Three simple hacks for boosting engagement to improve performance
If you want to lower attrition, recruit talent better and raise client satisfaction levels, take a closer look at the science of engagement-based performance management.
In recent years, the link between engagement and performance has been widely reported. Nowhere is this relatively new science more relevant than in professional services organizations (PSOs) where people are the sole revenue generator, and the biggest cost.
Ensuring your people are reaching their full potential and performing at their best is key to success. Those that fail to get this right risk lower productivity, higher attrition, a lesser ability to recruit new top talent, lower levels of client satisfaction and worse financial results.
According to the Employee Engagement Trends report by Intuo, 42 percent of HR leaders admit they are losing talent over disengaged employees. It’s no surprise that two-thirds of organizations in the study say increasing engagement is a priority for 2020.
Understanding the drivers
In a bid to improve performance by boosting engagement, people-focused organizations have experimented with everything from competitive compensation and modernized workspaces to a plethora of company benefits. But while salaries and perks (especially training) are important, they are not the complete solution.
According to the Intuo study, the three biggest drivers of engagement are job satisfaction, organizational alignment and a culture where people feel like they can be ambassadors — not money and benefits.
To make matters worse, many PSOs still use the same dated and ineffective methods for measuring engagement, as well as technology that’s not suited for enabling talent in today’s world.
To boost engagement and move the dials on all the related KPIs, there are three things you can do.
1. Choose the right method
The first hack focuses on how you measure engagement. According to Employee Engagement Trends, which involved more than 900,000 Intuo platform users and more than 100 HR professionals, less than half of organizations measure engagement more than twice a year, one in five measure it once a year, and a third don’t measure it at all.
Until recently, measuring engagement meant sending out one yearly survey that took so long to fill in and process that, by the time the results were actioned, they held little relevance. This ‘Traditional’ model, involving an annual appraisal and mid-year review, also involves fixed questions with objectives set at the start of each year.
Today, by sending out frequent surveys with a few targeted questions, you can discover how individuals or teams are feeling about their career during a specific timeframe. This ‘Hybrid’ model is used by the majority of “highly engaged” organizations (those with an engagement score above 65 percent), according to the Intuo report. Put another way, 90 percent of organizations using the Hybrid model are highly engaged.
In the Hybrid model, manager and employee sit together regularly and there is an open culture of feedback and communication. Conversations are not focused on competencies, and awareness is enhanced around leadership training. Finally, managers are coached on giving feedback and the importance of objectives and key results.
The Intuo report adds that “a culture of employee engagement” can lead up to a 51 percent higher growth potential and an 18 percent higher revenue per employee.
According to separate worldwide and independent research sponsored by Unit4, Decision-Making for the Future Business, 46 percent of organizations say senior management never or rarely seek the views of employees. Meanwhile, 38 percent of non-managers say interaction with the organization consisted of receiving nothing more than a company-wide email.
2. Use the right platform
The second hack is about technology. As a chief HR officer (CHRO), you need to put your people first by giving them a better people experience with enterprise software that frees them to focus on what matters. To transform how you achieve success, you must optimize how your people are managed with a flexible, people-focused Cloud ERP which is integrated with a human capital management (HCM) application.
The HCM software should allow you to see and manage people’s entire hire-to-retire cycle with a central control center and database. It should help you coach people using data about their skills and career opportunities, and it must deliver a smart alternative to the yearly evaluation cycle.
This kind of future-oriented HCM system helps resource managers to better manage people by reducing admin, duplications and human error while increasing insight into resources, workflow and staff self-service. With streamlined tools for staff, like natural language digital assistants for time capture (like Wanda), and automated tools for completing repetitive HR admin tasks, you can also improve people experience to empower, enable and engage staff.
3. Act on your findings
The third hack focuses on what you do with the results after you measure engagement. As the Intuo report says: “Engagement is not a result. It is, and should always be, part of your organizational strategy. By measuring engagement correctly, managers can take actions at the right time and predict outcomes such as employee turnover or absenteeism.”
Acting on results sounds simple enough. But it seems to be the hardest of the three hacks. The report says the main reason why 42 percent of HR leaders admit losing talent over disengagement is that they “do not take clear or timely actions”.
It adds: “If you measure engagement, the people questioned will expect an outcome. If employees are honest and tell you that something is bothering them, but you don’t do anything, you are more likely to find disengaged employees.”
The Unit4 research, Decision-Making for the Future Business, shows that almost half (48 percent) of organizations never or rarely act upon the views of their people.
Industry analyst, Service Performance Insight, says in its 2020 Professional Services Maturity Benchmark report: “Poor or no communication has a profound impact on employee engagement, client satisfaction and attrition. Lack of alignment emanates from a lack of clarity and conflicting or too many priorities. It is characterized by low levels of employee engagement and functional silos or factions. Great places to work are characterized by high employee engagement, a strong culture of achievement and confidence in the future.”
Putting your people first
Lighter, more regular conversations, leadership training and a feedback culture provides up-to-date insight into how people feel.
A future-focused ERP, integrated with talent enablement software, allows your people to align with your organization regularly, efficiently and thoroughly. It also helps you build an overview of skills so you can develop them or gain new ones by offering training courses, and identify your high performers, essential for CHROs and chief operating officers alike.
When you combine the right model with the best-fit technology, and make incremental adjustments to your business based on the results, it helps you create an appealing workplace to attract and retain the best talent.
People-focused organizations that combine these three hacks are rewarded with better aligned and more satisfied people who volunteer themselves as ambassadors for the company. This creates more productive employees, lower attrition, an improved ability to recruit new top talent, higher client satisfaction levels and, ultimately, better financial results.
If you want to improve the performance of your organization by optimizing your people, take a closer look at the science of engagement-based performance management.
Learn more about Putting Your People First, or download these three reports:
