Incentive - December 2007 - (Page 20)

COVER STORY lot. If you’re going to be a team member, you try to be part of the solution. For me, it was time-out for complaining and time to get hands-on.” The particular results for Rolls-Royce Engine Services may be a matter of “If you think it’s possible, it is possible.” According to the global Towers Perrin study, among those employees who are judged to be engaged with their company, 84 percent believe they can help improve the quality of engagement suffered a decline of more than 30 percent. Net income and operating margins also were significantly higher for the companies with engaged employees, while employee turnover was less than half that in the unengaged group. As for his division, Raj Sharma can barely contain his enthusiasm. “It’s been like a tidal wave,” he says. “Employees couldn’t believe that we’d listen to their suggestions, that decisions would involve them.” Rosie Romero, Cleaning Technician Gearing Up for The Future Following that presentation by employee engagement program team members last spring to executives of Rolls-Royce North America, Oakland employees are now telling their story to other Rolls-Royce sites globally, not just in North America. Some divisions already have begun rolling out similar initiatives. “But my message is, this isn’t a canned program,” Sharma says. “What worked and succeeded here won’t necessarily work elsewhere, unless you have management that truly wants to make a difference.” Discussions of employee engagement programs always seem to focus on its definition. Is it an HR initiative? A marketing program? A recruitment tool? Maybe it’s all of the above. Or none. “It’s an initiative to improve business, not to make employees happy,” Sharma states flatly. “If you’re thinking of doing it for any other reason than improving business results, don’t do it. And in fact, unless it does make a difference in the marketplace, you won’t get the true employee involvement that you need.” Adds Denney, the Winning Workplace manager, “Something that can’t be stressed enough is that the work done through this employee engagement program has come from the bottom up, directly from our front-line employees. And whenever possible, it’s those same employees out there spreading the message.” Sharma says he and his employee teams are committed to picking up two additional recommendations a year to go with the initial six. s Blunting the Cynicism Factor ll too often employees see themselves as victims of decisions and mandates that waft down to them from on high. It’s a problem that must be overcome for any employee engagement program to have a chance of success. But the challenges are formidable. According to studies conducted by professional services firm Towers Perrin, employees don’t generally have much faith in management to inspire and lead. Even when employee attitudinal programs are tried, they’re often so poorly structured or managed that the level of worker cynicism can go through the roof. “From what we see, among the majority of companies we work with, the number of tried-and-failed employee engagement initiatives is huge,” says Linda Dulye, president of engagement consultancy L.M. Dulye & Co., in Warwick, N.Y. For a true employee motivation and engagement program to succeed, Dulye says, the program has to have substance and genuine buy-in by company leadership. She remembers one client who seemed committed to improving employee engagement, but when workers produced a slew of new ideas, management shot down every one at the first meeting. “You can’t extend the invitation, and the first time people show up, you slam the door in their faces,” Dulye says. A Maurice Carter, a Rolls-Royce bearing technician, says just being asked to participate in the Winning Workplace program was a big morale booster for him their company’s products (compared with 31 percent of the disengaged); 72 percent say they can positively affect customer service (versus 27 percent); and 68 percent believe they can help reduce costs in their job or unit (only 19 percent of the disengaged think this is feasible). And here’s the payoff, according to the survey: Overall, those companies with highly engaged employees enjoyed a oneyear improvement in operating income of 19.2 percent, while the companies with low 20 | Incentive | December 2007 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

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Incentive - December 2007 Contents Editor’s Note: Revved Up In the News Cover Story: Rolls-Royce Empowers Its Own Case Study: Booz Allen Hamilton Beating Your Best Incentive Primer: Add Value to Your Event Keeping Safety In Mind Incentive Interview Potentials Here and Now Research: Corporate Gifts Facts Report Tabletop Awards: Travel Gift Cards Travel News Viva Puerto Vallarta Indigenous Spas Advertiser Index Off the Cuff: Ambassador Christoph Bubb Luxury Brands Special Supplement

Incentive - December 2007

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