Bravery – the secret to better engagement

A recent study by Mercer indicated that 1 out of 4 business leaders saw increasing employee engagement as a strategic priority.

A strategic priority with 3 goals in mind: Attracting and retaining top talent, creating a great culture with high levels of morale and growing a profitable and sustainable business.

Effective engagement requires transparency and an environment that allows for people to openly share their views and their opinions; this is where BRAVERY comes in. You have to be brave enough to face the truth, the good as well as the bad – sometimes a difficult thing to do and often easier to avoid.

We all know that not speaking about “issues” doesn’t mean that they don’t exist – in fact you can be guaranteed that your team are definitely talking about them over lunch or around the water coolers and coffee machines and I would argue that the real bravery doesn’t come from hearing the feedback, it comes from being prepared to being open to it in the first place and being willing to do something about it in the second.

The majority of staff surveys fail… Why? It boils down to an issue of a lack of trust which stems from a few sources:

• Your team have no understanding of why you are doing them.
• Team members have been disappointed in the past because nothing happened when surveys were done.
• The team don’t trust the confidentiality of the process

Let me unpack each one individually and apply some solutions

Problem: “We have no idea why are we doing this”

Culture and engagement need to be part of your strategy – not something that enable it. How much time did you spend in your last management meeting talking about culture and engagement – is it even an agenda item? In my last article, I spoke about culture being an indicator of potential and that a lack of performance (financial or otherwise), has less to do with strategy and operating models and everything to do with how well your culture is aligned to both your strategic intent and how things get done through your processes, systems and procedures.

There is a second part linked to this problem; ownership. If you treat the survey merely as a “tick box” exercise and pass it onto HR (because, you know, they deal with “people” stuff) then you really are missing the point.

Solution: Own it as the leader

To start, make culture part of your strategy and make sure that the entire management team own it as well. Consider “culture KPI’s” in each of your direct report’s performance contracts (perhaps a subject for another day) and make it part of your management agenda.

Next, communication is critical. Tell your people why you are running the survey, be honest about what your intentions are, what you are hoping to achieve and most importantly, what you plan on doing with the feedback.

Lastly, invite participation don’t force it.

Problem: “Nothing happened last time we did this”

Surveys create expectations – on both sides. From a leadership point of view there is an expectation that people will participate and be honest and open in their feedback, from a staff point of view, the expectation is that there will be open and transparent feedback and that some of the issues raised, will be addressed. Whilst expectations (on both sides) may not always be entirely realistic, there is almost always enough to work with to make a meaningful impact.

A contributing factor here is frequency and timing. Doing an annual survey is simply not enough (I can barely remember what happened last week, never mind last year!) and issues that are a year old are either festering wounds by now or people have simply moved on and told themselves “it’s no use raising that again”.

In an age where instant gratification is the name of the game, the issue of timing is two-fold. The survey should not take too long to complete (an easy trap to fall into when you’re only doing the exercise on an annual basis) and the feedback loop needs to be equally “quick” so that people can see the actual results of what has been said.

Solution: Feedback and action is crucial

Part of your initial communication should also outline what people can expect with regards to getting feedback. Share the results of the survey (the good, the bad and the ugly) but here, context is vital. Not context is the form of “defend, deny and justify”, but context in terms of good analysis of the results and what they mean for the business, the strategy and the team. Once the feedback loop is completed, the most pertinent issues need to be prioritized, agreed and actioned.

Frequently measuring engagement is key to moving the needle. By creating and then monitoring a dashboard, not only is the evidence there for all to see for themselves, it also provides a proactive platform to address issues as they arise. A survey that that takes 10 minutes to complete on a quarterly basis is way more effective than an annual one that takes twice or thrice as long.

Problem: “We don’t trust the confidentiality of this”

For whatever reason, trust is sometimes the greatest barrier to overcome. Reluctance to participate often comes from a sense of fear of making “career limiting statements”. I would argue that this has less to do with trust and everything to do with apathy. After all, it is extremely rare (not to mention a contravention of the labour law) to fire a team member for having an honest and constructive point of view about their work environment. The lack of trust in the confidentiality is actually just “code” and an easy way out of not saying “we don’t know why or nothing will happen”.

Solution: Get an external perspective

Getting an external perspective can be invaluable for a number of reasons. There is no agenda other than collecting information and points of view, which means that it can be objective. An external person won’t be spending their time trying to identify who is right or wrong, whether what is being said is true or false, valid or invalid – they are merely looking for commonly held points of view and realities.

Yes, self diagnosis is an option (just ask Dr Google) but how does a prognosis ranging from “you’ve got a runny nose to a terminal disease (and everything in between)” actually help you?

Lastly, accept the feedback for what it is – it is not a personal attack on your ability as a leader. DO NOT make the mistake of trying to identify, guess or assume who said what. Like it or not, if the majority of people hold the same or a similar point of view, then that is the reality and that is what you need to work with.

It is amazing how quickly the perceived need for confidentiality disappears once the level of engagement goes up. Trust increases when people see and feel that points highlighted as needing attention, are acted upon. When contributions are acknowledged and acted upon, it encourages more of that kind of behaviour and that is a sign of a truly engaged organization

I said earlier that the majority of surveys fail, but as you can see, the solution is not “rocket science”! Be brave by being prepared to be vulnerable and asking for some feedback, your people are your best source of information and if they own the problem, chances are that they will be prepared to be part of the solution as well.

Be clear of what you are trying to achieve. The goal must be to create an environment where you have a truly engaged team and not see that as the ultimate prize, but rather as the beginning of a journey. The real prize is what an engaged, motivated and productive team is able to deliver.