Tag Archives: employee engagement

What drives breakthrough performance?  Like most things of sustainable value, the answer is multi-dimensional.  There are no secrets or shortcuts to success. Our approach and philosophy is a culmination of more than twenty-five years of real-world leadership experience, of remarkable successes and sobering failures. Grounded in the reality of living, and sometimes seemingly dying, with the results of my executive decisions. In 2007, I embarked on a journey of focused research, experiential learning, and the exploration of what delivers differentiated performance in highly competitive markets.  What I will be sharing in the blog series is a result of that journey.

The traditional business educational path, both formal and informal, focuses on the technical skills of management; on “how to do the job”.  While these skills are invaluable, it is the “soft skills” that differentiate inspirational leadership from mediocre management.  The Center for Creative Leadership conducted a three year study in which they discovered the only statistical difference between the two was caring about people.¹   Obviously, simply caring about one’s associates isn’t enough to carry the day, other skills are necessary in order to ignite and sustain breakthrough performance.  However, the consistent and authentic expression of empathy is the cohesive catalyst that binds one’s skills, tools, and experiences into a powerful, inspirational  approach for leadership.

The Employee Engagement Crisis

How our associates feel about their work is as important, if not more important, than what they think about it.  The rapidly emerging science of Behavioral Economics (which we will explore throughout series) indicates human beings aren’t as rational as business and economic theorists once assumed.  How people feel about their employer, their vendors, and their fellow associates is a defining factor in economic behavior.

Gallup, Inc.® has been studying employee engagement for more than ten years.  Their research indicates only 29% of employees are fully engaged with their employer (meaning they work with passion and are strongly connected to the mission).  In addition, 56% of employees are not engaged (meaning they’re sleepwalking and simply going through the motions at work), and 15% are actively disengaged from their employer.²   Sound familiar?

The study indicates the cost of disengagement in terms of lost productivity to be between $287 to $370 billion annually in the United States.  If we extrapolate this to a business with a $10 million payroll, and give the sleepwalkers the benefit of the doubt, that they’re contributing value 50% of the time, this business is spending $5.7 million in annual payroll with little or no return on their investment!  How many manufacturing companies would accept a 57% scrap rate?

The employee engagement crisis may be even worse than the research indicates.  An Associated Press article dated January 10, 2010 reported 45% of Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs.  It goes on to document that only 51% of employees are interested in their work, down from 70% in 1987.  I’ve read more recent articles that indicate upwards of three quarters of employees will be looking for a new position as the economy improves!  While productivity has jumped at the tale end of our current recession, with less people doing more work, we have to wonder about the long-term implications of these trends?  Can your enterprise afford the cost of turnover (often .5 to 1.5 times the salary of the departing associate) and the resulting disruption and potential loss of intellectual horsepower that often follows an uptick in employment opportunities? Alternatively, if you’re growing and looking for talent, your at an opportunistic juncture!

Why is this important to an entrepreneur?  Well, I’m willing to bet your company is built around some type of intellectual property (I.P.).  The rapid and efficient commercialization of intellectual property is the key driver of value creation in today’s economy.  How you and your resources cultivate your I.P. will greatly determine your degree of success.  My point is, your human capital, including yourself, is your raw material and how you decide to lead and care for this raw material will impact your speed to market launch, affect your ability to connect, engage, and motivate your early adopters and opinion leaders, and attract the best resources available for your firm.  The fact of the matter is, your intention is just as important as your vision, and we’ll explore that factor in the next blog post.

1.)  Robert Cooper, Ph.D., “The Other 90%”, Three Rivers Press, New York, NY, 2001, p. 18.

2.)  “Engaged Employees Inspire Company Innovation”, The Gallup Management Journal,Gallup, Inc.®, New York, NY, October 12, 2006.

© 2011, Terry Murray.