| Yesterday I read the MacLeod review on employee | | | | important, but not as an abstract concept. Here HR |
| engagement, 'Engaging for Success'. It bought to mind | | | | professionals have to work with their colleagues in |
| my experience as a Sunday footballer. Much of the | | | | other functional areas such as sales and marketing |
| time I played in teams who were at the bottom or | | | | and production. If your organisation wants to be more |
| close to the bottom of the league. Getting out of bed | | | | innovative because this will better serve your |
| on a Sunday morning was miserable. The pitches | | | | customers with the products and services that they |
| were always too wet or too hard. The knocks always | | | | need then we can use engagement measures as part |
| hurt. And what has this got to do with David MacLeod | | | | of the executive dashboard. There is a narrative that |
| and Nita Clarke's report? Well, it reminded me that | | | | the executive team will understand and which can be |
| when I played in a team that did very well, funnily | | | | tested. Let us say that our customers want new |
| enough getting out of bed was easy, the pitches were | | | | products at lower prices but with higher quality. We |
| great and it was easy to shrug off bumps and bruises. | | | | can measure all of these things. How many new |
| Under all the criteria of engagement I would say that I | | | | products we release, whether they are variations or |
| was much more engaged when we were winning. | | | | whether they are standalone new products. What |
| Did we win because we were more engaged, or did | | | | price points we are able to achieve and what are the |
| our winning make us more engaged? I think that this | | | | levels of quality. And so on. |
| lies at the heart of a lot of the frustration that HR | | | | Now measure engagement. Don't over do the |
| professionals currently feel. They see Rolls Royce | | | | measurements at first. Why not start with the question |
| companies such as Diageo, Astra Zeneca and, oh, | | | | that Dr Jim Hartner of Gallup and Dr Frank Schmidt of |
| Rolls Royce being held up as shining lights that have | | | | the University of Iowa found to have the most |
| 'got' this engagement thing. They see the 'compelling' | | | | effective correlation to performance, "At work, do you |
| evidence that those companies that were in the top | | | | have an opportunity to do what you do best |
| engagement quartile were 12% more profitable and | | | | everyday?" Then drill into the data. Is there a |
| 18% more productive and had earnings per share 2.6 | | | | correlation between areas of high engagement and |
| the level of those below the 50th percentile. So why is | | | | the outputs that the organisation wishes to achieve? If |
| the Board not falling over themselves to adopt an | | | | there is, then get to understand that specific area |
| engagement strategy? It boils down, in my mind, to | | | | better. Is there a causation? What is driving that |
| whether you are seeing the cause or the effect? | | | | difference? Is it better and more appropriate |
| Believe me, in a lot of the teams I played in no matter | | | | leadership? Or do the people there have a better |
| how engaged we were, we would still have been | | | | understanding of what they are supposed to be doing, |
| rubbish. | | | | or have better information or understand how they fit |
| So let's get back to first principles. Peter Druker, | | | | into the overall scheme of things? |
| whose centenary it is this year, said that a business is | | | | Then, put a value on it. Marcus Buckingham in his white |
| "defined by the want the customer satisfies when he | | | | paper 'The Strengths Engagement Track: A |
| or she buys a product or a service. To satisfy the | | | | Benchmark Study of Sixty-Five High Performing |
| customer is the mission and purpose of every | | | | Teams' gives the fascinating example of a US Retail |
| business". When customers stop wanting horse drawn | | | | giant with 3,000 stores that plotted store profit against |
| buggies or gas lamps or video players, no matter how | | | | a geographic economic potential measure and was |
| good we are at it and how engaged our staff are we | | | | able to highlight one store trading at a profit of |
| will be out of business. To achieve the function of a | | | | $1,500,000 and one trading at a loss of $300,000 with |
| business we assemble people, land and capital and we | | | | the same economic potential, the same products and |
| do this in the best possible way to deliver to those | | | | the same marketing. What would this mean to the |
| customers. | | | | executive? Well $1,800,000. |
| Having said all of this, let me be clear, engagement is | | | | |