Effective employee

engagement
Engagement is something lots of people get excited - dare we say passionate - about. We do
too, so we thought we’d share with you what it’s all about, ideas for you to consider and
experiences of making it happen that you can use.

Read on to find out more about

• How to design successful engagement strategies and activities

• Real examples of engagement in action
• A selection of really great engagement tools you can use
• Three different ways of looking at engagement
• Recent research findings on engagement
• Fresh thinking: new takes on engagement at work

Three different ways of looking at engagement

Engagement is defined in lots of different ways and in a sense each definition is right. What
links them all together is a focus on improving people’s performance at work.

We’ve worked with lots of different organisations facing a variety of challenges. In our
experience, engagement is typically viewed in one of three ways:

Oh so practical

The vast majority of organisations view engagement very practically, for example ‘we need to
engage everyone around X topic or issue’ (by which they mean ‘get people’s hearts and
minds around it’). Often this is because there is a change in organisational focus, a new
initiative needs to be implemented or behaviours need to be aligned to new ways of working.
Effective learning, communication and coaching principles are used to help people
internalise business issues, creating a line of sight between strategy and an individual’s role.
Approaches vary – from the very directional to the more involving and explorative.

Deep and meaningful

A growing number of organisations see engagement as the outcome of a healthy

psychological contract and how engaged an individual is with their job - for example are their
role and responsibilities clear, are they properly equipped to do their job, do they feel valued
and appropriately rewarded etc? This requires a more sophisticated approach which takes
into account the wide variety of factors that influence how positive people are about their job
and the organisation they work for.

Making the connection(s)

A small number of organisations see it as strategic – the end result of everything the
organisation does to nurture, maintain and grow a positive and productive two-way
relationship with employees. This requires joined-up thinking and action across a whole host
of areas – from how people are rewarded, to the way leaders communicate and how people
are developed for the future. It also emphasises the critical role good people managers’ play
and the importance of allowing employees to play to their strengths.

In many ways engagement is nothing new. It’s just become more important in the struggle to
find a real source of competitive advantage. The challenge is how good your organisation is
at making it happen.
Designing successful engagement strategies and programmes: what it
really takes
Having designed lots of different engagement programmes – from team-based events to
leadership conferences and global engagement programmes around issues such as
strategy, safety and customer focus, we pretty clear on what works. We’ve distilled all the
lessons we’ve learned (so far) into the following two mini-guides.

Mini-guide: Designing an effective engagement strategy

Get your definitions right: Make sure everyone understands what communication and
engagement means

Engagement as a concept is widely used (and abused). Make sure you clearly define what it
means for your organisation or project. If engagement means involvement or dialogue rather
than active participation then be honest. And if you just have to tell people something then
tell them – don’t dress it up as something its not because it fools no-one.

If people are confused about the difference between communication and engagement then
you may find the following definition helpful:

Communication creates the context against which engagement happens. Only if people have
the right level of awareness, understanding and information, is it possible for them to engage
fully in designing and creating the future.

Think (very) carefully about what you want to achieve

Focus on the outcomes you want to see and work backwards from there. Are you looking for
specific business results, a shift in mindset or new behaviours (or all three)? Be specific.
Then identify all the different factors that will influence the end result and identify what you
need to do to tackle them. The Engaged Performance Model is a good place to start.

Be clear who you want to engage and why

Identify those people who you really need to engage – sometimes it’s everyone, but more
often than not it’s a defined group who, once engaged, will make a significant difference.
Take time to understand who they are, what role they need to play and what baggage they
will bring along in the process.

Don’t be prescriptive

True engagement happens when people work through issues and shape solutions. Everyone
therefore has to be open to new ways of doing things, be willing to change tack if
circumstances dictate and get involved with designing the engagement process.

Make sure you put the right measures in place

The most effective engagement processes are those where you are very clear about what
you want to achieve and the appropriate measures are put in place. And the best measures
are objective, outcome-based ones that provide immediate feedback on progress i.e.
revenue generated, reduction in accidents, increase in customer satisfaction levels, etc.
Best of all get those you’re engaging to define their own measures for success.
Mini-Guide: Designing effective engagement activities and processes

Give up control

Engagement involves taking an adult (rather than paternal) approach, and trusting that
people are clued up enough to work out the solution to a business challenge or problem for
themselves.

Let people discover things for themselves

Engagement is about people working things through and finding the answer or solution that
works best in their particular operational context. So don’t worry if you don’t know or can’t
give them all the answers. You and they will work it through.

Less is more

When it comes to engagement, quality really does count. Be clear about the issues you want
people to engage with and what you want them to focus on. Concentrate on action and make
sure they don’t drown in the detail.

Make things challenging

Engagement requires people to use energy and effort. Make it easy for them to get their
heads around the issue, give them a good challenge to get their teeth in to and plenty of
space to find the right solution/answer.

Get physical and emotional

Provide people with tools and activities that get them physically and emotionally engaged.
The more they actively have to do the more engaged they will become.

Make it part of the day job

Lots of companies now offer engagement products or tools. In our view there are no clever or
a quick-fix solutions if you really want to do it properly. And one-off events, workshops or
conferences are fun but rarely deliver long term results. Successful engagement builds real
‘part of the day job’ ownership for making things happen.

Work with third parties who know their stuff

There is a big difference between producing engaging material/events and developing a

programme or process that truly gets people engaged. Only work with third parties who
understand the psychology of change, know how to coach people and have experience of
how to design learning or training materials.
Engagement in action
And here are some real life examples of engagement in action.

