What are the benefits of employee engagement?

The following is abbreviated from the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) and is as good as any in explaining the benefits to the employee and employer.(Note A)

1. Put simply, the right leadership and positive attitudes leads to engaged happier people and improved business performance
2. Engaged employees feel that they are ambassadors for the organisation
3. Poor leadership and negative attitudes leads to disengaged people and poor performance

That sounds easy so is there a problem?

According to Gallup’s 2013 Engagement Survey 83% of people in the UK are disengaged at work, passively or actively. So it would appear the answer is yes!

It also agrees with the research we do when working with clients, although experience tells us that engagement does vary widely from one sector to another.
When you think about it employees can also only go so far along the engagement route because no matter how engaged they want to be, they will eventually hit the buffers. And these buffers come in two forms:

1. the business model and its supporting systems, and
2. the management (leaders).

The more they hit the buffers, the more likely they become disengaged as there’s only so much that we can take.

The term business model used here includes all the processes and procedures, or as someone simply put it “the way things work around here” that affects our everyday working life.

It’s really not hard to see or hear when people are disengaged as you’ll hear people saying:

“we don’t do that here”
“we don’t have the time or budget to change”
“you can’t take your holiday we’re too busy”

And lots of the comments are likely to be prefaced with “can’t, won’t or don’t…” or some other negative term.

What’s the Disconnect?

Ask any good leader and the answers you’ll get will be a similar response to a survey by Accenture carried out in 2014:

• successful organisations are those that have spent time to engage the hearts and minds of all their people, and demonstrate positive beliefs, attitudes and behaviours to drive business results.
• many executives state the problems start with the difficulty of achieving a sustainable ‘mind shift’ at executive and operational levels within the organisation.

Regularly we hear that it’s engaging the hearts and minds at all levels of the organisation chart that will make the difference. That is indeed true but it’s much bigger and deeper than we may think as whilst not the intended outcome, but following processes and procedures can easily create and develop systemic waste, where people just function. And when that’s added to where organisations ignore the people effect it creates more Behavioural Waste™.

 

The traditional business model like the following is where most organisations operate. On the face of it the model appears fine, however it makes several assumptions like the fact that the employees are an engaged workforce, looking for added value, new value, innovation and where relevant are prepared to stand up and be a ‘whistle-blower’ if they have to.

The fact is that the assumptions don’t reflect reality. For whatever reason people conform and follow the “way things are done around here” without questioning it. Even if they do question it and then the boss says no, they just go back and conform and probably are discouraged to question it ever again.

Why isn’t it Reality?
Lots of reasons and I expect you have many you can add to these. It could include being scared of the consequences of speaking up, or not wanting to be seen as negative or rocking the boat so we are driven to just acknowledging that the current system can’t be improved upon other than by patching it up. If patching it up becomes a problem, most will then just sit back and let it fail.

So how do you make Your Business Fit Reality?

What’s needed are Reality-Based Leaders (R-BLs) that acknowledge and recognise the importance of the employee. Not just the specific employees, but all employees.

These R-BLs will be adapting the traditional model to bring in the importance of people into the equation and as Warren Buffet alluded to it’s the difference between managers doing things right (according to systems and processes) and leaders doing the right thing (to meet the situation).

Whilst the Warren Buffet separation has its merits it does mean you must have some great leaders! Perhaps because we have such disengaged workforces we haven’t got enough great leaders or the right balance of leaders and managers?

We make no such differentiation as a business needs to have people at all levels doing things right whilst being allowed to challenge their world in doing the right thing. It’s the employees at the coal face that make these systems work, and they should be best placed to make them work better. Does it matter that they have the title of leaders or managers for the business to succeed and grow?

At the very least, your leaders need to be creating what we call the Mind Fit Convergent Point™ so the organisation is fit for purpose and through that process will be engaging their team on a regular basis.

The convergent point sits between two differing elements of an organisation. The first is the link that exists between the organisational purpose, systems and processes that form traditional business models. The second relates to people and their behaviour and what the business means to them.

An example would help and we are probably familiar with the NASA story of the janitor whose dedication was demonstrated in his low-status work when he explained that if he failed to do his job, astronauts could pick up an infection from a dirty surface and an expensive launch costing millions of dollars could fail (in other words, what might appear to be a menial task actually involved controlling systemic variables).

