Welcome to the November 12, 2008 issue of The Total View

Published by Success Performance Solutions

Major Sponsor of
2008 Best Places to Work In Pennsylvania

Edited and Written by Ira S. Wolfe

NEW!  Check out our new flash presentation at Success Performance Solutions

Visit our Human Resources Blog and Perfect Labor Storm Blog where we can post daily (and more often) human resource updates, news, and Perfect Labor Storm facts. 

What's Inside this issue of The TotalView:

1.  Tough times call for keeping employees engaged

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Warnings

3.  Innovation: The role of the Innovators

4.  Quotes from the Hire Authorities

1.  Tough times call for keeping employees engaged

On the surface, discussing employee engagement in the face of a crashing economy is a bit like discussing the cost of Sarah Palin's shoes while banks were failing and thousands of people were on the verge of defaulting on their mortgages. But despite the news about massive layouts nearly every day, many employers are still scouring the job markets for skilled workers, especially for key positions in the executive suite, management ranks, IT teams, and sales roles.  The last thing an employer can afford to lose is a talented skilled worker.  That's why today's column is focused on employee engagement.  

Before I go on, it is important differentiate between employee satisfaction and employee engagement.  The terms "employee engagement" and "employee satisfaction" means different things to different people. They are often used synonymously but in reality, they are very different.  In its simplest form, satisfaction means employers are not doing anything to anger employees.  That's good information to know but not nearly enough to retain employees - especially the good ones.

Employee engagement, on the other hand, is a complex equation that reflects each individual's unique, personal relationship with work.  Properly constructed and executed engagement surveys unravel the complexity by targeting three focus areas:

1.  Are the employees emotionally attached to your organization to endure tough times? (In today's tough times, this is at the core of employee engagement.)

2.  Are you (the employer) doing anything to incent the employee to become more productive on your behalf?

3.  Are you doing anything to make the employees angry?


The global consulting firm BlessingWhite recently released a landmark study on the State of Employee Engagement. For the purposes of this study, they defined "engaged employees" as those who are "excited" and use their talents and discretionary efforts to make a difference for their employers.

BlessingWhite found that in North America, only 29 percent of employees were fully engaged, while 19 percent were actually disengaged.  These numbers are consistent with the Gallup Management Journal's Employee Engagement Index where 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs, 54% are not-engaged, and 17% are actively disengaged.

These statistics on workforce engagement are surprising. No, I take that back...they are appalling and a huge risk factor for any organization that has any ambition of remaining competitive. Without skilled workers, organizations will have no future. With almost two third of workers either moderately engaged or not engaged, it is hard to ignore this wake up call.

There is also a strong correlation between employee engagement and retention.  Engaged employees say they stay because they like their work, while disengaged employees stay for reasons like job security, favorable work conditions, and growth opportunities.  With the threats of layoffs - perceived or real, increasing demands for more productivity, and a freeze on promotions, disengagement will inevitably spread.

The BlessingWhite study also revealed that the sectors most vulnerable to a lack of employee engagement are information technology, media, retail, hospitality, and healthcare.  The current downturn provides firms in these industries some time to improve the engagement of their employees.  But, if they fail to take advantage of this opportunity, they will become victims of significant turnover, particularly among younger workers.

A typical employee engagement survey will assess up to 16 different organizational competencies such as compensation and benefits, culture and climate, my manager/supervisor, recognition, safety and working environment, team dynamics, senior management, workplace ethics and more.

From the survey, management can easily recognize the active engaged and differentiate the non-engaged from the actively disengaged.  BlessingWhite identified 5 distinct employee segments:

The Engaged:  These employees work at the workplace juncture of personal and organizational interests.  They contribute fully to the success of the organization and find great satisfaction in their work.  When recruiters call, they cut the conversation short.

Almost Engaged:  These employees are among the high performers and are reasonably satisfied with their job.   They are highly employable and likely to be lured to greener pastures if they are not moved from almost to highly engaged.

