Most employees want to make a long term impact. But, what does it take to harness that energy, to motivate employees and keep them engaged? These ideas were discussed during last week’s webinar, “The Business Case for Employee Engagement.”
“Engagement is a culture, it is systemic,” said moderator Mark Herbert, who is a principal from New Paradigms LLC. “Engagement is not a program, it’s a culture. … [It] is something we own collectively. It must be owned and shared to all.”
“If employees think as an owner and not a renter of their job, employee engagement will be a result,” said speaker, Marketing and Brand Strategist Debbie Laskey.
Debbie raised some important areas to look into for making sure your employees are engaged. “Watch the clock: is it 5 o’clock and everybody’s out of the office?” she said. “When your employees are engaged, they really want their friends to come and share in the fun they’re having at work… When it drops significantly, you know there’s a problem.”
Part of employee engagement is getting everyone to understand the importance of their role in contributing to the company. Inga Kulberg, TIBCO’s director of corporate staffing, talked about how employees are using enterprise social networking to drive engagement. “You get a question from the CEO and anybody in the company can answer it,” she said. “In today’s culture, you really need to create an environment of inclusion where everyone, top and down, feel valued, feel integrated into the fabric of the company and where the skills and knowledge of your employees are really recognized, appreciated, and utilized. When that all comes together, employees are engaged and they contribute to the organizations success. Bottom line—they’re really willing to go the extra mile and be really innovative.”
Part of employee engagement is getting employees to see the big picture, to have an idea of what executive management is thinking. That’s where enterprise social networking helps fill in the gaps. Learn more about how enterprise social networking is revolutionizing the way we work.
