If you haven’t yet heard the term employee engagement, it’s a pretty sure bet you will soon.  The term refers to how closely aligned your employees feel to your company – how emotionally attached they are to the company, the brand and their fellow employees. The closer they feel, the happier their work experience – which in turn reduces employee absenteeism, increases loyalty, promotes your brand and improves overall productivity.  The science to back the concept up is impressive and the bottom line impact to companies is even more so.  To see how your engaged your employees are, consider the following engagement factors:

• Employee perception of job importance:  An employee’s feelings of worth and how their role ties to the overall success of company
• Clarity of job expectation:   Having clarity of purpose as relates to the employee’s role, and having the tools & skills to accomplish what is asked of him/her supports an employees' ability to succeed
• Ongoing, relevant feedback:  It is not enough to have annual performance appraisals; engaged employees receive ongoing, specific feedback as to how they are doing
• Opportunity for advancement:  In Dan Pink's book, Drive, the author talks about how important working toward mastery is in motivating people.  Employees want to stretch and grow, and having opportunities in your company for advancement will provide them the opportunity to grow and develop themselves
• Relationships matter:  Employees are human beings first.  As such, positive, productive relations that are built on mutual trust and support enable them to perform optimally and towards common goals
• Values & leadership:  When their work value system is in line with their personal value system, and that system is supported, encouraged and nurtured by company leadership, employees are motivated from within.
• Communications:   Just as family members care about what is going on within the family, engaged employees are more connected when they are aware of company direction, successes and wins – both large and small. 
• Recognition & reward:   A good rewards & incentive program is not only self-funded, but is aligned to company goals, is attainable (with stretch goals), is within the power of the employees to influence outcome and is built on the company’s value system.  If any of these elements are missing there is the potential for more damage than if no reward system were put in place. 

Implement any of the above and you’re well on your way to furthering your employee engagement.  You’ll soon be on your way to having employees who are in flow state – but that’s for another posting.

In the meantime, please share your thoughts & comments – what are you doing to keep your employees engaged?  Where have you felt most engaged as an employee & why?

 

I'm a fan of Servant Leadership.  If you are not aware of the concept, check out this video of Colleen Barrett, CEO of Southwest Airlines or The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership to learn more.  The basic premise is that when company leadership serves their employees as their number 1 priority, the employees will be more engaged and motivated and better able to serve their customers and markets.  I love the concept because it assumes we are part of something greater than ourselves, that the whole is greater than the sum of its part when this care taking is the fabric of an organization.  This also feeds my (and others') spirtual and emotional self, in that by giving we become better beings. And there is an added bonus.  Companies that embrace a long term strategy of servant leadership are more profitable than their peers.  In turn "profits are the applause for the employees doing well."  It's a win-win for all.   

My analytical side loves to analyze the tangible implications of Servant Leadership. And that's where the term Triple Bottom Line (People Profits & Planet - or Triple P) comes in.  Triple Bottom Line management can be used to find the balance between People, Profits and Planet to create sustainable businesses that serve.  All companies have components of each element but without the right balance, one or more of the other factors may become skewed. 

Consider the 3 components as sides of a triangle, where sustainability is a board that balances at the tip of the triangle foundation  - too much emphasis on one or two will cause an imbalance - eventually resulting in a breakdown of the foundation.  Too much emphasis on profit, and employees and/or planet will suffer.  Too much emphasis on employees, and profits and/or planet will suffer.  You get the point.  Triple P allows for a measureable way to manage and grow a company based on the company and owner's unique value system with our real world business, social and environmental ecosystem.  

Want to learn more about People Profit & Planet, Triple Bottom Line?  I encourage you to join a group on linked in, or check out CNBC's series on the subject

 
When I was a student in college learning music theory & composition, one of the techniques our professors used was to teach us all the rules of composition & music theory before we could break them.  We would then better understand the full palette of musical techniques to combine.   One of the courses that was especially interesting to me was "Counterpoint & Fugue."  During this course we would be given part of a music line, around which we would build a short 4 -piece harmony.  We were specifically told to not play the tune we were writing, and would instead listen to it for the first time when we submitted it to our professor.  Following the basic rules gave great results,  and ignoring all the rules was a fast track to failure.  By following this technique we had another building block under our belts which formed the foundation for developing our own unique styles.

