I am the founder and owner of a leadership and employee engagement firm and from time to time I get asked to offer my services for free. Which makes me wonder…do firms that specialize in digital systems and processes that assert to improve productivity also get requests to provide their services for free? I would assume not.
Many companies struggle in understanding the link between employee productivity and team/company culture. So, they focus on tangible products and systems they can quantify and measure, thinking this will give them the outcome they are seeking.
Recently, I was speaking with several friends, who are managers, who have expressed concern and frustration with the level of productivity of their direct reports. Although productivity initially increased when their team started working from home, it has now decreased and continuing to decline. My manager friends are at a loss and not sure what to do. To make things more challenging, they do not have funds in their budget to invest in professional development. Hence, the requests to offer my services for free. So, I decided to ask them a few questions….
ME: When was the last time your company invested in a productivity software/system?
THEM: Within the last couple of months.
ME: Is this the first time you have outsourced this service?
THEM: This is the second or third time. Each time with a different company.
ME: How come you keep investing in these types of services/products?
THEM: We were hopeful that the first service/product would work, but we are still encountering the same problems with customer complaints, quality and assurance errors, overtime, and absenteeism. That is why we purchased another software. We are hopeful this product will address our problems.
ME: How much do these systems/products cost?
THEM: The last software we purchased to track scheduling and productivity, our goal was to decrease overtime costs, was six figures.
ME: How did that work out?
THEM: We still are experiencing high overtime and workplace injuries. Hence, why we are purchasing another software. We are hopeful this one will work.
ME: Have you ever thought of getting to the root cause of what is causing your workplace/productivity issues?
THEM: Not really. I guess we keep doing the same thing hoping for a different result.
I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t think HR/payroll/productivity software doesn’t work. I think they really do! I use them myself. They enable to me to outsource things I am not an expert in, like bookkeeping, so that I can focus on business development and customer engagement. But when a company allocates funds in their budget for software and very little to nothing for leadership development, employee engagement, and improving workplace culture, they are sending a loud and clear message to their workforce. They are not as important as the $$ bottom line.
It is your people, not software, that will enable your company to succeed! I think we are all familiar with Peter Drucker’s quote, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Organizational culture, strategy, and performance are not mutually exclusive. They are equally important, influence one another, and should not be underestimated or overlooked.
WORKPLACE CULTURE SURVEY
To put my theory to the test, take the following short survey. Read each statement below…which ones make you pause and think? How many statements are you able to respond yes to? By engaging in this activity, it will provide you an opportunity to reflect on your current state and areas you could focus on for future improvement:
Vision and Mission: The employees in my organization (from formal leaders to frontline staff) can articulate the company vision and understand how their work contributes to the mission of the company.
Quality of Formal Leaders: All our managers receive mentoring/coaching and professional development early in their leadership career to ensure they have the skills and mindset to lead others and create empowered teams that work collectively towards the successful achievement of goals.
Autonomy: The employees in my organization (from formal leaders to frontline staff) have the right tools and permission to approach work in their own way, as long as they achieve outcomes that contribute to the growth of the company.
Resiliency & Agility: Continuous learning is supported and embedded through everyday work processes, which supports employees in being able to adapt to changing circumstances and problems through testing solutions and interacting with others. We also have a culture where candid and compassionate conversations occur daily, and where sharing feedback is not only encouraged, but expected.
Encouraging the Heart: We recognize employees’ contributions regularly through individual and group moments of appreciation, and we build a strong sense of community by showing our employees that we care about their well-being and that of their families.
How many statements were you able to give a definitive “YES” to? Don’t beat yourself up too much if you answered “no” more than “yes”. It is not really your fault, or maybe it is? The truth is many organizations do not think about how to create an engaging workplace culture that leads to increased productivity, revenue growth, and customer commitment. Which brings us back full circle to the first point I made… being solicited to offer my services for free, because organizational leaders don’t think this kind of stuff is important, so they keep investing large sums of money in quick fixes that fail, rather than long term solutions that will succeed.
And if you are still not sold on the importance of investing in leadership development and employee engagement initiatives, here is a number that should make you pause and take this seriously…
Translating Your Company’s Engagement Score into Dollars
According to Raise Your Team’s Employee Engagement Score[1], a great read. I highly recommend this book:
Organizations that improved their employee engagement scores by one standard deviation were associated with a revenue increase of $4,675 for each employee. For a typical S&P 500 organization, this amounts to $93.5 million in additional revenue year[2].
I even paused and pulled a Keanu, “WHOA”, when I read that! So, before you ask a leadership consultant to offer her/his time and services for free, please ask yourself the following question, “what are my employees’ engagement worth”?
If your interest is peaked and you want to learn more about how my firm can help you achieve the results you have not been able to achieve, visit our site at https://learn.sinogapsolutions.com/pages/organizations or book a complimentary exploratory consultation. You can access all our contact information on our website.
About the Author
Dr. Johanna Pagonis is the owner of the leadership consulting firm, Sinogap Solutions. Dr. Pagonis’ firm specializes in developing employee engagement and leadership strategies that transform people into confident and capable employees that achieve excellence and are a source of strategic value for their organization.
Dr. Pagonis has 20 years’ experience in leadership and organizational development gained throughout her professional and academic career. Her expertise has culminated from years of operational experience, which enabled her to successfully lead and oversee the design of organizational improvement strategies. Dr. Pagonis is also the author of, Choose to Be a Leader Others Would Want to Follow: How to Lead with Heart and Purpose, which grew out of her desire to support managers in learning how to become emotionally intelligent leaders that can achieve organizational success while inspiring and motivating others.
[1] Watson Wyatt. “Debunking the Myths of Employee Engagement,” WorkUSA Survey Report, 2007.
[2] Richard P. Finnegan https://www.amazon.ca/Raise-Teams-Employee-Engagement-Score-ebook/dp/B071HR6TKG
Great article!