The future of work: why engagement is no longer enough
BY Maria Hoyle (HRD)
When it comes to measuring how happy your workforce is, employee engagement has traditionally proven a handy yardstick. But what if – rather like the word ‘yardstick’ – this measure started to look a little dated?
Evelyn Jackson, CEO of creative agency Corporate Crayon, believes in today’s world, ‘engagement’ is no longer enough. What you’re really looking for is belief. Belief is where the magic happens – it is where innovation and transformation live, where resilience for organisational change is born, and it’s increasingly integral to retaining talent and giving companies an edge.
So what’s the difference between engagement and belief?
“Employee engagement talks to how satisfied someone might be in their role, how satisfied they are with the company, the salary and benefits, the culture, the people. But belief comes down to more than just satisfaction. It is built by how energised I feel by what I am experiencing.”
It’s that energy that makes workers feel connected to the organisation and which, crucially, will “drive an employee’s appetite to give discretionary effort”, says Jackson. In other words, to go beyond high performance. Corporate Crayon helps organisations to ‘energise culture’ – ie, engineer belief -through communication campaigns, culture programs (specially tailored to each client) and capability initiatives.
Jackson, whose book The Art of Employee Energy explores the philosophy underpinning Corporate Crayon’s work, says engagement is still important. “You need it as a base; higher engagement leads to higher performance. But discretionary effort is about that special above and beyond that drives the company to be innovative, or to go through change more easily, or to react to its customers quickly.
“We find companies in the tech sector have needed discretionary effort as a core goal as opposed to just engagement. Engagement gives you ‘I am going to perform well at my job for what I get paid to do, and I am going to meet the expectations placed upon me.’ But discretionary effort gives you that point of difference that all sectors now need.”
Jackson says CEOs and HR directors can engineer belief with five ‘check-in’ actions:
Are you clear on your business strategy and how your people will contribute to get you there?
Have you placed enough energy into communication and internal branding?
Are your leaders equipped to engineer belief? Checking in on the ability of your leaders to genuinely get to know their teams and understand what drives them to work for you is critical.
Are you measuring and rewarding discretionary effort in clear and transparent ways?
Have you identified the values of the organisation from the ground up and from the needs of the business to meet its strategy? Start by answering these and planning for change where it is needed, Jackson.
So much for driving belief - but what about measuring it? It is all about gauging the experience element, which drives the energy that is in turn the fuel of belief. This means asking your workforce questions about five key areas: the work environment and their experience of it; the values of the organisation; the impact of your work on the organisation and your growth; trust (in terms of leadership and with each other); and connection (including sociability between team members).
“People will have a very personal perspective about certain things in those five areas and change initiatives will impact their perspective,” says Jackson.
A company that can engineer belief will also appeal to the current generation of incoming talent and leaders, whose needs are different to those of previous generations for whom a good job and a salary were the goal, says Jackson.
Even before COVID, sentiments were shifting towards the importance of believing in who you are working for, she says. Post-COVID, a ‘life is too short’ mentality is increasingly driving a younger generation to seek meaningful work.
To find out more go to corporatecrayon.com.au.