The 4 key_elements_of_employee_engagement

The The 4 4 Key Key Elements Elements of of

Employee EngagementEmployee Engagement

James Adonis

James Adonis 1

About The Author

James Adonis is a leading employee engagement expert. He has managed

small teams of only a few people to large teams of over 100 in various

industries. The one consistent factor has been his exceptional employee

engagement results.

James’s achievements include taking a team that had employee turnover

exceeding 70% and reducing it to zero – where it was maintained for 2 years.

His teams have also achieved employee engagement results that have

exceeded not only the industry standard, but world’s best practice as well. His

winning employee engagement formula has been proven to work in many

organisations around the world.

As a professional speaker, corporate workshop facilitator, and author of “Love

Your Team: How to halve your employee turnover in less than 90 days!”

James’s mission is to empower business leaders to drive change within their

organisations with the belief that employee engagement is critical to an

organisation’s success.

Website: www.jamesadonis.com © James Adonis, 2005 Email: [email protected] Phone: + 61 2 9331 2465 Fax: + 61 2 9331 3945 Mobile: + 61 402 334 987

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Introduction

Behind every exceptionally successful organisation is employee engagement.

An organisation can only be a competitive market leader and a driving force in

its industry if it has a team of people who are truly engaged.

Most managers confuse the term employee satisfaction with employee

engagement. Employee satisfaction is when you have a happy team. And

that’s it. Employee engagement, however, does so much more.

Employee engagement is when your employees are dedicated to their jobs

and the organisation. It’s when they talk positively of their employer, go the

extra mile for their customers, put in extra effort than what’s required, and

reward the organisation with their loyalty and commitment. Above all,

organisations that champion employee engagement become employers of

choice, and when you’re an employer of choice, you attract the best possible

employees in the marketplace.

There are four key elements to employee engagement. These are

recruitment, support, relationships, and opportunities. In that order, they

form the ‘employee engagement journey’. Whilst these four elements are

absolutely critical when creating an engaged team, there are many more

factors within these elements which need to be considered.

The aim of this e-book is to outline these elements and the factors within

them. This will provide you with a fantastic start for your employee

engagement journey.

Feel free to forward this e-book on to anyone else you think may find it

of benefit. All that we request is that you do not amend any of the

information contained within it and that you credit James Adonis as the

author of this e-book.


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Recruitment

It’s always easier to engage the right kind of employee, and that’s why

recruitment is the first important element in the engagement journey. The

people that you recruit can make or break your team’s success. Think back to

a time when you had to manage people who were unmotivated, not focused,

and not suited to their jobs. We’ve all been there and can acknowledge how

difficult, awkward and time-consuming such situations can be. It’s possible

these employees should not have been recruited in the first place and we

often find ourselves asking “who hired this person?” Therefore, when you

have the opportunity to recruit someone, it’s critical to do it properly – even if it

means being without a vital employee for an extended period of time. The

following are the critical components of the recruitment process which have an

impact on employee engagement.

Position Descriptions

Busy leaders often hastily prepare a position description, don’t update

previous ones, and sometimes even recruit people without having one in

place. The end result is a lack of clarity for the employee in terms of what

he’s meant to be doing at work.

A well-prepared position description outlines the position title and where this

fits within the organisation’s structure. It also details duties and

responsibilities, qualifications and experience required, reporting lines, the

purpose of the position, selection criteria, and other preferences such as

flexibility, hours, and character traits.

Importantly, the position description should be presented to a potential

candidate before they’re even interviewed. This is so that the candidate can

see early on in the recruitment process exactly what the job entails. This then


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gives him the opportunity to withdraw his application (thereby saving

everyone’s time) or to ask further questions during the interview process.

Job Interview Process

Carefully consider how you’re going to structure your interview process. Think

about whether any of the following would provide you with value when trying

to find the right person:

Telephone interviews can be used to screen candidates before they

make it through to the face-to-face interview, thereby saving time.

Face-to-face interviews are the most common method of recruitment.

The most effective interviews contain a mixture of both behavioural-

based and situational questions. The best interviewers create a

relaxed and comfortable environment so that the applicant is able to

display his true characteristics. Group exercises are used to see how people work with others. Role plays and simulation activities give an indication as to how a

candidate may potentially perform in a role. Psychometric testing is used to ascertain a candidate’s level of

intellect and personality. It’s important that this testing is not looked at

in isolation but in conjunction with all the recruitment tools. Reference checks are a form of testimonial, usually conducted by a

previous manager. Background checks are more thorough checks which delve into the

accuracy of a candidate’s employment and educational history. Job trials usually occur for a period of one week in order to observe a

candidate’s ability to do the job before making an offer. Presentations, conducted by the candidate, are useful if the job

involves significant amounts of presenting. Headhunting services tend to be used in times when finding the right

applicant is incredibly difficult.


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I don’t recommend using all of these; rather, the ones you use will be

dependent on the nature of the job.

Recruit for Attitude

The biggest mistake managers make during the recruitment process is they

recruit only based upon skills and experience. But you can teach skills and

you can obtain experience. What you can’t teach or obtain is the right

attitude.

Hiring only based upon skills and experience is dangerous – because this

method brings in bad habits. It’s easier to coach and train someone with the

right attitude, than to change the attitude of someone who’s got the right

qualifications.

Culture Fit

So you’ve found the perfect person…. but are they culturally aligned with your

organisation? The perfect employee can be destructive if his values and

ethics do not match those of your organisation. Further negative impacts can

develop if his personality is likely to clash with his colleagues.

Likewise, if your corporate culture is not suited to the candidate, even he will

find it demoralising. It’s almost impossible to become an engaged employee if

your behaviours are out of sync with those of the organisation.

A good test is to walk the candidate around your workplace and observe his

reactions to what’s around him. This will give you (and him) a good indication

as to whether you’re suitable for each other. You may also like to incorporate


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questions during the interview that relate to his values to see if they’re aligned

with the organisation’s culture.

Expectations

Upon recruiting the right employee, be clear on your expectations, and

generally the position description is a good starting point for this discussion.

