People like to know that their opinions matter, so at TAC, we ask employees in our CORE engagement surveys to give a 1-10 rating to the question, “I have a voice regarding the direction of the company.” The average score of thousands of participants is 5.7! So what is an employer to do?
Consider how you would answer these questions about engagement in your organization.
As a Leader
- How engaged do you believe your employees are?
- Would they rate their opinions matter as to where the organization should be headed higher than 5.7 out of 10? Lower?
- Do you have a formal way to collect information about your employees’ perceptions of those factors that affect their engagement and organizational success?
- Do you believe their perception of how much you care impacts employee performance?
As an Employee
- What score (1 – 10) would you give if asked whether you have a voice in the organization?
- Does your manager consult you regularly about effective communication, clarity of expectations, or other matters that have a direct impact on your engagement?
- Does your employer collect this data, build a plan for action, and then measure progress?
- Does how much you believe your leaders care affect how much you care?
When we ask business leaders what sets them apart from their competitors almost all of them tell us it’s their people. That question, which we use deliberately, helps to demonstrate two important issues:
- First, if everyone believes their differentiator is their people, then is it truly a differentiator?
- Second, if virtually all employees believe their employer doesn’t care, then perhaps the real competitor isn’t another company. The internal perception of employer indifference might be the issue. This perception can result in employees leaving to seek greener pastures.
At TAC, we compare the differences between what leaders vs. employees believe about important indicators of engagement. Employees rate their organizations as much as 30% lower than their leaders. Clearly, leaders not only need to ask more questions. Look deeply into what the data tells them, because opinions matter.
We can help you with an extensive offering of engagement tools. These help you dissect the themes we collect for you. You’ll find more information on CORE on your website, or contact us directly to get your questions answered.
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