Customer Reviews

Employee Engagement: The People First Approach To Building A Business

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One of the greatest challenges now facing C-level executives is to hire and then retain the talented people they need. Competition for them is probably more aggressive now than ever before and will no doubt become even more intense in months and years to come. One of several complicating factors is the fact that talent needs are constantly changing, in part because of attrition but more often because of unexpected developments in an organization's competitive marketplace, especially as globalization initiatives expand and accelerate. Of even greater significance is the fact that in many organizations, highly valued employees leave because of another serious problem that has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves.

Recent research conducted by the Gallup Organization indicates that 29% of the U.S. workforce is engaged (i.e. loyal, enthusiastic, and productive) whereas 55% is passively disengaged. That is, they are going through the motions, doing only what they must, "mailing it in," coasting, etc. What about the other 16%? They are "actively disengaged" in that they are doing whatever they can to undermine their employer's efforts to succeed. They have a toxic impact on their associates and, in many instances, on customer relations. These are stunning statistics. How to explain them? Reasons vary from one organization to the next. However, most experts agree that no more than 5% of any given workforce consists of "bad apples," trouble-makers, chronic complainers, subversives, etc. How to get as many as possible among the other 50% to become positively engaged? That is the question to which David Croston responds in this book.

He focuses on the most important issues that all organizations must consider when devising and then implementing a program to increase employee engagement...or when revising one already in place. In the first seven chapters, he examines "a $31.5 billion problem"; explains why employee engagement is so important at all levels and in all areas of an enterprise; compares a marriage contract with an employment contract (i.e. managers and workers end up like couples who no longer converse across the breakfast table"; explains how to link employee engagement with business results by "cracking the personal accountability code" with interventions; how to measure employee engagement with surveys that focus on the most important benchmarks re ROI; and then in Chapter 7, how to manage employee engagement, perhaps using a roadmap and a six-stage process for the engagement "journey."

In Chapter 8, Croston shifts his attention to "success stories" of nine exemplary companies and acknowledges two revelations during the course of various interviews with their senior-level executives. "First, the dramatic difference in the way each company approached the task of engaging their employees...Second, the passion and commitment of the executives I interviewed was palpable. These people are ardent advocates of employee engagement." Croston then provides 25 additional "hints and tips" in the final chapter.

All efforts to achieve and then sustain positive and productive employee engagement must begin with a "people-first" mindset at the senior management level. Croston suggests an acronym, SAUCE, whose meaning is revealed by this equation: Satisfaction + Awareness + Understanding + Commitment = Engagement. He explains what each component requires of those who have supervisory responsibilities. He fully realizes that circumstances vary (sometimes substantially) from one organization to the next. Application of the SAUCE equation, therefore, must be modified accordingly. Nonetheless, I think this book can help any organization, regardless of size or nature, to establish and then sustain a "people-first" mindset.

Of special interest to me is the enthusiasm Croston and those he interviewed seem to have about the opportunities awaiting those who embark on the aforementioned "journey" if they understand that that employee engagement "is much more than an attraction and retention tool." Potential benefits include getting corporate, people, and engagement strategies in proper alignment but Croston warns that "the circuit breaker on engagement is always leadership behaviour."Many of the companies that he has studied seem to be "shifting their focus away from large-scale engagement interventions" to industry-level standards "and are now searching for ways to drive [employee engagement levels] even higher." Executives involved in such elevation efforts "want to embed the engagement program into the framework of their business" and in its culture. To protect a program's sustainability, executives are "hard-wiring key interventions into the business so they can become standard operating procedure." Throughout various engagement initiatives, Croston notes, those involved in them have found that a well-designed engagement strategy helps at least some employees to undergo a personal transformation. Such a strategy "takes into account the deep and complex roots of employee engagement, commitment, and motivation."

What Croston provides in this book is a brilliant achievement.