Outline in detail the behaviours you expect, the values and ethics you’d like

him to uphold, the performance indicators he’s required to meet, how he goes

about achieving these, and how his performance will be measured.

To maximise engagement levels, try and be flexible with your expectations,

encourage creativity and permit the employee to challenge the status quo.

Doing otherwise may make him feel restricted and micro-managed.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is someone’s ability to understand and influence their

own and others’ emotions. Managers that possess emotional intelligence are

able to use this to their advantage by relating and connecting with their

employees.

Whilst emotional intelligence isn’t a necessary attribute to look for when

recruiting for front-line employees, it is absolutely essential if you’re recruiting

for leaders who’ll be managing people. If you’re a manager of managers,

promote and recruit managers that display a healthy level of emotional

intelligence so that you know they’ll respond to your employees with a solid

understanding of how their words and actions will impact each employee.


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Support

The second element of the engagement journey is support. This is important

at all stages of an employee’s career but it is especially critical every time an

employee gets a new job. The best managers acknowledge that providing

their team members with a strong support network is one of the primary ways

of developing high levels of employee engagement. Without it, employees

can feel disillusioned and neglected. There are a multitude of techniques that

you’re able to incorporate into your work practices that will enhance the

strength of the support you provide your employees. The main ones are listed

below.

Training

An induction training program is crucial for all new employees. This program

should include a tour of the workplace’s facilities, the organisation’s goals and

mission, and procedures. A solid induction program will make the transition

into your organisation much easier for the new employee.

A professional induction also creates a good first impression. A creative and

interactive induction program will make it less daunting and will aid in

knowledge retention. Even get your existing employees involved in

conducting the training so that they start to build relationships with the

employees early on.

Ongoing training is the key to developing a highly skilled workforce. Whether

it’s via an online course, face-to-face training, an external course, or a self-

paced training manual, the benefits of a regular focus on ongoing training will

ensure that your employees are knowledgeable. This enables them to

perform better and when employees feel that they’re learning and developing,

their engagement levels rise at the same time.


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Resources

Engaged employees have managers that make sure they have the resources

they need to be able to perform in their roles. These resources include

stationery such as pens and writing pads; manuals, particularly in regards to

troubleshooting, product information, and process maps; and access to

reliable and user-friendly systems, for example, computers and log ons.

Providing your employees with the resources they need aids employee

engagement. For example, it takes away the stress they face when they have

to constantly look for stationery, and it also alleviates the feeling of

helplessness when they’re trying to source information or access a particular

computer system.

Feedback

Feedback can be provided formally and informally, but importantly, it must be

provided regularly. Provide both positive and constructive feedback so that

it’s balanced, and focus on the employee’s behaviours and not on him as a

person. How you give feedback can drastically undo a lot of great employee

engagement work that you’ve previously achieved, so be prepared, be clear,

and have an effective feedback structure in place.

Masters of employee engagement also seek feedback from their employees.

Ask your team members to tell you what you’re doing well and which areas

you need to improve. Ask for this feedback in face-to-face meetings as well

as via anonymous staff surveys. Then take action to correct the areas for

development so that your employees see that you’ve taken their feedback on

board. The best feedback you could ever receive on how your employee

engagement strategies are progressing is by seeking feedback directly from

your employees.


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Rewards and Recognition

Managers are usually good at providing rewards but they often forget about

the importance of recognition, which in many instances is more meaningful

to the employee. Simple gestures such as “thank you”, “well done”, or visible

praise to an employee’s peers and senior managers will go further than

standard rewards such as movie tickets and gift vouchers.

This doesn’t mean that we should relax the amount of rewards we provide our

employees. It’s imperative that these continue but that the right behaviours

are rewarded consistently. Provide rewards not only for your employees’

accomplishments, but also for significant improvements they make, ‘personal

bests’ they achieve, and any other actions that result in a positive result for

the organisation.

Pay and Benefits

Employees will never be totally satisfied with their salary. In employee

engagement surveys, you will always see salary satisfaction rate poorly,

despite how competitive an organisation’s salary schemes may be. So then

how do you improve this area? It all comes down to the delivery of the pay

review. Try the following techniques when delivering a pay review and see

how much more positively the review is received by the employee:

Provide the employee with the salary market average and the salary

market range for their job in the marketplace. This will highlight how

competitively they’re being remunerated. If this analysis shows

otherwise, you need to consider increasing the salary if you’d like to

attract and retain the best workers.

Provide detailed reasons to explain the rationale behind the employee’s

salary. Previous experience, qualifications, and most of all, the

employee’s recent work performance, are a great place to start.


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Situations arise where employees are remunerated at the maximum

possible level for their particular job. If this is the case and increasing

their salary further is unreasonable, perhaps provide them with a larger

bonus.

Investigate whether there are any other benefits that you can provide your

employees. These can include discounts with various retailers and

manufacturers, such as banking institutions, computer companies, association

memberships, magazine subscriptions, etc. These are attractive incentives

which can help propel your organisation as an employer of choice.

Communication

Transparency is the key when it comes to communication. Do it frequently,

openly, and verbally. Use one-on-one development sessions, team meetings,

and quick catch-ups with your team on a daily basis. Whenever you come

across any information that your employees may find useful or which may

help them perform better in their roles, pass it on. Such a constant flow of

communication increases the trust between you and your employees; it also

makes them feel as though they’re important, and reduces the chances of

them not knowing what’s going on.

The most engaging form of communication is via face-to-face channels, so

use this method as often as you can. Resort to impersonal forms of

communication, such as e-mails, in times when it’s not possible for you to

communicate face-to-face or over the phone. So long as the channels of

communication are always open and working, your employees will be kept in

the loop and consequently engaged.


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Work/life Balance

Employers who encourage a work/life balance for their employees

acknowledge that an employee having a fulfilled personal life is just as

important as being fulfilled at work. They’re generally flexible with their

employees’ hours and days of work to accommodate their employees’

personal commitments, such as family, study, well-being, etc. Employers are

increasingly embracing work/life cultures because they can see the benefits to

the business in terms of employee engagement, reduced turnover, lower

absenteeism, and greater morale.

