Employee engagement has many benefits to an organisation including improved productivity, retention, ideas creation, customer service, team work & loyalty. But how do you create an environment where staff want to proactively provide a positive contribution to your business and passionately believe in its long term goals and objectives?

1. The Ultimate Guide to Employee Engagement
How to get employee commitment to your organisation's goals and values.

2. Employee engagement has many
benefits to an organisation including
improved productivity, retention, ideas
creation, customer service, team work &
loyalty.
But how do you create an environment
where staff want to proactively provide
a positive contribution to your business
and passionately believe in its long term
goals and objectives?
This guide explores many of the
fundamentals that are necessary to
create such settings including:
• The dynamics of a good team
• How to set and monitor SMART
objectives
• The best communication channels to
promote engagement
• How to engage new and remote
employees

3. A Good Team is Like a Well-Oiled Machine
A good team is like a well-oiled machine. Each component has its own unique function
and output, but when these eclectic parts are brought together to form a
comprehensive unit their collective yield is much greater than you would expect from
their individual outputs combined. But how do you create a synergy within your
organisation, and once you have it, how do you make sure it continues?
Specification
The first washing machine wasn’t designed until there was a realisation that there was
a plausible and more efficient way of washing clothes. Before you build an effective
machine you need to have a clear understanding of what it is being designed for. An
organisation or department must have an unambiguous mission statement, clear core
values and comprehensive strategic objectives in place before deciding what
components are needed to achieve the desired outcome.

4. A Good Team is Like a Well-Oiled Machine
The right components
Once you know what you want your machine needs to do, an inventory is required to
see what components you already have and which ones you need to source from
elsewhere. The complexity and function of your organisation will determine how
difficult it will be to obtain the parts that you need. Our e-booklet ‘How and Where to
Find Exceptional Talent’ may help with this matter.
Once all the components are in place, they not only need to know what their particular
function is, but also how they will need to work together to achieve their overall goal.
You will need the right tools (i.e. training, hardware, software) to ensure that all the
components are working cohesively. The oil is the consistent, internal communication
which reinforces the values of the organisation which needs to be topped up regularly.

5. A Good Team is Like a Well-Oiled Machine
Maintenance
It only takes one component to be inefficient or to breakdown for some of part
of the whole machine to grind to a halt. Therefore regular checks need to be
made to ensure the continuing performance of each component. A regular
personal development review and timely informal meetings with team members
are recommended to see if targets and being met and to regularly review
happiness and well-being.
If a component needs to be replaced care needs to be taken to source and
incorporate a similar replacement. Psychometrics and assessment centres can be
extremely effective in this scenario. They can ensure that any replacement, not
only has the right skills set, but also has the right attributes to work cohesively
with the existing team.

6. A Good Team is Like a Well-Oiled Machine
The mechanic
A good mechanic knows when a component is about to give up the ghost and
either fixes any problems immediately or replaces them when absolutely
necessary. They don’t cross their fingers and think ‘It will be alright’ and then find
themselves stranded on the hard shoulder with smoke billowing from the engine.
They are also acutely aware of their own abilities and when to make a referral as
the machine starts to become too big for them to maintain due to increasing
demands. A recent example is Michael Acton Smith, inventor of Moshi Monsters.
When he stepped down as the CEO of Mind Candy into a more creative role,
where his strengths and passion lie. He stated in an article in the Financial Times
“I love this company and I’m not going anywhere…But now that it’s so much
more complex, with multiple offices, a lot of staff, a lot of different projects
bubbling away, it needs operational excellence and leadership to run it.”

7. A Good Team is Like a Well-Oiled Machine
What works, works
If you find a way of making the machine run smoothly for you then don’t change
it. It may leave others scratching their head when they lift up the bonnet, but if
you create a company culture where your employees are both happy and
productive then you have succeeded. In an article in Inc. Tony Hsieh of Zappos
stated that ‘culture you can adopt, but your values should be your own’. One of
his most unusual techniques which Amazon has now adopted is to offer staff
thousands to leave to ensure that the ones who do stay truly want to be there.