CASE STUDY 1: Building commitment to driving safety in BP

2006 IABC Gold Quill Excellence Award Winner

“Outstanding learning philosophy to let participants

‘pull’ rather than be ‘pushed’. – IABC Judging Panel
The biggest single risk activity that BP employees face every day may surprise you …
it’s driving. So how do you get people to take such as day-to-day activity seriously
enough to reduce accidents and save lives?

The challenge?

Convincing people to make the right choices when it comes to driving safely is an enormous
challenge, which involves changing behaviours that are often habitual and engrained.

The solution?

We developed a flexible engagement toolkit which was translated into 17 languages.

The toolkit contained a sophisticated blend of learning, coaching and communication based
activities which when combined enabled employees to take ownership for driving more
safely. Used by regional HSSE teams over a nine- month period, it has helped 10,000 people
had have focused, productive and meaningful conversations about driving safety.

The result ?

Over the last 18 months, the engagement toolkit has been used extensively around the
world. This, combined with ongoing work by the road safety team, has reduced the
number of employee driving-related incidents. Nearly half of the employees in BP
Lubricants have completed a driving safety database to verify their compliance with the
Standard. 4,500 professional and occasional drivers have attended defensive driving training
and all 2,000 professional drivers have attended fatigue awareness training.
CASE STUDY 2: Creating greater collaboration across a team
The challenge ?

To find a way to get 60 people working across three very different divisions within a
Government department to better understood each other and work much more
collaboratively together.

The solution ?

We chose to run a half-day interactive workshop based around the Myers Briggs Type
Indicator because it allowed people to explore each other’s types and different working
styles. It also provided a great platform for discussing how to communicate, engage and
work more effectively together.

The result ?

The whole team now has a much better understanding of each other’s strengths and
weaknesses, and preferred ways of working. They also understand how these can be
combined together on projects for clients across the department.
A selection of our favourite engagement tools
• Learning cafes – short, sharp interactive sessions on key issues, designed to get
people doing things differently. Deliberately high-level but a good way of getting
people’s input and involvement.

• Workmats or learning maps – great ways of getting everyone discussing issues

based around one large sheet of paper. They get people physically as well as
emotionally involved.

• Games – A fun, entertaining way to get people engaged in an issue. Need to be

carefully developed to hit the right mark.

• Workouts – Working sessions designed to work through and resolve issues.

Attendees normally present recommendations to leaders and are empowered to take
action or make changes.

• Appreciative enquiry – A great way of framing issues so that what you focus on is
doing more of what you do well, rather than trying to address areas of weakness

• Open space technology – An open and involving way of running meetings, large
and small. Not everyone’s cup of tea but very powerful when used in the right context.

• Digital storytelling – A means of using the latest desktop technology to get teams to
engage in the creating the future by creating their own compelling story. The likes of
Coca-cola, IBM and the BBC have already used it successfully.

• Forum Theatre – A different take on role-playing where actors play out scenarios
under the direction of a team of employees. Great for solving issues around
communication, conflict, customer service and working more effectively together.

Great people managers - May not seem like a tool but if your managers are great people
managers then they know how to engage each and every person on their team – not only
about the task in hand but also in creating the future.

A handy model of engagement?

STAY SAY STRIVE
Intense desire to Consistently say positive Exert extra effort
be part of the things about the organisation to reach business
organisation to others goals

Source: Hewitt, Bacon and Woodrow/Royal Bank of Scotland quoted in Institute

of Employment Studies, The Drivers of Employee Engagement Study, 2004

Viewpoint: Royal Bank of Scotland has been doing some great work on measuring
employee engagement at work. This model highlights that real engagement happens on
a highly individual and personal level and that high levels of emotional buy-in and
motivation are key.
The factors that contribute to employees being engaged…….

Source: Institute of Employment Studies,

The Drivers of Employee Engagement Study, 2004

Viewpoint: This model is a useful way of summarising the various factors that have a part to
play in creating engagement at work. They are a mixture of the practical, aspirational and
motivational. Use it to check how your organisation measures up.
Useful research: Did you know?
• Employees who are most committed perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to
leave the organisation

• An analysis of both rational and emotional forms of engagement reveals that

emotional engagement is four times more valuable than rational engagement in
driving employee effort

• While employees’ commitment to their manager is crucial to engagement, the

manager is most important as the enabler of employee's commitment to their jobs,
organisations and teams

• Among the top 25 drivers of employee engagement, the most important one is the
connection between an employee’s job and organisation strategy

Key findings from 2004 Corporate Leadership Council Engagement Survey based on
a survey of 50,000 employees around the world

• Only 12% of UK employees could be described as “fully engaged” with their business,
compared with 36% of Swiss, 24% of Irish and 18% of German employees. Only
Italian employees, at 9%, were less engaged than their UK counterparts.

Take from Watson Wyatt’s Work Europe 2005 survey based on interviews with more than
8,500 private sector workers from across Europe.
Fresh Thinking
Every now and then we come across a book we’ve found interesting (either because we
like what it says or it presents a new point of view). Here are two you might want to take a
look at:

The Living Dead – Switched Off, Zoned Out. The Shocking Truth of Office Life

If you happen to have read David Bolchover’s latest book, you’ll know it’s a far from
comfortable read. He believes a large proportion of the global workforce is so bored,
disillusioned and disengaged that they employ a bewildering array of diversionary tactics
to simply get through each working day (from surfing the net to having sex with a
colleague at work). We leave it to you to guess who he thinks is to blame!

The new rules of engagement – Life-work balance and employee commitment

According to Mike Johnson, work-life balance is the wrong way round because for many
employees it’s a question of life-work balance. He argues for taking a more enlightened
and less controlling approach to managing people and the need for organisations to truly
value good people managers. And about time too!

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