Change Management

Most employees are highly resistant to change. So in a world where business

is changing more rapidly than ever before, employee engagement can be

hampered if a sound change management process is not in place.

The most effective change managers involve their people every step of the

way. This includes seeking their feedback during the initial idea formulation

stage, involving them in testing, training, and even implementation.

Communicate the reasons for the change and the benefits arising from it,

outline why other alternatives weren’t chosen, and provide regular (at least

weekly) updates on how the implementation of the change is progressing.

This approach will make them advocates of the change, rather than

opponents of it.

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is when you do something just because it feels good, such

as a hobby. If a manager can make a job intrinsically motivating for an

employee, the chances of that employee being strongly engaged increase


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dramatically. To find out precisely what it is that intrinsically motivates your

employees, simply ask them.

Most managers use extrinsic motivation to get the best out of their

employees. Extrinsic motivation refers to incentives such as pay increases,

bonuses, rewards, etc. These are short-term solutions that don’t have a

lasting effect on employee engagement. No amount of extrinsic motivational

techniques can replicate the enjoyment employees get from truly loving what

they do. Naturally, this has definite flow-on benefits to the organisation.


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Relationships

Strong relationships are absolutely essential when creating an engaged team.

Employees are usually more inclined to work harder and go the extra mile if

they have a great relationship with their manager. However, there are a raft of

relationships, all of which need to be nurtured, if a team is to be truly engaged.

These include solid relationships with their peers, other departments, and

even with the organisation itself. These are outlined below in more detail.

Managers

This is the most important relationship of all – the one between the employee

and his manager. Try to build relationships with your team members that

extend beyond conversations that are work-related. Take an active interest in

their personal lives, ask them on a regular basis about their families, partners,

hobbies, etc, and show a genuine care for their welfare. Be visible as much

as possible by sitting with the team or by spending time with them.

Whilst direct managers have the greatest influence on an employee’s

engagement levels, senior and executive managers also have a role to play.

If they take the time to converse with front-line team members, get results, ask

for and respond to feedback, and communicate regularly with employees,

then engagement levels will increase.

Peers

If your employees have colleagues with whom they get along, it’s likely they’ll

enjoy coming to work and their engagement levels will subsequently rise.

Think about the team you have now. Do your employees have at least one

close friend within the team? This is a good indicator of team cohesion. A


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network of employees will work more efficiently, positively, and with fewer

clashes if there is cohesiveness within the team.

Foster an environment where your employees are able to build such

relationships with each other. Consider using team building activities,

encourage a significant amount of interaction amongst your employees, and

organise events outside of work where your employees can socialise and

connect.

Other departments also play a part in your employees’ engagement in a

similar way. If your employees have built close relationships with other

departments, they’ll spend less time talking negatively about each other.

Organise events where your employees can get to know employees from

these areas. For example, organise cross-departmental team meetings,

social events, etc.

Another factor that determines how employees develop relationships with their

peers is via the quality of their peers’ work. For example, if one employee is

working hard and producing work of exceptional quality, but the second

employee is slacking off and producing below-average work results, the first

employee will become less engaged. For this reason, be quick to recognise

employees who aren’t performing at the required level, and take action to

improve their performance.

Organisation

Many managers are surprised to learn that an employee’s relationship with

the organisation is a significant contributor to how engaged he’ll be in the

workplace. In fact, the organisation’s role is huge with many factors

influencing the employee’s perception of the organisation. Listed below are

the major determinant aspects of an organisation which have an effect on

engagement:


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Goals – the vision and direction in which the company is headed; its

medium and long-term strategies; and its objectives and how it plans to

achieve these.

Values – their alignment with the employee’s values; how well the

organisation actually practices its values; and how these values are

communicated, displayed, and linked to the industry’s code of ethics.

Culture – the behaviours and beliefs of the organisation needs to

match those of the employees’; the collective attitude of an

organisation’s employees needs to not impact negatively on those that

don’t conform; and the management team must act as role models and

conduct themselves in a manner that’s representative of an ideal

corporate culture.

Office Politics – whilst this is evident in every organisation, there are

ways to minimise it, such as: avoid talking about people in a negative

way, give credit where credit’s due, help people to achieve their

potential, stay focused on the organisation’s vision and values, and

don’t succumb to devious peer pressure.

Customers – the organisation’s emphasis on customer service needs

to match those of the employee; employees who deal with customers

must feel that the organisation acts on customers’ complaints; and

when an organisation has an excellent reputation among customers,

employees tend to feel pride working for the organisation, and so they

subsequently become engaged.

Processes – complex processes and excessive authorisations result in

a bureaucratic culture that makes certain tasks too difficult to complete;

employee engagement can be enhanced by simplifying processes and

procedures; and a continual focus on the improvement of processes

and the adoption of new technologies provides employees with the

assurance that the organisation is progressive and competitive.


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Safety – employees feel engaged when they see their employer doing

everything they can to minimise occupational incidents, such as the

following actions: thorough hazard identification processes where

potential accidents are eliminated before they occur; regular training

provided to employees and managers to minimise accidents by being

able to recognise hazards; clear signs warning employees of dangers

and providing information on safety practices; regular safety audits

conducted by an independent department or organisation; and

empathy and consideration to be shown at times when accidents occur.

Community – employees highly regard working for employers that

actively support the community in ways that include: assisting local

community groups; social responsibility in terms of human rights and

business ethics; involvement in charities; and care for the environment

by recycling and minimising harmful waste.

Work Location – The proximity of the workplace to an employee’s

home, the status associated with the location of the workplace, and the

facilities and décor of the workplace are all mitigating factors in how

work location affects employee engagement.

Job Security – With employees around the world ranking this as a

very high priority, employee engagement is higher when the chances of

retrenchment or restructure are low.


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Opportunities

The final element of the employee engagement journey is the creation of

opportunities. It’s the final element because each employee needs to first go

through the recruitment process, the support phase, and the building of

relationships, before sound opportunities can present themselves.