It is leadership’s ability to connect and re-connect individuals with the organisation’s purpose and re-energise those individuals by appropriate timely reminders of the “personal meaning” of their role within the changing context, that answer the questions: why do you do this job?

This model shows the two different components and the Reality-Based Leaders role is to link the two halves together where they converge.

How do you know where you are?

You simply need to start gathering some evidence. If your answers to the questions below are positive and constructive then your organisation and its leaders are doing the right thing however, if they are not, then it’s a different story.

• Why did you join your company? Was it because it sounded exciting and you believed you could help make a difference?
• What happened to your initial enthusiasm? Was the reality different to what you thought it would be like?
• How much of your time at work do you waste personally or doing activities that do not add value?

But only you will know whether you’ve an engaged workforce or can do better.

If you would like to have the White Paper on Reality-Based Leadership then click here or email us at growth@mindfitltd.com

As ever you have a choice. What’s yours?

 

 

 

Note A: What the CIPD actually quoted:
1. Employers want engaged employees because, as well as being happier, healthier and more fulfilled, they deliver improved business performance. Research has repeatedly demonstrated a relationship between how people are managed, employee attitudes and business performance. There are nuances in the drivers and outcomes of employee engagement, but this basic link holds true across different sectors and job roles. Positive relationships are evidenced with profit, revenue growth, customer satisfaction, productivity, innovation, staff retention, efficiency and health and safety performance. A good summary of the performance link with employee engagement has been published by the UK government-sponsored Engage for Success movement.

2. Organisations also increasingly recognise the importance of their brand and reputation. Engaged employees will be stronger advocates of their organisations and help protect the employer from the reputational risks associated with poor service levels or product quality.

3. Conversely, having a disengaged workforce brings huge risks. As well as productivity losses, organisations may lose their best people and face huge difficulties when embedding organisational change if employees are not on board. Disengagement also threatens effective collaboration, innovation and human capital management, as employees will not be inclined to use their tacit knowledge and skills for the good of the organisation.

 

Making Your Start-up a Success

For the most part Mind Fit as a company works with larger organisations that have many employees, and work with teams focused on business growth and improving performance. The process starts (Mind Fit Foundation Programme) with changes that individual players make and then proceeds towards team performance and business goals.

But start-ups are no different as it’s all about people being the best they can be. So this article has a focus on start-up businesses, or as we would hope to encourage the preparation you need for considering a new business start-up.

History of start-ups

New businesses are starting up at an unprecedented rate and yet experience tells us that 80% or 4 out of every 5 will not succeed.

The excuse for failure when it happens is usually put down to a lack of cash – “we ran out of money” – is the cry. Of course it’s easy to blame one thing at the end when you ran out of your savings, the banks wouldn’t lend you any money or something else around the same thought.

But the reality is, running out of money was the consequence of a combination of other things and most of the time it’s the lack of planning and an understanding of what makes businesses tick and succeed that is the root cause.

So here’s what we would say are the important foundations that you need before you start your new business.

The 3 Keys to Start-up Success

• Financial Acumen

• Marketing Prowess

• Mindset

Financial Acumen

It’s your start-up but any business, new or old requires a lot of financial thinking from you. You may have gone into business because you hadspecial knowledge in an area that has little to do with finance, but you must make sure you become adept at dealing with money. Even if you don’t start out with well-developed financial acumen, you need to be willing to learn and grow when it comes to understanding and executing financial matters.

When someone is said to have financial acumen, experience is the one thing that comes into play. You have to have some experience at dealing with data, tracking expenses and income, understanding sales revenues and KPIs. Any small business owner, has to gain experience in handling financial calculations so that you know how well your business is doing. It’s the same for a department manager, or divisional director, you always need to understand the financials. I have a saying

“don’t blame running out of cash – businesses and projects fail because the cause is always something else”

Expertise in financial matters can be expanded to how to invest, buy assets, reduce costs or expand your payroll. For anyone, me, you or your competitor, all of this knowledge comes with self-study and training. In other words, it must be something you consciously pursue.

But knowing about break even, cash flow, profit, discounts etc are only useful if you have a product or service that someone wants. So the 2nd Key is – Marketing Prowess – . This is something that’s much misunderstood as many see it as selling. In many respects if you master this is can overtake the importance of the 1st Key (it’s not heresy! Just being practical).

Marketing Prowess

Many businesses would have been better had they never started. Why? because it’s that same 80% of start-ups that fail. If you watch Dragon’s Den you’ll regular hear a dragon saying,

“You haven’t got a business, I’m out!”