8. How to Set SMART Objectives for Employees
Setting SMART objectives is one way of ensuring that
employees fully understand what is expected of them from
their leader’s and the business’s perspective, and whilst
most people have heard of SMART objectives, what the
acronym stands for is often misinterpreted and how to
correctly implement each aspect of the concept is not
always fully understand. Also, what each letter stands for
has inter-changeable definitions just to confuse things
further. So how do you ensure that you are implementing
SMART objectives correctly?

9. How to Set SMART Objectives for Employees

10. How to Set SMART Objectives for Employees
Specifics are important in objective setting so that all employees
clearly understanding what their targets are. Goals must be
clearly defined rather than something which is quite general or
open ended. For example simply saying ‘improve customer
satisfaction’ doesn’t give a clear picture of what success looks
like. Improving customer satisfaction from 34% to 35% would
suggest the objective has been achieved, but the outcome
wouldn’t necessarily be satisfactory.
‘Improve our customer satisfaction rating from 30% to 50% in 6
months’ is a much clearer objective. By specifying exactly what
needs to be achieved and by when makes it very easy to
determine whether the target has been met or not.

11. How to Set SMART Objectives for Employees
It isn’t always straightforward how to measure targets, but there
should always be a mechanism in place to do so. Otherwise it can
become subjective regarding whether an objective has been
achieved.
The measures need to be clearly defined without ambiguity to
ensure both parties are clear as to the goals.

12. How to Set SMART Objectives for Employees
It is extremely important to stretch people in order to help with
their progression, but setting targets that are beyond reach will
only cause stress and demotivation. Targets must be set in order
to encourage growth and development, but reassurance must
also be provided by delivering adequate support and regular
encouragement.
It is also important to have an open door policy so that
employees can discuss any concerns or barriers throughout the
process.

13. How to Set SMART Objectives for Employees
Objectives must be realistic to each individual and they must
have a clear understanding in terms of what they are doing it
for. For example, asking someone in Field Sales to improve IT
infrastructure performance would bear no resemblance or
relevance to their day to day activities.
However, it might beneficial to encourage talent from across
an organisation from different departments and levels, to
work together and contribute to different projects.
When objectives are set around their involvement it must be
clear why they are involved and what is expected of them in
what time scales.

14. How to Set SMART Objectives for Employees
If an employee doesn’t know how long they have to achieve an
objective how will they know when they should do it? A realistic
deadline is always necessary in order to help employee’s plan
their workload. It is also important that when setting deadlines,
that everything else an individual is expected to achieve is taken
into account. Simply setting a deadline based on each task
without considering the overall picture will make them
unachievable and employees are likely to become stressed and
demotivated.
Also, if it is a complex objective such as a project, it is helpful to
break the objective down into milestones in order to help
prioritise workload.

15. How to Conduct a Meaningful Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or
Annual Performance Review
Many leaders and organisations as a whole believe performance reviews are
time consuming and ineffective, but this is only because n the majority of cases it
isn’t been carried out correctly.
The review process should be one of the most important meetings you conduct but
if employees have had a negative experience with them in the past then they can
often be viewed as just a box ticking exercise.
So how do you convince your staff that they are of value and how do you get them
to open up and tell the truth so that the meetings are as productive as possible?

16. Set your stall out
First of all, you, as a leader must buy into reviews yourself. If you view them as a waste of time
then that will come across during the meetings. If you’re not convinced of the merits of the
process then it is your duty to challenge the system and help create a method which is
productive for both the organisation and its employees. In the majority of circumstances it
isn’t the process that is broken but the attitude of the people involved. If they are viewed from
the outset as an inconvenience and a complete waste of time that is what they will become.
If they are viewed as a positive experience and an opportunity to allow employees to
progress, and the appropriate amount of time is dedicated to them, then they can be an
extremely powerful tool in increasing employee engagement.

