IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT ASK YOUR EMPLOYEES

What is going on today? What is the Great Resignation all about? I know some managers that think they know all the answers. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If you really want to find out the answers to the start by asking your employees. Don’t stop there. Ask your customers what they want and need.

What is your value proposition to customers? What is your employee value proposition (EVP)? Ask your employees and customers questions and listen closely for the answers. You are never going to learn the truth about your value proposition if you don’t ask.

There are some organizations that never ask their customers or staff how the company is doing. Fear of hearing bad news will not make the bad news go away. However, it appears that many companies are just not comfortable asking the ultimate question, “How are we doing?”

The reason that we know that companies are not interested in knowing how they are doing can be found in a Gallup survey. According to Gallup around 30% of employees are engaged at work. That means that 70% are not engaged in their jobs work. What would you do if you learned that about your company?

Gallup continually surveys employee engagement. Here is what we can learn from their results. We can’t make a universal supposition of what engages people. Likewise, we can’t make a universal statement about the Great Resignation. Instead, we need to understand the diversity of our workforce which includes gender, culture and the different generations. Engagement factors are dynamic.

Now, regarding customers, it is easier to think all is well because there are not a growing number of customer complaints. What if the customers are not coming back?

What action would you take if your employees were to give a negative answer to the statement, “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?” Meaningful work means different things to the different generations in the workplace. Consider not only generational differences but also cultural differences. Get to know your employees and what is important to them. A baby boomer’s wants and needs are different from Generation X and the Millennial Generation is different from the other two generations. The engagement solution does not involve pushing a round peg fit into a square hole but rather to match each employee to a position where he or she can be the best.

Hiring and retention is a challenge. This can be costly. When you consider recruiting and training, lost customer service, lost productivity, and lost morale in others who are left, the cost is at least two times the employee’s salary.   Engaged employees become more valuable as they grow. Engagement and retention is important because high-performing companies have loyal customers because they have loyal employees.

If you are the CEO or the head of Human Resources, you need to have an engagement strategy. This should be a line item on your P&L. The strategy should include careful selection to see that an employee is matched to a job where he or she has a chance to excel, an assessment plan to identify key employee strengths, and a development plan to leverage those employee strengths.

Is it time to have a strategic employee assessment and development plan in place?

Would you like to start a DIALOG with you team so that everyone is on the same page?

Contact us to learn more

or call 914-953-4458.