Opportunities don’t always need to be focused on career advancement. In

fact, most times they’re not. There are other ways of creating an environment

where opportunities for your employees abound, and while opportunities

continue to present themselves, your employees will remain engaged. Here

are a few tried and tested ways of doing this:

Job Variety

The actual work that employees do and the tasks they complete play a pivotal

role in their levels of engagement. In many industries, there are a significant

number of jobs that are monotonous, such as call centres and administrative

positions. In roles like these, it’s important to add as much variety as

possible. If the amount of variety has been exhausted, communicate to your

employees the importance and significance of their roles to the organisation.

Understanding how their jobs provide a substantial benefit will go some way in

helping them develop an appreciation for what they do.

When creating new positions, try to make them as interesting as possible. If

after reading a position description you feel that it’s boring, rather than

accepting it as it is, find some way of adding variety that will make it more

meaningful to the employee and beneficial to the organisation.


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Development

Employees with the potential to be engaged need to be constantly learning

and improving, which is why their continual development is so important.

Regular coaching sessions, feedback, goal-setting, and training will make

certain that this occurs.

Even experienced employees who have advanced skills need to be

continually developed in some way. Setting stretch goals, providing them with

additional responsibilities and presenting new experiences (such as time in a

different department or job), are ways of preventing them from becoming stale

and disengaged.

Involvement

Employees love to feel involved with what’s happening in an organisation.

The moment they start feeling like an outsider is the moment they begin to be

disengaged. When leaders hold secret meetings visibly and don’t

communicate to their employees about what happened in the meeting, the

employees make the assumption that their leaders are hiding something. This

is not a healthy environment to work in. Instead, communicate the outcome of

meetings to your employees, let them know what’s going on, and even seek

their input.

Involve your employees in meetings where decisions are made, that way

they’re able to contribute their own ideas and thoughts. Often some of the

best suggestions come from front-line employees. Employees need to feel as

though they’re able to influence decisions within the organisation. Even if

final decisions are made by the leadership team, it’s important that the

employees’ feedback is taken on board, and if not put into practice,

explanations should be provided to the employees out of courtesy.


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Empowerment

In addition to significantly enhancing employee engagement, empowerment

frees up a manager’s time to focus on other aspects of her role. So how do

you go about empowering your employees?

Decision-making is the key. Push decisions down. Let your employees

decide on which course of action to take, even if it happens to be the wrong

one. Some of the best learning experiences are those we learn by mistake.

Pass ownership of certain tasks to your team members but have quality

assurance measures in place to ensure the highest of standards. This

promotes ownership, and ownership engages your employees because they

don’t feel as if they need to constantly check with you for your approval.

Career Progression

Career development doesn’t need to be limited to vertical progression.

Horizontal moves into other departments can be just as rewarding to an

employee. The important thing is to spend time gaining an understanding of

your employees’ career goals and then formulating a detailed career action

plan to help them get there.

Have regular career discussions (at least monthly) with your employees to

make sure that you’re on track and provide them with the tools they need to

be able to move on to bigger and better things. Let them know that you’re

available to help them get to where they want to be. Perhaps organise some

time for them to shadow someone who’s doing the role they aspire to, and

provide them with additional responsibilities that pertain to that role.

Such a focus on career progression scares some managers as they believe

they’d lose people quickly. In fact, the opposite is true. When your

employees know that you’re looking out for their best interests, they’ll stay


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with you for a longer period than first planned because they’d be happy

waiting for the perfect job to arrive rather than leave for a job they think is less

than perfect.

Mentoring

Mentoring within organisations provides opportunities for the protégés that are

taking part in a mentoring program. Opportunities are created in terms of

networking contacts and potential job openings. In addition, the coaching and

guidance the protégés receive from their mentors provides them with the skills

and industry awareness that will create opportunities down the track.

A great mentor is someone who has already achieved significant success in a

particular field. It’s best for the mentor to be approachable, open to sharing

her learning experiences, a sound communicator, honest, a good motivator,

and importantly, must be willing to spend about one or two hours each month

with her protégé.

Networking

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. How many times have you heard

that? To a certain extent, it’s true. There’s a greater chance your employees

will progress further in their careers if they’re provided with opportunities to

build relationships with people from other departments – and even with people

from other organisations.

For this reason, send your team members to industry functions, breakfasts,

seminars, and workshops. Get them involved in meetings where managers

from other departments are present. Do what you can to expose them to the

right people in the right places.


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Conclusion

The purpose of this e-book was to provide you with a framework to begin your

employee engagement journey. There are significantly greater complexities

and more detail associated with creating an engaged team than what has

been outlined in this e-book. To assist you on this journey, we have a variety

of services that are designed to revolutionise employee engagement within

your team. These include:

Professional Keynote Speaking: James Adonis can motivate your leaders

to embrace his proven employee engagement principles. His presentations

will inform and entertain your leaders so that they’re equipped with what they

need to start making positive changes in your workplace.

Consulting: Whether it’s for a short-term or long-term period, James will get

involved within your business, driving your employee engagement higher and

higher. Results are guaranteed.

Corporate Workshops: Our tailored workshops are designed to reflect your

organisation’s challenges and opportunities. By the end of the program, your

leaders will have a thorough understanding of how to apply the employee

engagement principles within their teams.

Mentoring: Consider joining James’s monthly mentoring program. In a one-

on-one session each month, James will look at your challenges and provide

you with workable solutions that can be implemented easily for an immediate

and long-lasting effect.

Book: “Love Your Team: How to Halve Your Employee Turnover in Less

Than 90 Days”, is the first book to be written by James Adonis. It contains

literally hundreds of ways to attract, engage, motivate, and retain your

employees. It’s the kind of book every manager should have on their desk.


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Disclaimer

Whilst everything contained in this e-book has been proven to work, certain

parts of it may not be applicable to your organisation. Therefore, we

recommend that you seek professional advice before embarking on the

suggestions contained within this e-book. The extended services provided by

James Adonis are an ideal way of achieving this.

More information on our range of services can be found at

www.jamesadonis.com.


http://www.jamesadonis.com/

The4 Key ElementsOf Employee EngagementJames Adonis

James Adonis 1

About The Author

James Adonis is a leading employee engagement expert. He has managed

small teams of only a few people to large teams of over 100 in various

industries. The one consistent factor has been his exceptional employee

engagement results.

