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One sign that engagement has emerged as a formal field is the proliferation of books published on the subject over the last few years. The latest, The Engagement Equation: Leadership Strategies for an Inspired Workforce, by BlessingWhite consultants Chrisopher Rice, Fraser Marlow and Mary Ann Masarech, and published by Wiley, focuses specifically on how to infuse engagement throughout your managerial and organizational culture. A fundamental premise of the book is that “you can’t actually make employees engaged. Engagement is fundamentally an individualized equation. What might make one person engaged might turn off the person in the next cubical.” The authors stress the link between “maximum engagement and maximum contribution…” – i.e., the importance of continually linking engagement to organizational results. The book stresses the importance of finding a common definition for engagement and a way of talking about it in the organization; focusing as much on individuals as on global trends or indices; making engagement a priority and shared responsibility so that everyone has a stake in the process; making sure management is as engaged as employees are expected to be; and how to map out an overall plan that provides a clear direction and vision, open communication and realistic ROI measurement tools. They caution that surveys tools should be used to diagnose issues rather that simply as a “prize.” Click here to view a video by the authors.... [ read more ]

Join the Enterprise Engagement Alliance and Hay Group on Tuesday, December 4th for a FREE expert discussion of best practices and methods in the selection, implementation and analysis of employee engagement surveys. This curriculum segment provides practitioners with a formal framework to determine the best approach to measuring employee engagement in a way that can identify granular solutions. Topics include:... [ read more ]

Most Engaged Employee Contest Will Recognize & Reward Top Talent The Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA) has launched the Most Engaged Employee contest to publicly recognize actively engaged employees for making a significant difference for their employers, colleagues and customers/clients. The annual winner, to be named in May 2013, will receive a trip for two specially designed to fulfill a personal dream or desire they haven’t had the time or resources to accomplish. Monthly winners will receive gifts specifically selected based on their personal interests – something special and meaningful that they will always remember. Visitors to the website (www.mostengagedemployee.com/) can nominate themselves or anyone they know and/or anonymously measure their own level of engagement using the Personal Engagement Meter. Nominees will be judged on a variety of criteria, including ongoing actions indicative of a high level of engagement, length of service and clear evidence supporting how they made their organization a better place to work or created better experiences for customers, clients or patients. ... [ read more ]

Held in conjunction with the 2013 Recognition Professionals International Annual Conference and the first Incentive Research Foundation Rewards & Recognition in Business education series, the 2013 Rewards & Recognition Expo, scheduled for April 28-30, 2013 in New Orleans, is the only national conference and expo specifically designed to help incentive, recognition and engagement practitioners/providers elevate their role in Corporate America. The event will feature over 100 providers of rewards, recognition and engagement products and solutions in a unique “Conversation Center” format to encourage dialog, collaboration and innovation, and an exhibit-floor Engagement Learning Pavilion highlighting the latest engagement tactics and services. There will also be a slate of Plenary Sessions on the emerging field of engagement, co-sponsored by Recognition Professionals International, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance and the Incentive Research Foundation. In addition, the Incentive Research Foundation will debut its “Rewards & Recognition in Business” series, the field’s first ongoing education program based on the latest research in the field, designed for practitioners and providers of recognition and incentive programs. More information is available here >

Costco, FedEx, Time Warner, Google and others earn top grades in ‘Good Company Index’ The Enterprise Engagement Alliance Good Company Stock Index has been created to draw attention to the compelling connection between an organization’s relationships with customers, employees and communities and its subsequent performance in the stock market. The EEA Good Company Stock Index (GCSI) uses the Good Company Index™ developed by human resource analytics leader McBassi & Company to track organizations based on their business practices as sellers, employers and stewards of communities and the planet. Firms making the inaugural Good Company Index list include Agilent Technologies, Apple, American Express, Biogen Idec, Campbell Soup, Costco, FedEx, Ford Motor, Gap, Google, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Time Warner and Whole Foods. Low-scoring companies include Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Dollar General, GameStop; Oracle, Sears Holdings, Tyson Foods and United States Steel (see full lists below). ... [ read more ]

The Incentive Research Foundation has announced the creation of a professional development series for progressive practitioners of incentive and recognition programs and the providers whose advice and counsel support their thinking. The program, “Building Better Business Results through Incentives and Recognition,” will be introduced at the 2013 Rewards & Recognition Expo held in conjunction with the Recognition Professionals International Annual Conference, April 28-30, 2013 at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans, and continue through the spring and summer of 2013. The educational series will provide five hours of education in five of the critical areas of incentive and recognition program development and execution: Business case development Communications planning and execution Award funding and selection Technology and diagnostics Overlaps with other strategic agendas within the organization (operations, marketing, etc.) Speakers will include IRF President Melissa Van Dyke, Chief Research Officer Rodger Stotz and Mike Ryan, SVP of Madison Performance Group. For more information, go to http://theirf.org/Education.6084727.html... [ read more ]

The Enterprise Engagement Institute and Marcus Evans offer you this opportunity to be at the forefront of the emerging trend of ‘Social Recognition.’ This free webinar will address the most important issues surrounding Social Recognition, which uses software and communications to enable people to recognize one another and build relationships across the organization. Topics include: • Defining Social Recognition • Key tools/technologies of Social Recognition • Key issues your SR program must address • What can be done to make Social Recognition meaningful and engaging? • What sorts of management and controls are required? • How can Social Recognition be tapped to foster collaboration and innovation? • How can its impact be measured? ... [ read more ]