Honeymooners and Hamsters:  Honeymooners are new to the organization or their role - and happy to be there. They have yet to find their stride and clearly understand how they can best contribute.  It should be a priority to move these employee out of this temporary area.  Hamsters may be working hard, but are in effect "spinning their wheels," working on non-essential tasks, contributing little to the success of the organization.  If organizations don't deal with them, other employees may grow resentful as they have to pick up the slack.

Crash & Burners: These employees are disillusioned and potentially exhausted. They had been top producers but have now turned negative toward management and co-workers.  They may leave, but are just as likely to take a breather and work less hard.

The Disengaged:  These employees are the most disconnected from the organization, feel under-utilized  and are clearly not getting what they need from work.   They're likely to be skeptical and can engage in contagious negativity.  If left alone, the Disengaged are likely to collect a paycheck while complaining or looking for a new jobs. 

The reason for retaining your best skilled workers goes well beyond bragging rights on low turnover. The actively engaged workers make more money for the company. They contribute towards a healthy working environment. They are more committed to quality and growth than are the other two groups of not-engaged and actively disengaged workers.

That is not so for the non-engaged Honeymooners and Hamsters or lesser engaged Crash & Burners. The moderately or actively disengaged employees act out their discontent and sow seeds of negativity at every opportunity. They are indifferent to company goals and mission. The Gallup Organization estimates that there are 22 million actively disengaged employees that cost the American economy up to $350 billion per year in lost productivity, including absence, illness and other problems that result when workers are unhappy at work.

While it would be foolish and inappropriate to feel the actively engaged are safe and therefore can be ignored, the thrust of the follow-up must be focused on converting the moderately engaged to actively engaged and to convert or weed out quickly the disengaged. The challenge for managers also comes when the signs of disengaging appear from an engaged worker. The symptoms of disengagement need to be addressed immediately.

Don't lose your top talent. Contact us today to measure employee engagement now.

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Warnings   

Subscribe to the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 blog and receive skilled worker shortage updates like this:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 1 in 19 new jobs created between 2006 and 2016 will be professional IT positions. Filling these vacancies will be an acute problem for employers.  While the demand for experienced IT professional between the ages of 35 and 45 will increase by 25 percent, the supply will decrease by 15 percent.

Learn more about workforce trends. Purchase the NEW Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 books (soft and hard cover versions) at PerfectLaborStorm.com.

New Perfect Labor Storm videos added. Watch now!

3.  Innovation: The Role of the Innovator

Innovators are both high risk-taking and high on creativity.  Most major nonincremental successes in American history are the result of Innovators - Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Ted Turner.  Innovators are not afraid to take risks. In fact, Innovators often are willing to risk more than they can afford to lose.  

The Innovator's unique blend of high levels of both creativity and risk taking stirs up mixed emotions from the rest of us.  They always have a better mousetrap. Seemingly always on the cutting edge of new ideas and showing little fear, the Innovator is both inspiring to others and loathed for numerous brash attempts at making improvements within the organizations.   

Innovators sometime become so fixed on an idea that they are not willing to wait until the time is right.  They feel so strongly about the idea that they cannot see the implementation problems.  

Can you identity the Innovators in your organization?

Creatrix Inventory is an extraordinary instrument that measures an individual's and a group's innovative capacity.  We believe Creatrix may be the single most important tool in assessing an organization's ability to seize new opportunities and execute strategic plans flawlessly through innovation.

As today's business challenges become increasingly difficult to manage, organizations need innovative solutions to stay competitive. But it is not enough to want to be more innovative.  Organizations need the right people on board; people who have the ability to be creative and the willingness to take risk, key elements of innovation. 

Learn more about Creatrix or call/email today to schedule a consultation today.

Learn more about The Innovation Equation and Innovate like Edison.

4. Quotes from Hire Authorities

"You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."
 
Richard Feynman

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Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.