With achievements such as employee engagement factors of over 70%, zero

voluntary turnover over a 2 year period, and absenteeism levels of less than

4%, he has used his learning experiences and successes to develop his

winning employee engagement formula which has been proven to work in

many organisations.

James’s mission is to empower business leaders to drive change within their

organisations with the belief that employee engagement is critical to an

organisation’s success.


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Introduction

Behind every exceptionally successful organisation is employee engagement.

An organisation can only be a competitive market leader and a driving force in

its industry if it has a team of people who are truly engaged.

Most managers confuse the term employee satisfaction with employee

engagement. Employee satisfaction is when you have a happy team. And

that’s it. Employee engagement, however, does so much more.

Employee engagement is when your employees are dedicated to their jobs

and the organisation. It’s when they talk positively of their employer, go the

extra mile for their customers, put in extra effort than what’s required, and

reward the organisation with their loyalty and commitment. Above all,

organisations that champion employee engagement become employers of

choice, and when you’re an employer of choice, you attract the best possible

employees in the marketplace.

There are four key elements to employee engagement. These are

recruitment, support, relationships, and opportunities. In that order, they

form the ‘employee engagement journey’. Whilst these four elements are

absolutely critical when creating an engaged team, there are many more

factors within these elements which need to be considered.

The aim of this e-book is to outline these elements and the factors within

them. This will provide you with a fantastic start for your employee

engagement journey.

Feel free to forward this e-book on to anyone else you think may find it

of benefit. All that we request is that you do not amend any of the

information contained within it and that you credit James Adonis as the

author of this e-book.


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Recruitment

It’s always easier to engage the right kind of employee, and that’s why

recruitment is the first important element in the engagement journey. The

people that you recruit can make or break your team’s success. Think back to

a time when you had to manage people who were unmotivated, not focused,

and not suited to their jobs. We’ve all been there and can acknowledge how

difficult, awkward and time-consuming such situations can be. It’s possible

these employees should not have been recruited in the first place and we

often find ourselves asking “who hired this person?” Therefore, when you

have the opportunity to recruit someone, it’s critical to do it properly – even if it

means being without a vital employee for an extended period of time. The

following are the critical components of the recruitment process which have an

impact on employee engagement.

Position Descriptions

Busy leaders often hastily prepare a position description, don’t update

previous ones, and sometimes even recruit people without having one in

place. The end result is a lack of clarity for the employee in terms of what

he’s meant to be doing at work.

A well-prepared position description outlines the position title and where this

fits within the organisation’s structure. It also details duties and

responsibilities, qualifications and experience required, reporting lines, the

purpose of the position, selection criteria, and other preferences such as

flexibility, hours, and character traits.

Importantly, the position description should be presented to a potential

candidate before they’re even interviewed. This is so that the candidate can

see early on in the recruitment process exactly what the job entails. This then


James Adonis 4

gives him the opportunity to withdraw his application (thereby saving

everyone’s time) or to ask further questions during the interview process.

Job Interview Process

Carefully consider how you’re going to structure your interview process. Think

about whether any of the following would provide you with value when trying

to find the right person:

Telephone interviews can be used to screen candidates before they

make it through to the face-to-face interview, thereby saving time.

Face-to-face interviews are the most common method of recruitment.

The most effective interviews contain a mixture of both behavioural-

based and situational questions. The best interviewers create a

relaxed and comfortable environment so that the applicant is able to

display his true characteristics. Group exercises are used to see how people work with others. Role plays and simulation activities give an indication as to how a

candidate may potentially perform in a role. Psychometric testing is used to ascertain a candidate’s level of

intellect and personality. It’s important that this testing is not looked at

in isolation but in conjunction with all the recruitment tools. Reference checks are a form of testimonial, usually conducted by a

previous manager. Background checks are more thorough checks which delve into the

accuracy of a candidate’s employment and educational history. Job trials usually occur for a period of one week in order to observe a

candidate’s ability to do the job before making an offer. Presentations, conducted by the candidate, are useful if the job

involves significant amounts of presenting. Headhunting services tend to be used in times when finding the right

applicant is incredibly difficult.


James Adonis 5

I don’t recommend using all of these; rather, the ones you use will be

dependent on the nature of the job.

Job Fit

Whilst it seems obvious that we must recruit someone who fits the job as

outlined by the position description, sometimes we become oblivious to two

particular traps. The most common of these is recruiting the overqualified.

This happens when we become overwhelmed by someone’s previous

experience. Generally we become so happy that someone with such

outstanding qualifications is applying for a job in our team, that we oversee

the dangers this brings. These include the employee becoming bored, over-

ambitious to the point where he wants to move on quickly, and the inevitable

turnover that occurs sooner rather than later.

The second trap is employing the underqualified. Again, we can become

distracted by someone’s charisma or our close relationship with them, and

end up disregarding their shortcomings in terms of the role, thereby resulting

in their underperformance.

In both the above situations, it’s certainly possible that the employee could still

shine and be engaged in the role, irrespective of whether he’s overqualified or

underqualified. However, it is a risk, and the best way of minimising this risk

is by trying to find someone that perfectly suits the position description.

Culture Fit

So you’ve found the perfect person…. but are they culturally aligned with your

organisation? The perfect employee can be destructive if his values and


James Adonis 6

ethics do not match those of your organisation. Further negative impacts can

develop if his personality is likely to clash with his colleagues.

Likewise, if your corporate culture is not suited to the candidate, even he will

find it demoralising. It’s almost impossible to become an engaged employee if

your behaviours are out of sync with those of the organisation.

A good test is to walk the candidate around your workplace and observe his

reactions to what’s around him. This will give you (and him) a good indication

as to whether you’re suitable for each other. You may also like to incorporate

questions during the interview that relate to his values to see if they’re aligned

with the organisation’s culture.

Expectations

Upon recruiting the right employee, be clear on your expectations, and

generally the position description is a good starting point for this discussion.

Outline in detail the behaviours you expect, the values and ethics you’d like

him to uphold, the performance indicators he’s required to meet, how he goes

about achieving these, and how his performance will be measured.

