Employee engagement has been a hot topic lately as companies look to fire up the troops and generate a positive attitude and positive results. With so many blog entries, tweets and articles popping up about employee engagement, one can’t help but ask, is this simply the latest fad? And how do I get some employee engagement in my organization? 

There’s no question about it, employee engagement is no here today, gone tomorrow fad. The Gallup Organization has shown employee engagement to be a key to success. Engaged workforces make more money, save more money, are more innovative and more productive than lesser engaged workforces. Need an example? 

• Best Buy claims than a 2% increase in employee engagement corresponds to, on average, $100,000 annual rise in store sales. 
• Campbell Soup Inc, after a devastating Gallup review, raised employee engagement scores from 62% of managers not actively engaged in their jobs to 68% actively engaged. In turn, investors enjoyed a 30% increase on their Campbell’s stock. 

If you were at SHRM in New Orleans or WorldatWork in Seattle, you may have chuckled with us while watching one of our very funny Cubicle Chronicles videos. The Red Recruiter is a fan and mentioned our videos on his blog, too. We thought that, rather than gloss over the fact that there are many people who don’t do recognition well, we would take the high road and poke fun at them. Might as well turn some negative recognition moments into positive mojo, right? 

The Cubicle Chronicles follow different recognition situations that fail to even remotely motivate or engage the recipient. Sadly, we’ve found that everyone can relate to one of these videos, and any people have experienced recognition done really, really badly at some point during their career. So why not try a different kind of recognition and see where it gets you? 

The economic recession has challenged workplace cultures and practices. Organizations once accustomed to cushy bonuses, deluxe benefits, and luxurious trips and conferences had to cut back – not only on such coveted add-ons – but also on their staff. If you’ve been one of the lucky ones to keep a job during the recession, you know that the workplace challenges begun by the recession won’t be easily resolved. 

As layoffs took place, the employees who survived were left full of anxiety and discord. Going forward, it will be management’s response that will make organizations successful on the other side of this economic chasm.
 
Recent survey results released by Careerbuilder.com reveal some interesting insights into how the workforce is going to change once the recession “comes to an end.” CareerBuilder in conjunction with Robert Half International conducted a post-recession job market survey. One of their findings pointed to the intentions of workers. According to the survey, 55% of survey participants plan to make a career change or go back to school when the economy recovers. 

Working with graphic designers, I often get printouts of their artwork with placeholder text where my copy will go. Typically, this text says “clever headline goes here” or “some kind of interesting copy goes here.” We’ve all heard of writer’s block and that typing that first word can be the hardest obstacle to overcome. But it’s nothing compared to the pressure to come up with words that are also clever or interesting. I see those prompts and I literally break out in a sweat. What if I am simply not witty today? What then?

Anxiety aside, I have to admit it’s really good for me. I inherently know that I am expected to write clever and interesting copy, but I wonder if, in the absence of those prompts, I might not. If the placeholder just said “headline goes here” would I simply write a headline and not be motivated to do more than that?

The truth is, we all have (and need) prompts that motivate us to excel. Recognition and appreciation can be powerful ones. Looking around at the cards, trophies, certificates, and personalized gifts that decorate my and my coworkers’ desks, it’s obvious that these items serve a purpose. They inspire us; they make us smile; they say, “Hey, you were fabulous at least once, so there’s a really good chance you can do it again!”


One of our customer service superstars let us photograph her display. Wow, that Cool Beans plant is really taking off!

As a manager, when you say thank you or give employees recognition for a job well done, you’re reinforcing the positive behavior that you want to see repeated. Being recognized feels good, so your recipients will try harder to do the things that get rewarded. When that recognition is tangible, it also serves as a constant reminder to push a little harder.

It’s as simple as that!

I recently read Randy Pausch’s book, The Last Lecture. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Randy Pausch, it’s no big surprise. Up until fall 2007, Randy was simply a college professor with a young family. It was his actions after he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer that made him known to the world. Even two years later, his name is still, unfortunately, relatively unknown to many. 

As his farewell at Carnegie Mellon, Randy delivered a last lecture which was video taped and later posted on You Tube. His lecture, appropriately titled “Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams,” has been viewed over 10 million times on YouTube and was later made into a book.