display on a consistent basis? Are you asengaged as you would like to be? If you are, good for you and your employer. Ifnot, why not?

Can a Person Be Too Engaged?

We believe full engagement is always of benefit to the individual and theemployer. But as we know, a strength carried to an extreme can quickly become aweakness. Workaholism is not engagement. Employees who constantly pushthemselves hard to perform well may become burned out. We all need periods of"rejuvenative disengagement" (or downtime) in the form of regular breaks, freeevenings and weekends for rest and recreation, and periodic vacations.

Employers also need to guard against taking undue advantage of a highly engagedemployee's willingness to take on more work. The "job creep" phenomenon resultswhen managers load up dependable high performers with so much work thatopportunities for downtime become less and less available. At the same time,these same managers, instead of confronting their poor performers, choose togive them fewer assignments, which further undermines the engagement of topperformers who see and experience the injustice of the situation. This is arecipe for disengagement and turnover of our most valued talent.

How Do We Know an Engaged Employee When We Hear One?

Survey findings reveal that engaged employees tend to have better things to sayabout their workplaces than employees who are not engaged. Here are a fewillustrative comments from some of the employees surveyed from the winningcompanies featured in this book:

* "I genuinely enjoy working for this company. I look forward to coming into work every day."

* "I love it here—I love contributing to make it a better place andknowing what I do is important. I love putting the needs of the customerfirst and taking an interest in assisting them to understand about our productsand company."

* "At most of my previous jobs, I felt like I was just a number and all myhard work was not truly recognized and appreciated. At (our) company, I havebeen given the opportunity to express my creativity to the maximum level. Indoing so, I have created some very useful Excel templates that the company hasbeen using since my hire date."

* "This is the best company I have ever worked for. The people and themanagement make the environment the best I have seen. People help each other andseem to enjoy working with each other. The goal that I see is, everyone isworking to produce the best product available. People want to come to workbecause it is such a good environment."

How Do We Know a Disengaged Employee When We Hear One?

By contrast, here are some comments from employees at companies with some of thelowest scores on the Best-Places-to-Work engagement survey:

* "My supervisor is a person that I have trouble with. He has no trust inanybody. He makes the job hard for everybody. He takes credit for everything.Makes it hard to want to do your best."

* "We also work in cubicles that have broken desks, some are missing drawersor the drawers do not open. It makes employees feel positive and encouragesbetter productivity when they feel like they are valued. It does not make mefeel valued to come to a desk that is broken."

(Continues...)

(Continues...)

Excerpted from RE-ENGAGE by LEIGH BRANHAM, MARK HIRSCHFELD. Copyright © 2010 by Leigh Branham and Mark Hirschfeld. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw Hill
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071703101
• ISBN 13: 9780071703109
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368