To maximise engagement levels, try and be flexible with your expectations,

encourage creativity and permit the employee to challenge the status quo.

Doing otherwise may make him feel restricted and micro-managed.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is someone’s ability to understand and influence their

own and others’ emotions. Managers that possess emotional intelligence are

able to use this to their advantage by relating and connecting with their

employees.


James Adonis 7

Whilst emotional intelligence isn’t a necessary attribute to look for when

recruiting for front-line employees, it is absolutely essential if you’re recruiting

for leaders who’ll be managing people. If you’re a manager of managers,

promote and recruit managers that display a healthy level of emotional

intelligence so that you know they’ll respond to your employees with a solid

understanding of how their words and actions will impact each employee.


James Adonis 8

Support

The second element of the engagement journey is support. This is prevalent

at all stages of an employee’s career but it is especially fundamental every

time an employee gets a new job. The best managers acknowledge that

providing their team members with a strong support network is one of the

primary ways of developing high levels of employee engagement. Without it,

employees can feel disillusioned and neglected. There are a multitude of

techniques that you’re able to incorporate into your work practices that will

enhance the strength of the support you provide your employees. The main

ones are listed below.

Training

An induction training program is crucial for all new employees. This program

should include a tour of the workplace’s facilities, the organisation’s goals and

mission, and procedures. A solid induction program will make the transition

into your organisation much easier for the new employee.

A professional induction also creates a good first impression. A creative and

interactive induction program will make it less daunting and will aid in

knowledge retention. Even get your existing employees involved in

conducting the training so that they start to build relationships with the

employees early on.

Ongoing training is the key to developing a highly skilled workforce. Whether

it’s via an online course, face-to-face training, an external course, or a self-

paced training manual, the benefits of a regular focus on ongoing training will

ensure that your employees are knowledgeable. This enables them to

perform better and when employees feel that they’re learning and developing,

their engagement levels rise at the same time.


James Adonis 9

Resources

Engaged employees have managers that make sure they have the resources

they need to be able to perform in their roles. These resources include

stationary such as pens and writing pads; manuals, particularly in regards to

troubleshooting, product information, and process maps; and access to

reliable and user-friendly systems, for example, computers and log ons.

Providing your employees with the resources they need aids employee

engagement. For example, it takes away the stress they face when they have

to constantly look for stationary, and it also alleviates the feeling of

helplessness when they’re trying to source information or access a particular

computer system.

Feedback

Feedback can be provided formally and informally, but importantly, it must be

provided regularly. Provide both positive and constructive feedback so that

it’s balanced, and focus on the employee’s behaviours and not on him as a

person. How you give feedback can drastically undo a lot of great employee

engagement work that you’ve previously achieved, so be prepared, be clear,

and have an effective feedback structure in place.

Masters of employee engagement also seek feedback from their employees.

Ask your team members to tell you what you’re doing well and which areas

you need to improve. Ask for this feedback in face-to-face meetings as well

as via anonymous staff surveys. Then take action to correct the areas for

development so that your employees see that you’ve taken their feedback on

board. The best feedback you could ever receive on how your employee

engagement strategies are progressing is by seeking feedback directly from

your employees.


James Adonis 10

Rewards and Recognition

Managers are usually good at providing rewards but they often forget about

the importance of recognition, which in many instances is more meaningful

to the employee. Simple gestures such as “thank you”, “well done”, or visible

praise to an employee’s peers and senior managers will go further than

standard rewards such as movie tickets and gift vouchers.

This doesn’t mean that we should relax the amount of rewards we provide our

employees. It’s imperative that these continue but that the right behaviours

are rewarded consistently. Provide rewards not only for your employee’s

accomplishments, but also for significant improvements they make, ‘personal

bests’ they achieve, and any other actions that result in a positive result for

the organisation.

Pay and Benefits

Employees will never be totally satisfied with their salary. In employee

engagement surveys, you will always see salary satisfaction rate poorly,

despite how competitive an organisation’s salary schemes may be. So then

how do you improve this area? It all comes down to the delivery of the pay

review. Try the following techniques when delivering a pay review and see

how much more positively the review is received by the employee:

Provide the employee with the salary market average and the salary

market range for their job in the marketplace. This will highlight how

competitively they’re being remunerated. If this analysis shows

otherwise, you need to consider increasing the salary if you’d like to

attract and retain the best workers.

Provide detailed reasons to explain the rationale behind the employee’s

salary. Previous experience, qualifications, and most of all, the

employee’s recent work performance, are a great place to start.


James Adonis 11

Situations arise where employees are remunerated at the maximum

possible level for their particular job. If this is the case and increasing

their salary further is unreasonable, perhaps provide them with a larger

bonus.

Investigate whether there are any other benefits that you can provide your

employees. These can include discounts with various retailers and

manufacturers, such as banking institutions, computer companies, association

memberships, magazine subscriptions, etc. These are attractive incentives

which can help propel your organisation as an employer of choice.

Communication

Transparency is the key when it comes to communication. Do it frequently,

openly, and verbally. Use one-on-one development sessions, team meetings,

and quick catch-ups with your team on a daily basis. Whenever you come

across any information that your employees may find useful or which may

help them perform better in their roles, pass it on. Such a constant flow of

communication increases the trust between you and your employees; it also

makes them feel as though they’re important, and reduces the chances of

them not knowing what’s going on.

The most engaging form of communication is via face-to-face channels, so

use this method as often as you can. Resort to impersonal forms of

communication, such as e-mails, in times when it’s not possible for you to

communicate face-to-face or over the phone. So long as the channels of

communication are always open and working, your employees will be kept in

the loop and consequently engaged.


James Adonis 12

Work/life Balance

Employers who encourage a work/life balance for their employees

acknowledge that an employee having a fulfilled personal life is just as

important as being fulfilled at work. They’re generally flexible with their

employees’ hours and days of work to accommodate their employees’

personal commitments, such as family, study, well-being, etc. Employers are

increasingly embracing work/life cultures because they can see the benefits to

the business in terms of employee engagement, reduced turnover, lower

absenteeism, and greater morale.