This technique applies to business - know the rules of business, the lessons learned through the efforts of others is tremendously beneficial.  But learning from the mistakes of others is also valuable - sometimes failures prove to be even greater lessons.  So for this post, I'd like to share two references around the topic of failure in business - How the Mighty Fall, by Jim Collins (author of the more famously referred to Good to Great), and The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives (by Forbes.com contributor Eric Jackson)

Both articles provide wonderful examples of how not to run your company, and just like my old professor, Leonard Klein taught me - learn from the good & the bad, and along the way, you'll develop your own unique and winning style!

New Jersey Business owners - want to learn more about creating great companies?  Join us, along with other business owners January 16th at our annual Business Summit "Turbo Charge Your 2012." 

I was speaking with a business owner recently whose business was struggling.  She shared that the economy was taking its toll and until it improved, she would continue to be in a tough position.  She’d always gotten business by referrals and never had to market in the past.  And now – sales were down, and until the economy got better, her strategy would be to hunker down and wait it out.  She wished her employees were more motivated and took more initiative to find sales or reduce costs, which in turn would help the company would be in a much better position. 

Contrast this with business owner #2, whose business has consistently grown over the last 4 years (in a down market and an industry that is facing greater and greater challenges).  His approach is to consistently credit successes to his employees and partners, and evaluate failures as teachable moments for his own leadership development skills. 

In Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great, Mr. Collins talks about how great companies are led by Level 5 leaders.  These are the CEOs, Business Owners & Executives who consistently encourage and empower their employees and give credit outwardly when the company achieves success, have an almost paranoid approach to viewing future threats to the business and, when positive results are not achieved, look inwardly for what they could have done differently. 

If your company isn’t achieving the results you’d like, consider thinking like a Level 5 leader:

• What behavior can you change in yourself as leader?  Remember the adage – “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
• Have you shared why you are in business with your employees?  What are you building?
• Have you hired right?  That is, are the employees you have passionate about the “why”?  Do they believe in the why?  If not, why are they still working for your company?
• If your employees believe in the why, have you given them the tools, training and time to succeed in their roles to help achieve the company Vision?
• Are you consistently recognizing employees for, and their roles in, the company’s successes?  (Success is contagious.  Recognized success becomes viral.)
• Is your time being used for highest and best benefit/use of the company?
• Are you taking the time you need to look forward?
• Do you reflect on what has worked and what hasn’t in the past? How are you incorporating these lessons in your company’s future?

Every successful business is a culmination of not only smaller past successes, but also of lessons learned from failures.  Give credit generously and consider where there are problems and what you can do differently. Then, as they say at Nike - do it.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to Malcom Gladwell describe how spaghetti sauce changed the concept of marketing, consumer tastes and product offerings through a great new site, Ted.com.   His discussion on consumer choices raised an interesting dilemma - how do you maintain profitability if you constantly expand options for your customer offerings. Certainly larger companies can do this, but what can you do as a small to mid-sized business?

Flanking pricing is one strategy that can help.  Develop varying options (service, delivery, maintenance, accessories, etc) for your offerings.   Set your richest feature offering with the highest (premium) price and your bare bones offering at the lowest (value or budget) price.  Your target pricing/offering (features and options your customers most want) is priced between these.  This is effectively flanking your pricing and creating value for your offerings and can increase the price your market will pay for your offerings.  If you find you are getting more sales at the higher end or the lower end, adjust your pricing accordingly until the majority of your sales fall into the range you desire.

Much has been written on how to motivate employees (and whether it is even possible).  And yet, the highest performing employees are those who are internally driven.  Great leaders know this.  They focus employees’ individual passions into a collective effort through communicating and supporting a clearly articulated vision.  And that vision invariably supports a shared value system.   

