Below is a briefing on some interesting employee engagement articles, blog posts, books, etc. that I came across last week.
Website: Forbes
Article: The Best And Worst Cities For Employee Engagement
Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathryndill/2014/08/11/the-best-and-worst-cities-for-employee-engagement/
Author: Kathryn Dill
Comment: “To determine where employees across the country feel the most and least engaged, Quantum Workplace looked at the data collected for 41 cities as part of America’s 2013 Best Places to Work initiative. As part of the company’s 2014 Employee Engagement Trends Report, cities with 70 or more companies participating in Best Places To Work were ranked from most to least engaged based on the percentage of employees in each city’s engagement profile. The places that appear on this include cities and their surrounding suburban areas.” The most engaged city was Huntsville, AL and the least engaged was Lincoln, Nebraska. See article for a complete list.
Website: Recognize This! Blog
Article: 2 Tips to Understand Powerful Company Cultures
Link: http://www.recognizethisblog.com/2014/08/understand-powerful-cultures/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+globoforce%2Frecognize-this+%28Recognize+This%21++With+Derek+Irvine%29
Author: Derek Irvine
Comment: This article summaries a blog post written by the CEO of the Great Place to Work Institute and offers “two important lessons in understanding company culture.” “1. How employees define culture is the basis for understanding how to build a desired culture.” “2. The type of culture employees choose to work within is more telling than obvious assumptions of what make good culture drivers.”
Website: Recognize This! Blog
Article: Who’s Responsible for Employee Engagement?
Link: http://www.recognizethisblog.com/2014/08/responsible-employee-engagement/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+globoforce%2Frecognize-this+%28Recognize+This%21++With+Derek+Irvine%29
Author: Traci Pesch
Comment: “So whose responsibility is it? All of ours! We all have responsibility for our own engagement and those around us.”
Website: Mashable
Article: Why Employee Engagement Is Critical to Corporate Success
Link: http://mashable.com/2014/08/13/corporate-engagement/
Author: James O’Brien
Comment: “One recent ADP report found that when workers become disengaged because they are bored, dissatisfied or uninspired by their job, each employee can represent more than $2,000 in annual loss. At that cost, a business with 100 on staff and a wave of disengagement stands todrain away some $60,000 per year — more than the median income of one U.S. household.” The article discusses why engagement is important and offers approaches to jumpstart engagement.
Website: The HR Leader
Article: How much is employee absence really costing your business?
Link: http://www.thehrdirector.com/features/absence-management/how-much-is-employee-absence-really-costing-your-business/
Author: Neil Pickering
Comment: This article is based on a new whitepaper from Kronos, Out Sick: The True Cost of Employee Absence. After offering results from CBI/Pfizer’s recent Absence and Workplace Health Survey, the article looks at the implications of absences for business and the workforce, management, ends with the importance of developing absence management solutions.
Website: Gallup Business Journal
Article: Should Managers Focus on Performance or Engagement?
Link: http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/174197/managers-focus-performance-engagement.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=Monthly&utm_content=heading&utm_campaign=syndication
Authors: Annamarie Mann and Ryan Darby
Comment: “Many CEOs don’t know that there is a philosophical battle occurring in the ranks of their company’s managers. On one side are the performance-oriented managers who try to help their team perform at high levels by focusing their management activities — such as conversations and development meetings — on the team’s objectives, goals, and desired outcomes. On the other side are the engagement-focused managers who try to help their team perform at high levels by focusing their management activities on creating an engaging environment that energizes and motivates employees and teams.” Read this article to learn which approach managers should take.
Website: Gallup Business Journal
Article: How the Best Companies Engage Their Customers
Link: http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/172022/best-companies-engage-customers.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=Monthly&utm_content=heading&utm_campaign=syndication
Authors: Ed O’Boyle and John H. Fleming
Comment: While this article is about engaging customers, it acknowledges that engaged employees play a key role. “Employees at these companies know why they come to work each day. Their employers instill in them a vital sense of mission and empower them to go the extra mile for customers. These workers do more than just make sales. They strive to build and maintain customer relationships. These companies have a strong brand promise, and they make sure employees know how to deliver on it.”
Website: Modern Survey
Article: The State of Employee Engagement
Link: http://www.modernsurvey.com/blog/the-state-of-employee-engagement
Author: Don MacPherson
Comment: Interview (video) on employee engagement with business performance expert, Ryan Estis.
Website: AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association)
Article: Game On: Businesses Use Techniques from the Gaming World to Increase Engagement
Link: http://www.afcea.org/content/?q=node/13315
Author: Cyndy Hogan
Comment: Enterprise gamification helps companies meet goals and connect employees’ actions to outcomes. “Gamification is big business. Campanelli offered up that the worldwide gamification market was worth $242 million in 2012. In 2016, the market is expected to be worth $2.8 billion, with enterprise gamification predicted to eclipse consumer gamification.”
Website: Fast Company
Article: The People Have Spoken: It’s Time to Start Trusting Your Employees More
Link: http://www.fastcompany.com/3034394/the-future-of-work/the-people-have-spoken-its-time-to-start-trusting-your-employees-more
Author: Mark Lukens
Comment: “Recent research has shown that feeling more powerful makes employees more productive and satisfied with their jobs.” “[T]o start empowering your people, flatten your company’s hierarchy, embrace talent and channel it, and become an artist.”
What are your thoughts on these selections? What articles, blog posts, books, etc. can you recommend to other “Agents”? Let’s talk about them in the comments below!
P.S. First time here? Welcome to the Agent In Engagement site. Thanks for taking the time to stop by! I hope you’ll explore the rest of the site.Let me know what employee engagement topics interest you.
Other recent Agent in Engagement articles by Gregory F Simpson:
- Employee Engagement and Social Media
- Key Learnings from The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age
- A Reference Guide for Employee Engagement Thought Leaders
- A Reference Guide for Employee Engagement Websites
- Key Learnings from Gamify
- A Reference for Employee Engagement Reports, Studies, and Surveys
- 7 Phases of Engagement
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I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Gregory F Simpson.
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