Because there are so many great articles on employee engagement and creating a culture of appreciation in the workplace, I want to share the best of these resources with you. Here are my favorites from this week. I have included some of my thoughts on these gratitude strategies (“Grategies”) and would like to hear your comments too.
“Perks Culture” vs. “Purposeful Culture” by Kim Heyer, Marketing Manager at BlessingWhite
“Perks like free food and a place to sleep can keep workers on site and, in theory, more productive. But we also know from our research that perks may actually keep the wrong (aka disengaged) employees in the organization as well.”
My Thoughts: We’d all like to work for a place like Facebook with all of their amazing benefits, but unless the employee is really committed to the mission of the organization, it doesn’t always help. Interesting take on the reality of perks in the workplace.
Getting Employees to Commit to Customer Service by Bill Sims, Jr.
(Globe Gazette.com) “If you are a leader, your success in business will depend on your ability to deliver positive reinforcement, something that is rarely used by today’s managers and leaders. And, let’s be clear: we not talking about steak dinners and handing out gift cards and t-shirts for lagging indicators.”
My Thoughts: Individualized, positive reinforcement is the key. What gets recognized gets repeated, so make sure you catch your team doing things right – and acknowledge them on the spot.
Employee Engagement: The Wonder Drug For Customer Satisfaction by Kevin Kruse
(Forbes.com) “We know for certain that employee engagement and positive business outcomes are correlated, but does engagement truly lead to better outcomes, or do successful companies just have more engaged employees? Or does the linkage work in both directions?”
My Thoughts: I never thought I would see research that compared Employee Engagement with the use of Viagra. But here you have it.
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Lisa Ryan, creator of Grategy® is a gratitude expert, professional speaker and bestselling author. For more information contact (216) 225-8027. For information on Grategy® programs please visit http://www.grategy.com. Follow on Twitter: @Grategy