This is no great epiphany.  Consider the following:  given the same financial resources, the same products to sell and the same customer base, if you have one set of employees who are passionate about what they are selling and another that aren’t – who do you think will have better results over time?

Easy enough concepts to understand, but as is often the case – the devil is in the details of turning a concept into reality.    Great leaders inspire their teams into creating great companies by determining what it is that drives the company and why.  Some ideas to start you in the process:

• Determine what it is that you and your employees are passionate about.  What do you and they love about what you’re doing?   Not sure?  Ask.  Great leaders listen more than they speak.  And if you aren’t sure where to start, consider a third party to assist you in the process.
• Observe.  Actions speak volumes.  Is it really problem solving that Sharon from Customer Service loves, or is it making a customer’s day a little brighter?
• Distill what you find into a company culture statement and incorporate it into your Company Vision Statement. 
• Communicate, communicate, communicate.  Share the culture statement, where  the company is going, how the company is doing and what the company needs to get there.
• Embrace experience diversity and skills, but remember to focus your hiring and employee development efforts on supporting the Culture and Vision. 
• Take time to nurture the Culture or like any living thing it will wilt.
• Make sure your employees have the tools, training, time and authority they need to turn the Vision into reality. 

As in any relationship, passion ebbs and flows.  As a business owner, it manifests itself as owner burnout (a topic we’ve talked about on this blog in the past).  For employees it can translate into poor performance, quality and service issues, and a lack of innovation, among other things.  Keeping the passion going for everyone, through nurturing and maintaining your culture, will keep it fresh and alive.  And that’s good business. 

You've heard the rumblings. Things are picking up. The economy is starting to gain momentum. But how can you be sure and what steps should business owners be taking now to ensure they are operating at full speed when the opportunities arise?

The truth is there is no way to be 100% sure. But most business owners haven't entered into business as a way to make a sure paycheck. The balance is to take smart risks, keep an ear to the ground and make sure that the rumbling you hear is the economy coming back and not your competitors about to roar past you because of missed opportunities.  Even in a slow economy, if you're not moving forward, you're
falling behind. So continue taking steps toward continually  improving what you do. Your company will be better for it and so
will you!

What are you doing to keep it going during this economic climate?  Share your thoughts on what's working and what's not.  We love feedback!

Marketing, in its simplest definition, is communication.  Historically this communication has been one way - initiated by a company toward prospects and customers, and often purposely one-sided (the difference between talking at someone versus talking to them).  Social media has the power to take your company to the next level by conversing with your audience.  Just as the telephone made conversations two way (versus sending a letter and waiting for a reply back while circumstances around may have changed), Social Media allows you to bridge this communication time-distance gap.  Every business can take advantage of some aspects of Social Media, the trick is determining what’s right for your business.  Consider the following for your company:

• Expand your marketing department – 2 of the top 5 Superbowl 2010 ads were created by customers as part of a contest Doritos ran.
• Allow prospects to interact with you and your customers outside of your “office hours” – Make your blog a place where not only do you share information, but you get feedback from your market. 
• Use discussion boards and the concept of community to engage your audiences.  Don’t brag, don’t do commercials - sharing relevant information of interest is the way to gain friends and fans.
• Track what’s being said in your industry, about you, your markets and competitors.  Use Google Alerts and Twitter Alerts.
• Maintain and track your reputation.  Remember the old adage, “For every bad experience you hear about, there are 10 more that you don’t (hear about)?”  Consider that in today’s world that means anyone can create a Twitter account, blog, or Facebook account and share a bad experience they’ve had with you.  Knowing what that experience was and addressing it before it goes viral will keep your reputation stellar.

Have additional tips to share on how you’re using Web 2.0 and Social Media?  Please share below, and if you’re a business owner who would like to join us for one of our upcoming “Social Media Matters – Setting Your Strategy” sessions, please visit our registration site. You'll hear great tips from the CEO of iMarketing, Keith Kochberg while brainstorming with Peer Business Owners on how to address marketing challenges & opportunities today.