Engaging Employees

Successful implementation is greatly facilitated when the people carrying out the change are engaged in the process and buy in to the strategy and tactics.

Ideally, this should involve:

• Acceptance

• Understanding

• Willing participation

• Enthusiasm

Achieving this requires two-way communication: not just top-down dissemination of instructions and information, but also soliciting and listening to workforce questions, concerns, and suggestions. Attention should also be paid to building motivation and incentives into the change process, such as recognition and reward programs and links to compensation.
Finally, critical to the success of any change initiative is follow-up during and after implementation to evaluate the new processes and modify them if they are not having the intended impact on departments or individuals.

Employee Engagement Tools : Be open, and invite employee participation and communication.

1. Communicate (in multiple directions):
• Convey strategic goals, rationale, and overall direction of change.
• Communicate constantly about what is different and how it affects people
• Communicate about links to corporate culture and other systems.
• Solicit feedback.
• Use multiple communication methods: Web sites, newsletters, focus groups, town hall meetings, information centers, and the like.

2. Think globally:
• Conduct surveys and interviews to determine employee views and needs.
• Obtain early input about impact on employees and their roles and functions.

3. Act locally:
• Facilitate effectiveness of local leaders and build trust within units.
• Create employee-driven teams.
• Reorganize work assignments effectively and equitably.

4. Provide motivation and incentives:
• Link implementation to objectives, compensation, HR practices.
• Establish recognition and reward systems.
• Empower employees in the change process.

5. Follow-up:

• Conduct surveys to assess successes, hurdles, and employee engagement. 

• Respond to employee suggestions and concerns.

Source: The conference Board

Image Flickr