But why is that when there are so many marketing books out there talking about the 5Ps and the 7Ps of marketing and telling you exactly how to do market research to see if you have a product or service that will sell. In other words whether you have a business or not.

Start-ups are no different from any other business and the simple facts are there are only 3 questions to you have to answer:

1. Is there a problem ?
2. Have you solution for it that you can differentiate from others ?
3. Is there a market for your solution ?

It may sound surprising – but, just because you’ve a unique alternative to others already in the market doesn’t mean there is a market for yours.

Take an example of fixing a laptop or desktop computer – there is certainly a need to have great technicians fixing PCs, most high streets will have a shop offering the service. But market conditions where PCs are so cheap to replace and other cloud based options currently available just may make your repair offer redundant or or worse still in a declining market. i say worse still because you may join a declining market before you realise it!

This TedTalk by Amy Lockwood reinforces the simple point – know your customer

There’s a point when everyone laughs in the video, because it’s funny. But why are they laughing? It’s a key point so you may just want to think on that.

A lot more can be said about marketing but let’s look at the next and final key.

But just a note of interest before – none of the above can be taken in isolation. You get Financial Acumen by experience and doing something until you have that expertise. Likewise you get Marketing Prowess by understanding your market, your customers and clients and testing and practising until you master it. they will have an impact on each other. And the one that is always there bringing them together is the third and final key – Your Mindset.

Your Mindset

Notice it’s not just Mindset –

It’s Your Mindset

This is where the Henry Ford saying is so apt

If you think you can do something, or you think you can’t do something, you’re right.

Whether a young person, a start-up, an employee, an owner or a director you will be successful if you are…

• able to think flexibly and appropriately
• emotionally competent and resilient
• driven with a real sense of purpose
• able to connect meaningfully with others

Having the right mindset or being Mind Fit will be underpinned by a sense of purpose and a passion that will drive you to get the Financial Acumen and Marketing Prowess you need to be successful. And if you need more, you’ll have the drive to go and get what you need.

Now you may be thinking

“I’ve not been trained to do it, where can I get the training?”

My answer to that is simple – what training do you want? Why not start practising something now and when you’re ready you’ll get the training you want. I also say

Business is a marathon not a sprint

not because you can’t get quick wins in business, but plan for the long term – having a plan really helps. But the reality is most people are not ready to progress, as they haven’t the right mindset to start with. But when you have it, you will eat knowledge for breakfast. Just a play on Ken Blanchard’s “feedback is the breakfast of champions”.

Lastly – what happens if your start-up fails?

Well, if you’ve taken the advice above it shouldn’t. But if it does ask the experts on this “A practical Guide to what happens when Businesses Fail” download 

Now the choice is yours.

So what key do you want to improve?

Financial Acumen, Marketing Prowess or Your Mindset

We’re happy to help you find out. It’s always a choice – and you can start today.

Want to know more about Mind Fit?

Call 02071 486187 or email us  

The Game of Golf  should be First Choice shouldn’t it?

 

The Game of Golf is competing like never before on many levels

• Mentally – golf is a challenging mental sport – mindset is important
• Physically – even practising on the range is healthy exercise – living longer
• Socially – the clubhouse scene has all ages, diversity and business opportunity

For  the young and old alike these ‘benefits’ are talked about everywhere so you would think it’s now for many, common sense to take up the game of golf.

Shouldn’t every golf course owner, PGA coach and the PGA be shouting about the virtues of golf at every opportunity?

Let’s deal with that later.

In the mean time it’s said that

The mind is the most formidable opponent a golfer confronts, so mastering the game of mental golf is essential.

The most valuable mental and social skills can be developed on the driving range and the golf course. For example if you have trouble concentrating you can turn that perceived weakness around by taking up the game of golf. Golfers have to learn how to focus on the shot they have coming up and concentrate on choosing the right club, assessing the conditions and then on the fundamentals of their swing. If you think of all the other ‘soft’ skills including confidence, self-esteem, courage, self-discipline… and many more, golf has in abundance.

 

In the full article we explore all the benefits in more detail and the reality check of what’s actually happening – because golf is at risk from lots of competition not least with the choices young people have in today’s arena.  It’s challenging everyone’s mindset as playing golf is a commitment to time and becomes one choice of many options.

To read the rest of the article download it here

or read on Linkedin