Change Management

Most employees are highly resistant to change. So in a world where business

is changing more rapidly than ever before, employee engagement can be

hampered if a sound change management process is not in place.

The most effective change managers involve their people every step of the

way. This includes seeking their feedback during the initial idea formulation

stage, involving them in testing, training, and even implementation.

Communicate the reasons for the change and the benefits arising from it,

outline why other alternatives weren’t chosen, and provide regular (at least

weekly) updates on how the implementation of the change is progressing.

This approach will make them advocates of the change, rather than

opponents of it.

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is when you do something just because it feels good, such

as a hobby. If a manager can make a job intrinsically motivating for an

employee, the chances of that employee being strongly engaged increase


James Adonis 13

dramatically. To find out precisely what it is that intrinsically motivates your

employees, simply ask them.

Most managers use extrinsic motivation to get the best out of their

employees. Extrinsic motivation refers to incentives such as pay increases,

bonuses, rewards, etc. These are short-term solutions that don’t have a

lasting effect on employee engagement. No amount of extrinsic motivational

techniques can replicate the enjoyment employees get from truly loving what

they do. Naturally, this has definite flow-on benefits to the organisation.


James Adonis 14

Relationships

Strong relationships are absolutely essential when creating an engaged team.

Employees are usually more inclined to work harder and go the extra mile if

they have a great relationship with their manager. However, there are a raft of

relationships, all of which need to be nurtured, if a team is to be truly engaged.

These include solid relationships with their peers, other departments, and

even with the organisation itself. These are outlined below in more detail.

Managers

This is the most important relationship of all – the one between the employee

and his manager. Try to build relationships with your team members that

extend beyond conversations that are work-related. Take an active interest in

their personal lives, ask them on a regular basis about their families, partners,

hobbies, etc, and show a genuine care for their welfare. Be visible as much

as possible by sitting with the team or by spending time with them.

Whilst direct managers have the greatest influence on an employee’s

engagement levels, senior and executive managers also have a role to play.

If they take the time to converse with front-line team members, get results, ask

for and respond to feedback, and communicate regularly with employees,

then engagement levels will increase.

Peers

If your employees have colleagues with whom they get along, it’s likely they’ll

enjoy coming to work and their engagement levels will subsequently rise.

Think about the team you have now. Do your employees have at least one

close friend within the team? This is a good indicator of team cohesion. A


James Adonis 15

network of employees will work more efficiently, positively, and with fewer

clashes if there is cohesiveness within the team.

Foster an environment where your employees are able to build such

relationships with each other. Consider using team building activities,

encourage a significant amount of interaction amongst your employees, and

organise events outside of work where your employees can socialise and

connect.

Other departments also play a part in your employees’ engagement in a

similar way. If your employees have built close relationships with other

departments, they’ll spend less time talking negatively about each other.

Organise events where your employees can get to know employees from

these areas. For example, organise cross-departmental team meetings,

social events, etc.

Another factor that determines how employees develop relationships with their

peers is via the quality of their peers’ work. For example, if one employee is

working hard and producing work of exceptional quality, but the second

employee is slacking off and producing below-average work results, the first

employee will become less engaged. For this reason, be quick to recognise

employees who aren’t performing at the required level, and take action to

improve their performance.

Organisation

Many managers are surprised to learn that an employee’s relationship with

the organisation is a significant contributor to how engaged he’ll be in the

workplace. In fact, the organisation’s role is huge with many factors

influencing the employee’s perception of the organisation. Listed below are

the major determinant aspects of an organisation which have an effect on

engagement:


James Adonis 16

Goals – the vision and direction in which the company is headed; its

medium and long-term strategies; and its objectives and how it plans to

achieve these.

Values – their alignment with the employee’s values; how well the

organisation actually practices its values; and how these values are

communicated, displayed, and linked to the industry’s code of ethics.

Culture – the behaviours and beliefs of the organisation needs to

match those of the employees’; the collective attitude of an

organisation’s employees needs to not impact negatively on those that

don’t conform; and the management team must act as role models and

conduct themselves in a manner that’s representative of an ideal

corporate culture.

Office Politics – whilst this is evident in every organisation, there are

ways to minimise it, such as: avoid talking about people in a negative

way, give credit where credit’s due, help people to achieve their

potential, stay focused on the organisation’s vision and values, and

don’t succumb to devious peer pressure.

Customers – the organisation’s emphasis on customer service needs

to match those of the employee; employees who deal with customers

must feel that the organisation acts on customers’ complaints; and

when an organisation has an excellent reputation among customers,

employees tend to feel pride working for the organisation, and so they

subsequently become engaged.

Processes – complex processes and excessive authorisations result in

a bureaucratic culture that makes certain tasks too difficult to complete;

employee engagement can be enhanced by simplifying processes and

procedures; and a continual focus on the improvement of processes

and the adoption of new technologies provides employees with the

assurance that the organisation is progressive and competitive.


James Adonis 17

Safety – employees feel engaged when they see their employer doing

everything they can to minimise occupational incidents, such as the

following actions: thorough hazard identification processes where

potential accidents are eliminated before they occur; regular training

provided to employees and managers to minimise accidents by being

able to recognise hazards; clear signs warning employees of dangers

and providing information on safety practices; regular safety audits

conducted by an independent department or organisation; and

empathy and consideration to be shown at times when accidents occur.

Community – employees highly regard working for employers that

actively support the community in ways that include: assisting local

community groups; social responsibility in terms of human rights and

business ethics; involvement in charities; and care for the environment

by recycling and minimising harmful waste.

Work Location – The proximity of the workplace to an employee’s

home, the status associated with the location of the workplace, and the

facilities and décor of the workplace are all mitigating factors in how

work location affects employee engagement.

Job Security – With employees around the world ranking this as a

very high priority, employee engagement is higher when the chances of

retrenchment or restructure are low.


James Adonis 18

Opportunities

The final element of the employee engagement journey is the creation of

opportunities. It’s the final element because each employee needs to first go

through the recruitment process, the support phase, and the building of

relationships, before sound opportunities can present themselves.