Organisations who want to make significant shifts in engagement because it makes sense, as it can impact business performance and thus bottom line profits need to bring their culture and brand into alignnment, so that they deliver a consistent experience to internal (employees) and external (customer/shareholder) audiences.

This is the first time I have found a book that takes you through the process of designing an overarching engagement program in 7 easy chapters with helpful action points that can form part of your implementation plan.

Croston spends the first four chapters explaining employee engagement and getting to the heart of why engagement is important to organisations.

In Chapter 5 Croston links Employee engagement to business results and in this succinct chapter assists one to make an easy and compelling business case around the importance of engagement whilst at the same time giving one food for thought around the issues facing organisations who seek to crack the "personal responsibility code" moving from a mindset of "denial and excuses" to one of "It is up to me!" Croston plainly states the challenges that face executives who want to shift engagement and lift employee responsibility particulary in cultures where systemic issues of blame have existed for sometime.
Croston starts to link the engagement story with the challenges of a culture journey early in his book and it is rare to see, as most write about only culture or engagement.

Chapter 6 is focused on the measurement of engagement and focuses closely on the Towers Perrin model, discussing engagement priority drivers and how organisations should run successful survey programs with the "ask,analyse and act" model. Although chapter six can seem like an add for the Towers engagment model Croston uses this chapter to then springboard into his core thesis which is how to build a roadmap.
Croston provides the reader with a six stage road map, with each stage linking and creating a simple and meaningful way to navigate the engagement journey.
All stages of the journey are sound but the stages that I find most compelling are stage 2 and 3 which are about linking strategy and execution, employees and customers and aligning culture and brand.
Croston picks up Kaplan and Norton's findings that 95% of employees are unaware of or do not understand their organisational strategy. Croston then argues that this approach to strategy cannot continue and proposes that the missing piece of the puzzle is communication. He then makes the salient point that not enough investment goes into sharing strategy with employees and he gives suggestions on how this might be improved.
Croston states that at some point engagement programs run into the "thorny issue" of culture and this is true for any of us who have worked in this space. "Culture and Brand are two powerful forces. They influence the attitudes and behaviours of customers and employees. Engagement teams who want their plans to succeed need to bring their culture and brand into alignment, so they deliver a consistent experience to employees and customers".
Croston suggests that the most effective strategy for bringing the brand and culture to life is to begin with building the brand around the organisation's workforce value, beliefs and behaviours.

Shifting engagement and Shaping the culture
Croston's engagement levers are similar to those levers we would use to influence culture change ... so he provides a integrated plan of attack for reshaping your culture whilst also building your engagement levels.This is a really helpful section in the book.

Highly recommend this book to all leaders with engagement and culture challenges, brand management professionals who are grappling with the "how to" of the new "brand/culture" theories, HR, Culture, Engagement professionals who are trying to make the business case to Senior Executives on how brand/culture programs link with engagement programs, how it can be achieved and why it is important to business performance and overall profitability.

There are more "textbook" type books and more comprehensive books on the topic; but this is a great read for an overview.

An excellent application would be to provide one to each manager before embarking on the EE road, which we plan to do.

Provides a clear, penetrating, illuminating overview of the topic; and a "call to action" type of feeling.

David Croston has worked in England and Australia in advertising and branding, and has written a comprehensive, quality book on employee engagement and what we know as "internal branding" (the delivery of the brand promise).

Employee Engagement is a 167 page paperback with helpful diagrams and flowcharts. There are very few references and only a couple of mentions of possible further reading. It features 60 pages of case studies from nine organizations that have achieved success with their people. While these are Australian, many will be familiar to overseas readers (e.g. KPMG, Vodaphone, Unilever) and all are interesting.

This book will be understood and enjoyed by anyone interested in employee engagement. It expounds "the `people-first' approach to building a business" and focuses on for-profit companies. It covers such concepts as: strategy, leadership, brand, customers, culture, team, alignment, retention, productivity, surveys, feedback, execution. It concludes with a section of 25 helpful hints and tips.