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.
Employee engagement? Forget it by Wayne Turmel
(Gallup.com) “I don’t want to pick at any emotional scabs, but have you ever been wildly in love with someone who didn’t feel the same way about you? The sad truth is, you can’t make someone love you. You can make a conscious effort to attract them, and some of us can come up with 150 ways to drive someone away, but only the other person can decide to accept you or not. Same thing with work, although there have been fewer good songs written about it.”
My Thoughts: No matter what you do, you cannot MAKE someone an engaged employee. You can, however, create the environment that makes it easy for them to CHOOSE engagement.
You Should Switch From Annual Surveys To Weekly Pulse Surveys By Jacob Schriar
(Office Vibe) “Annual employee surveys are notorious for having incredibly low response rates, averaging around 30 percent based on research I’ve seen. This doesn’t surprise me, since most annual surveys contain up to 100 bland, boring questions. Plus, with the way most companies operate, they take months simply to generate the reports and analyze the data. Then in classic big company fashion, establish a “committee” to implement changes, which takes another few months. By the time this is all said and done, it’s time to start planning for next year’s survey.”
My Thoughts: There is nothing more frustrating than being asked for your opinion, expecting something to happen and then….crickets. If you’re going to ask, make sure you take action.
101 Ways to Reward Employees (Without Giving Them Cash) by Mike Michalowicz
(American Express.com) “9. Tour Time. Take your employees for a tour of one of your vendors or suppliers’ facilities. It’s a cool way to learn more about who you work with, and can be as fun as a field trip was in grade school days.”
My thoughts: This article is chock-full of ways (101 to be exact) to show your employees that you care about them. And you don’t have to spend a lot of cash to do it.
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Lisa Ryan, creator of Grategy® is a professional speaker and bestselling author who focuses on workplace culture. For more information contact (216) 225-8027. For information on Grategy® programs please visit http://www.grategy.com. Follow on Twitter: @Grategy