Anyone can track their own individual engagement at any time and compare it with those of others using the Personal Engagement Meter at www.mostengagedemployee.com Just go to mostengagedemployee.com, click on the box on the upper right that says ‘The Personal Engagement Meter’ and follow the simple steps. It takes just a few minutes, it’s completely anonymous, and you’ll see how you stack up against more than 2,000 people who have already taken the survey. Organizations can also anonymously benchmark their engagement practices against those of other companies using the Enterprise Engagement Benchmark Indicator at: www.eewidget.com/eebenchmark/ Mostengagedemployee.com is a website and contest seeking to recognize America’s Most Engaged Employees. It is produced by the Enterprise Engagement Alliance at www.enterpriseengagement.org ... [ read more ]

By themselves, reward programs rarely create the full emotional attachment that brings true customer engagement. Allegiance Loyalty & Engagement Expert Kyle LaMalfa notes that engagement is built over time and comes from creating mutually beneficial relationships with customers. One of the keys to creating relationships is providing customers with direct access to company decision makers through a feedback management system that demonstrates that the company cares about them and is indeed listening. ... [ read more ]

A recent TNS Global Panel Study reveals that integrating employee, brand, and customer engagement is strongly connected to high performance. Research from across 23 countries has established four key insights that aim to increase the brand promise to customers and enable the growth of high performing companies: 1. Develop better relationships with employees 2. Focus on the customer experience 3. Be committed to delivering the brand promise to customers 4. Serve as a brand ambassador, and actively promote the company to others. The gaps between “top company” and “well below average” are substantial. This supports the belief that the brand promise has to be experienced by employees so they can live it with the company’s customers. High performing companies are breaking down the silos between customer and employee engagement and branding, and viewing them as multiple expressions of the core of who they are. Go to http://tnsemployeeinsights.com/ for more information.... [ read more ]

A new Enterprise Engagement Primer on the emerging field of Enterprise Engagement has been published, along with a directory of various types of engagement service providers supporting the curriculum development efforts of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance. The primer, featured on the home page Resources box on the EnterpriseEngagement.org portal, provides a concise overview of the field; it’s economics; and critical steps, as well as free resources available on the field at EnterpriseEngagement.org. It’s designed as a Quick Start guide for anyone charged with developing an engagement strategy seeking both access to a formal framework and suppliers that can help them get started. This Primer is distributed online at the EnterpriseEngagement.org portal and to attendees at Marcus Evans engagement education programs. ... [ read more ]

The Enterprise Engagement Alliance has announced that Gary Rhoads, currently the Stephen M. Covey Professor of Marketing and Associate Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at Brigham Young University, will join the EEA curriculum group as Academic Advisor, effective immediately. Professor Rhoads will advise the EEA on its curriculum development on Enterprise Engagement for businesses, as well as the creation of an education program for students at various levels. “I believe that the field of engagement is entering an exciting stage of development,” says Rhoades. “Engagement may be to the 21st century what advertising was in the last century in terms of impact on business. I’m eager to contribute to the formalization of the framework and best practices being developed by the Enterprise Engagement Alliance, and to help bring this to the widest possible audience of businesses and students.”... [ read more ]

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The Enterprise Engagement Alliance curriculum will be presented in conjunction with the upcoming Marcus Evans Customer Experience Conference, July 17-18 in Chicago. The EEA seminar date is July 16. Registration opens soon. Speakers will include executives from Yahoo!, Microsoft, Level Three Communications, Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, Avaya, American General Life Companies, Deluxe Corporation SimplexGrinnell, and Comcast Corporation. Information about the event can be found at http://linkd.in/zzBBOJ... [ read more ]

Melanie Lewis has joined the Enterprise Engagement Alliance as Senior Consultant to help implement a new Consulting and Training service on the emerging field of Enterprise Engagement. Lewis most recently served as Director, Commercial Engagement at AstraZeneca, capping a 27-year career there that began in human resources and culminated with pioneering work in the area of Enterprise Engagement. In her last decade at AstraZeneca, she has been involved in cutting-edge work with consultant and author Curt Coffman on connecting customer and employee engagement that won the company the EEA’s first Enterprise Engagement Award.... [ read more ]

Average levels of employee engagement weren’t good enough for Stryker, as one New Jersey plant discovered. The Gallup Management Journal recently published an extensive case study looking at how a fast-moving manager changed the plant’s culture in less than a year, improving engagement levels from 48% to 57%. Stryker believes that ... [ read more ]

A new research study by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College examines work experiences of employees, finding that those 40 years old and older are the most engaged and demonstrate the highest level of organizational commitment, and that those 50 years old and older are the most satisfied with their jobs. Employees between the ages of 30 and 39 evidenced ... [ read more ]

Employee engagement and employee performance management truly go hand in hand. The goal for both is to create alignment between the needs, desires, skills and activities of individuals and what the business requires to achieve results. But in today's intense business environment, what managers and employees need to achieve this balance can be difficult to discern. ... [ read more ]

Employee engagement is one of the four customer experience core competencies and it’s the one that companies tend to struggle with the most. To examine this critical area, Temkin Group surveyed more than 2,400 U.S. employees, finding that only 40% are fully committed to helping their companies succeed, 54% will do good for the company even if it’s not expected, and 26% are likely to look for a new job within six months. ... [ read more ]