Temkin 2018 Employee Engagement Report
As most of my readers and followers know, Inward and I have been huge supporters of employee engagement for over 20 years. One piece of research after another supports the proposition that employee engagement is a decisive factor in company success. Research from EEA (Enterprise Engagement Association) has data that says companies with high levels of employee engagement have higher shareholder value and revenue. Gallup research indicates that high employee engagement contributes to higher productivity and revenue growth. I just saw some recent study that suggests that less than 50% of the employees understand the brand idea and even fewer understand what they're supposed to do to support the brand value proposition. So, it comes as no surprise what the Temkin Group has just released regarding their “Employee Engagement Competency & Maturity, 2018”.
My friend, Bruce Temkin and his firm The Temkin Group has been doing this research for some years to gauge the importance customer engagement and has been monitoring patterns and trends in employee engagement and the impact it has on the customer experience. Here’s the executive summary of this annual review of employee engagement activities, competencies, and maturity levels for large companies:
To understand how companies are engaging their employees, Temkin surveyed 178 large companies and compared their responses with similar studies they have conducted in previous years. They also asked survey respondents to complete Temkin Group’s Employee Engagement Competency & Maturity (EECM) Assessment. The EECM Assessment places companies in one of five stages of maturity (the 5-I’s), which is very close to Inward’s Internal Dialogue Marketing® framework process of 1) Generating Awareness, 2) Creating Understanding, 3) Building Commitment and 4) Recognizing and Rewarding employees. It evaluates their performance across five employee engagement competencies: Inspire, Inform, Instruct, Incent, and Involve. Their findings found the following:
• Team leaders of non-customer-facing groups are the least supportive of customer-centric activities.
• Nearly 70% of companies measure employee engagement at least annually, yet only 40% of executives consider acting on the results to be a high priority.
• The top obstacle to employee engagement activities continues to be the lack of an employee engagement strategy.
• While only 19% of companies are in the top two stages of employee engagement maturity, 49% are in the bottom two.
When Temkin compared companies with above average employee engagement maturity to those with lower maturity, they found that employee engagement leaders have better customer experience, enjoy better financial results, have more coordinated employee engagement efforts, have more widespread support across employee groups, are more likely to act on employee feedback, and face fewer obstacles than their counterparts with less engaged workforces.
So, the question becomes how can companies induce and create greater engagement among employees? Here are five things companies can do to start improving employee engagement.
1. Support your employee’s values and personal goals by showing how the company’s purpose and values are aligned with their goals and aspiration. This trait is especially crucial for millennial as their numbers continue to rise in the workforce. For millennials, the purpose is a strong motivator. In a 2016 study by Cone Communications, 88% of millennials polled found their job more fulfilling when they are provided with opportunities to make a positive impact on social and environmental issues.
2. Lead by example - don’t leave employee engagement to chance. Communicate with senior leadership and hold them accountable for running the company based on corporate values and purpose that matter to employees and their customers.
3. Invest in interactive training to teach employees about the strategy of the company, providing explanations how it works and operates, demonstrate how their role and job impacts the strategy and operations and finally the importance of customer engagement on activities and revenue growth
4. Listen and act on employee opinions and views to improve performance and workflows. To often companies operate in silos and rarely give employees a voice and operations. Today, with internal social media capabilities such as Yammer, SharePoint, and others, it is easy to have an interactive exchange of ideas around innovations and creative ideas.
5. Recognize and reward people who excel and provide exceptional performance. Don’t take their efforts and work for granted. Make them will rock stars in your organization and give them the recognition and rewards they deserve.
If you would like to have a discussion about this topic, please call.
Allan Steinmetz CEO - Inward Strategic Consulting 617-558-9770