Opportunities don’t always need to be focused on career advancement. In

fact, most times they’re not. There are other ways of creating an environment

where opportunities for your employees abound, and while opportunities

continue to present themselves, your employees will remain engaged. Here

are a few tried and tested ways of doing this:

Job Variety

The actual work that employees do and the tasks they complete play a pivotal

role in their levels of engagement. In many industries, there are a significant

number of jobs that are monotonous, such as call centres and administrative

positions. In roles like these, it’s important to add as much variety as

possible. If the amount of variety has been exhausted, communicate to your

employees the importance and significance of their roles to the organisation.

Understanding how their jobs provide a substantial benefit will go some way in

helping them develop an appreciation for what they do.

When creating new positions, try to make them as interesting as possible. If

after reading a position description you feel that it’s boring, rather than

accepting it as it is, find some way of adding variety that will make it more

meaningful to the employee and beneficial to the organisation.


James Adonis 19

Development

Employees with the potential to be engaged need to be constantly learning

and improving, which is why their continual development is so important.

Regular coaching sessions, feedback, goal-setting, and training will make

certain that this occurs.

Even experienced employees who have advanced skills need to be

continually developed in some way. Setting stretch goals, providing them with

additional responsibilities and presenting new experiences (such as time in a

different department or job), are ways of preventing them from becoming stale

and disengaged.

Involvement

Employees love to feel involved with what’s happening in an organisation.

The moment they start feeling like an outsider is the moment they begin to be

disengaged. When leaders hold secret meetings visibly and don’t

communicate to their employees about what happened in the meeting, the

employees make the assumption that their leaders are hiding something. This

is not a healthy environment to work in. Instead, communicate the outcome of

meetings to your employees, let them know what’s going on, and even seek

their input.

Involve your employees in meetings where decisions are made, that way

they’re able to contribute their own ideas and thoughts. Often some of the

best suggestions come from front-line employees. Employees need to feel as

though they’re able to influence decisions within the organisation. Even if

final decisions are made by the leadership team, it’s important that the

employees’ feedback is taken on board, and if not put into practice,

explanations should be provided to the employees out of courtesy.


James Adonis 20

Empowerment

In addition to significantly enhancing employee engagement, empowerment

frees up a manager’s time to focus on other aspects of her role. So how do

you go about empowering your employees?

Decision-making is the key. Push decisions down. Let your employees

decide on which course of action to take, even if it happens to be the wrong

one. Some of the best learning experiences are those we learn by mistake.

Pass ownership of certain tasks to your team members but have quality

assurance measures in place to ensure the highest of standards. This

promotes ownership, and ownership engages your employees because they

don’t feel as if they need to constantly check with you for your approval.

Career Progression

Career development doesn’t need to be limited to vertical progression.

Horizontal moves into other departments can be just as rewarding to an

employee. The important thing is to spend time gaining an understanding of

your employees’ career goals and then formulating a detailed career action

plan to help them get there.

Have regular career discussions (at least monthly) with your employees to

make sure that you’re on track and provide them with the tools they need to

be able to move on to bigger and better things. Let them know that you’re

available to help them get to where they want to be. Perhaps organise some

time for them to shadow someone who’s doing the role they aspire to, and

provide them with additional responsibilities that pertain to that role.

Such a focus on career progression scares some managers as they believe

they’d lose people quickly. In fact, the opposite is true. When your

employees know that you’re looking out for their best interests, they’ll stay


James Adonis 21

with you for a longer period than first planned because they’d be happy

waiting for the perfect job to arrive rather than leave for a job they think is less

than perfect.

Mentoring

Mentoring within organisations provides opportunities for the protégés that are

taking part in a mentoring program. Opportunities are created in terms of

networking contacts and potential job openings. In addition, the coaching and

guidance the protégés receive from their mentors provides them with the skills

and industry awareness that will create opportunities down the track.

A great mentor is someone who has already achieved significant success in a

particular field. It’s best for the mentor to be approachable, open to sharing

her learning experiences, a sound communicator, honest, a good motivator,

and importantly, must be willing to spend about one or two hours each month

with her protégé.

Networking

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. How many times have you heard

that? To a certain extent, it’s true. There’s a greater chance your employees

will progress further in their careers if they’re provided with opportunities to

build relationships with people from other departments – and even with people

from other organisations.

For this reason, send your team members to industry functions, breakfasts,

seminars, and workshops. Get them involved in meetings where other

managers from other departments are present. Do what you can to expose

them to the right people in the right places.


James Adonis 22

Conclusion

The purpose of this e-book was to provide you with a framework to begin your

employee engagement journey. There are significantly greater complexities

and more detail associated with creating an engaged team than what has

been outlined in this e-book. To assist you on this journey, we have a variety

of services that are designed to revolutionise employee engagement within

your team. These include:

Professional Keynote Speaking: James Adonis can motivate your leaders

to embrace his proven employee engagement principles. His presentations

will inform and entertain your leaders so that they’re equipped with what they

need to start making positive changes in your workplace.

Consulting: Whether it’s for a short-term or long-term period, James will get

involved within your business, driving your employee engagement higher and

higher. Results are guaranteed.

Corporate Workshops: Our tailored workshops are designed to reflect your

organisation’s challenges and opportunities. By the end of the program, your

leaders will have a thorough understanding of how to apply the employee

engagement principles within their teams.

Seminars: Our half-day public seminars are held throughout the year. These

are perfectly suitable for those who seek more information. Our seminars are

purposely held within small groups so that our attendees benefit from the

personal attention and interaction they receive.

Books: Smile, Damn It, Smile: 100 Ways To Create An Engaged Team is

the first book to be written by James Adonis. Due to be released in February

2006, it is a quick reference guide that all leaders should have within arm’s

reach.


James Adonis 23

Disclaimer

Whilst everything contained in this e-book has been proven to work, certain

parts of it may not be applicable to your organisation. Therefore, we

recommend that you seek professional advice before embarking on the

suggestions contained within this e-book. The extended services provided by

James Adonis are an ideal way of achieving this.

A full version of our disclaimer and more information on our range of services

can be found at www.jamesadonis.com.


http://www.jamesadonis.com/

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