Employee Engagement – the key to maintain and sustain Continuous Performance Improvement

By Brynmor-Rose Zimri, OIM International Associate

Is Employee Engagement just the next HR “flavour of the month” or is it something that can really make a difference & be sustained in any business? According to Gallup, a global analytics & advisory company; not only are we able to measure employee engagement, but we can also show how an engaged workforce can outperform an average engaged workforce.

While more & more professionals have shown interest & has written literature about this concept over the past five years; William Kahn was the first to develop & define the concept of engagement in 1990. He advised managers on how to identify & apply this theory: “Approach employees as true partners, involving them in continuous dialogues & processes about how to design & alter their roles, tasks & working relationships. This means that leaders need to make it safe enough for employees to speak openly of their experiences”. From this direct advice to management, one can assume that engagement should be a function of or rather, the responsibility of leadership.

Kahn’s use of the following phrase “employees to speak openly” can be linked to a company’s communication strategy, the biggest driver of engagement. Companies spend a large amount of time & resources to create state of the art communication strategies on paper, only to find out that it does not work very well in reality. One crucial element in developing an effective communication strategy is that it takes time. 

Communication can be defined as the sharing of information from one individual to another, or from one individual to a group of people.  For some the definition stops there. A crucial part in this process is that the information conveyed should be understood by the receiver. Kobus Grobler refers to the test for understanding in a previous article. He explains that leaders themselves, should firstly have an in-depth understanding as well as secondly, have the ability to explain complex issues to their followers.  So, when leaders communicate information to their followers, the only way to ensure that the message was conveyed correctly, is to test the receiver or groups’ understanding. How? By asking the receiver to explain.

So why do some companies fail with communication strategies? Let’s explore some of the most common mistakes they make:

1. Too much information via too many channels

Creating information overload by flooding employees’ e-mail inboxes or Intranets with too much information & subsequently creating more confusion than anything else.

2. Not communicating the correct information to the employees

Some companies distribute standardised communication across different functions & believe it should add value. An employee in the sales department has different expectations around information sharing than an employee in the production department. Have you ever thought about asking the employees what they want to hear? By just distributing the same information to all employees does definitely not promote engagement.

3. Not creating the platform where employees can ask questions

If a line manager believes that it’s enough to exercise ‘top-down communication’ he/she immediately rules out the opportunity for employees to ask questions.

4. Misaligned Communication

Some companies rely on their Communication Officer to distribute communication & others rely on the HR team to fulfil this function. If the company has both functions, there definitely has to be an integration between the two. Imagine the duplication & the confusion created through the misalignment.

5. Not measuring the success of your communication strategy

A standard way to measure success is by identifying the key performance indicators (KPI’s). These KPI’s should be aligned to the relevant goals you want to achieve with your communication strategy. In this way, it is possible to constantly measure the success. Together with this you need to gather constant feedback from the employees too.

The INVOCOM^® – a solution to successful Engagement

OIM International’s INVOCOM^® methodology is a means to engage all employees’ right from the top down to the lowest level in the organisation. It forms part of a holistic process aimed to ensure optimal business performance through a practical & actionable strategy. This holistic process can be broken down in three components: People, Organisation & Operation. 

Linked to the “People” component, the INVOCOM^® methodology is definitely no “quick-fix” to your common communication challenges but rather a unique approach to ensure that you talk about the right things; by involving the right people at the right time, frequency & in the right way; with the end goal to achieve sustainable business excellence.

“Achieving Innovation and Commitment through Involvement and Communication”

Leadership Commitment – a pre-requisite for a successful INVOCOM^® system

No Employee Engagement process can survive without the consistent & true commitment of leadership. This requires effective leadership qualities, styles & techniques. Qualities include values built on trust, honesty & integrity, as well as leaders who are able to involve, inspire & motivate.

Effective leadership styles include a leaders who will promote engagement of team members, resulting in team members who feel valued & that their suggestions & opinion are considered. This will also include leaders who have the required discipline to take responsibility for a decision taken.

Effective leadership techniques include the use of problem-solving techniques. Root-cause analysis & the Fishbone method are typical examples that there is also a focus on pro-active problem solving.

Let’s explore a case study where the INVOCOM^® methodology takes the centre stage of a successful & sustained Employee Engagement process:

Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) Case Study:  Value Based Management – creating sustainable value for all stakeholders

This case study hits close to home as I was there when this exciting change happened. The values & principles learned from this process became entrenched in my personal value system. I cannot vouch for what is happening with the organisation at this very moment, but I will share the successes at the time & after the implementation of ‘Value Based Management’.

During 2000, the Kambuku philosopy was introduced as part of PPC’s approach to Value Based Management (VBM). The term “Kambuku” links to the elephant on the PPC logo, derived from two common characteristics which describes both the elephant & the VBM process – loyalty & tenacity. The principal belief was that real value is created by the optimal & efficient utilisation of all assets, people & the main objective was to involve the entire workforce in the process of value creation.

This process gave life to the PPC Vital elements of a Performing Organisation which is a true testimony of a company, not only adopting a philosophy, but taking it a step further, by owning it. These elements suggest that optimal business performance is the result of all elements equally functioning at it best:

• Clear Purpose
• Inspiring Climate
• Alignment
• INVOCOM^®
• Learning for Growth
• Performance Management
• Continuous Performance Improvement

INVOCOM^® was at the centre of all the elements, ensuring consistent communication around all aspects of the organisation & therefore sustaining the road towards continuous performance improvement.

The diagram below illustrates a typical high level implementation process of engagement followed by PPC:

Some of the greatest highlights achieved after implementing the Kambuku process included the following:

• During 2004 PPC’s INVOCOM^® Performance system audit achieve an average of 3.48 out of a possible 4.0. At that time Level 4 was regarded as a world class benchmark. During 2005, most INVOCOM^® team performance audits exceeded Level 4 standards.
• Showcasing performance improvement – before the implementation of the Kambuku engagement process the 1994 PPC share price was. In 2005 it quadrupled to a high of R351 per share.
• During 2005, PPC entered the Deloitte “Best Company to Work For” competition for the first time & becomes the overall winner as well as making it to the Top10 for the next five years.

(Source: PPC Annual Report 2005)

It is evident that the holistic process of Employee Engagement ticks all the boxes of effective communication – the most important driver of engagement. What makes this process unique & not just another HR “flavour of the month” exercise is the element of sustainability, the INVOCOM^®. It creates room for continuous leadership training & ongoing coaching; ensuring the ongoing maintenance & refresher of principles. 

Unfortunately all of the above cannot function without true ‘Leadership Commitment’ based on trust, honesty & integrity. The biggest challenge will lie in the change of leadership. When this system is already part of the heart of an organisation & new leaders do not buy into this process, it can have major implications on the long-term success thereof.