4Cs Blog: Happy Employees = Happy Customers

The Fifth ‘C’ of Employee Engagement is Congratulate

You will never get the best effort from employees simply by paying them more. Employees who only want more money will never be satisfied with what they are paid and their expectations will rise with each increase. What employees really need and want is to be congratulated, recognized or appreciated in a meaningful way for doing a good job. Recognition is so important that over 75% of people who quit their jobs say it is because they were not appreciated. And our research shows that only 36% of U.S. employees are currently satisfied with the level of recognition they receive at work.

An important measure of the health of the U.S. job market can be found in the monthly "Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey" (JOLTS) results from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Since hitting a low point in September of 2009, when just 1.6 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs, the average number of quits for the last five months has been more like 2.5 million. This number has increased steadily over the past three years, rising from 1.9 million per month in 2011 to 2.1 million in 2012 and up to 2.3 million last year.

Who Are We? What Do We Do? What Do We Stand For?

What is “corporate culture” and why it is important? Is it a predictor of corporate success?

In the simplest sense, “culture” refers to a system of values and norms that are shared by a group of people and gives its members a framework for thinking, planning and behaving. In this context, “values” represent the shared assumptions of what “ought” to be or, in other words, what the group believes to be right and desirable, while “norms” are the guidelines that define the expected behavior of group members in various circumstances. 

 When we become stressed or feel overwhelmed dealing with our jobs, it is not uncommon to search for ways to feel better. Many people turn to food, alcohol and drugs as a way to boost their spirits short term but these addictions don’t help us combat stress and, long term, they will destroy us, not help us cope.

Our survey results show that it is likely that at least one-quarter of employees in the U.S. is experiencing a high level of dysfunction due to stress and overwork.

What we also learned is that:
• One-in-four employees reports that they continually have more work than they can finish;
• One-in-three strongly agrees that their work is stressful; and
• Only one-in-four strongly agrees that they are able to find a satisfactory balance between personal/family obligations and career responsibilities.

In addition, less than one-half of U.S. employees agree that "Senior management encourages employees to have fun at work”.

So we searched our great land to find out how this issue is being addressed in companies across the U.S., which led us to a recent article by Argus Leader, and the story of one group of employees that have found the perfect answer.

The Importance of Learning to the new “Employment Contract”

When we doing our research before designing the Insightlink employee model back in 2001, we could see that the level of commitment employees feel toward their jobs and the places they work had to play an important part. So important, in fact, that we ended up identifying “Commitment” as one of the 4Cs!

At the same time, though, it is clear that we are undergoing a fundamental shift in the meaning of employee commitment. Not that long ago, many employees joined an organization expecting to make their career there. They expected the organization to give them opportunities to develop their skills, to increase their responsibilities and to advance through the ranks. In return, they rewarded the organization with loyalty and did what needed to be done to ensure corporate success.

These days, the idea of lifetime job security and retiring with a gold watch are long gone. Individual employees need to play a more active role in their development and career planning, instead of leaving this planning up to their employer. In return, employers are looking to increase the increase the employability of its workforce by investing in continuous skill development and encouraging them to use those skills.

The 4th C of Employee Engagement is Convey. Employees need to receive constructive and positive feedback on a regular basis if they are to succeed personally and feel passionate and committed to their organizations. It is a manager’s job to convey specific, objective feedback as frequently as possible to help their employees improve their performance and keep morale within their team high.

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