How to beat the trends

Within the last few months two substantial trends have emerged which are interesting, and potentially troubling for business owners and people managers. Firstly, there was a significant surge in job ads in February, which has meant that since August 2009 almost 250,000 new jobs have been advertised in the Australian economy. Secondly, and perhaps more critically, the Workplaces of the Future Report written by Dr. Christina Boedker referred to a Gallup Consulting finding that 80% of Australian employees are not fully engaged in their work currently.

These two trends equate to a lethal concoction for any business; potentially 4 out of 5 employees in your business are disinterested in their job, and there are alternative employment opportunities abound for your unengaged employees to fill elsewhere.

So what can businesses do to best handle these trends? Whilst you can’t control new job opportunities external to your business, you can tackle the notion of employee engagement head on.

Employee Engagement is defined as ‘an employee’s involvement with, commitment to, and satisfaction with work’; so it is all about ensuring that your staff are emotionally attached to, passionate about and satisfied with their role and career development. The concept of strategising directly around engagement is relatively new in Australia; however developing and implementing an effective strategy for engagement is a must, and we have some tips.

Engagement Tips

1. Develop an affective performance review process which allows for employees to receive timely feedback and helps them to develop in their role more effectively.
2. Professional Development Planning (PDP) – employees need to know where they fit into the business strategically and what is envisaged for them as they develop and grow in skill. If a plan is not espoused which shows an employee how they will progress with your business, they are more likely to leave the employee.
3. Recognise Employees for their effort and performance and Reward

The third point around recognition of employees is especially important. Consistently recognising the positive contributions of employees and rewarding them tangibly is a key lever for active engagement. Psychologically speaking, if an employee is being recognised by managers (and potentially their peers) and reinforced with some form of incentive and reward, they will inevitably be more passionate about their role.

Furthermore, reward and recognition initiatives which are effectively implemented will bolster the employee value proposition of your business, which can only be a good thing in lieu of the emergence of a more robust job market in recent months.

Simon Tufrey – Motivation Coach, Power2Motivate