17. Clear your diary
In order to allow employees to open up you must first give them your undivided attention. On
an annual basis schedule a 2 hour meeting with each staff member you are directly
responsible for and don’t allow any interruptions. At Newman Stewart we do this every
quarter, in between times we sit down on a less formal basis regularly. The meeting should
ideally be in a meeting room rather than your office where there are potential distractions
such as a telephone, computer and documents which you can try and skim read out of the
corner of your eye.
If this isn’t possible and someone does ring or interrupt it is the perfect way to demonstrate
how important the meeting is by not picking up or not engaging in conversation and apologise
for the disruption.

18. A two way street
To encourage trust explain that the meeting is two way process. It is not just an opportunity
for you to review how your staff are performing it is also an opportunity for employees to
provide feedback on how they find the organisation as a whole and your performance as a
leader. Talk to them about how you have found the period of time in terms of what the
business has accomplished and where you think improvements can be made. Also, ask them if
there is anything they want to discuss ‘off the record’ as there might be issues they don’t want
to share if it is going to be included in a report.
If it is something that you feel should be recorded then you should encourage them to include
it in the final report and explain the reasons for doing so, but don’t force the issue. If you
pressure them they will not trust you enough to come to you with problems in the future.

19. No alarms and no surprises
If you are managing your staff efficiently then there shouldn’t be any surprises in the review.
If they are shocked by a revelation that they are under-performing then you haven’t been
speaking to each other enough or honestly throughout the year.
Silence is golden
Silence is an extremely powerful tool. If an employee is giving you one word answers or you
would like them to delve deeper try just pausing before resorting to asking them to expand.
There will be a short battle of wills and it may become a little uncomfortable, but in most
cases the interviewee will open up further to fill the silence. This way they will feel like they
are providing the extra information due to their own free will rather than you forcing them to
do so.

20. One swallow doesn’t make a summer
When conducting a review of an individual’s performance the whole period of time needs to
be taken into account. There will often be a success or a failure which particularly stands out.
These may stand out in your mind and you may find it difficult not to focus on them, but you
can’t let these skew your view of an individual’s overall performance. If a staff member lost a
client or a sales person made a particularly large sale then these events need to be addressed,
but they shouldn’t overshadow or illuminate their performance during the rest of the year.

21. No fudging
Most people don’t enjoy confrontation but one of the biggest things that can undermine the
review process is if the report isn’t a true reflection of the meeting. If you need to make a staff
member aware of a negative aspect of their performance it needs to be brought up during the
conversation, not slipped into the notes afterwards whilst they are not looking you directly in
the eye. If it is an after-thought and you think ‘I’ll just slip it into in the report’…don’t.
If the point needs to be included call another brief meeting and discuss the matter before its
inclusion, otherwise you may jeopardise any chance of conducting meaningful reviews with
that person in the future.

22. 5 Communication Tools to Help
Improve Employee Engagement
It stands to reason that happy employees equals happy customers, but what is it that will delight a workforce so that
this positivity rubs off on those who acquire your goods or services? A good salary, bonuses and an excellent benefits
package maybe the first things that spring to mind, but financial compensation is only part of the equation and
usually only provides satisfaction for a short period of time. What employees really require, to be truly engaged, is a
feeling that they are positively contributing to an organisation that they believe in and want to continue being a part
of.
The fundamentals to employee engagement is to have a clear organisational goal and core values which are carried
out and reinforced across an organisation on a daily basis. Employees must have the tools and authority to
demonstrate these core values to the stakeholders they interact with (customers, suppliers, colleagues and
employees) and they must be driven throughout a business. Critically, any successes directly resulting from their
implementation must be celebrated.

23. 5 Communication Tools to Help
Improve Employee Engagement
Presentations
As well as regular communication it is important that management interact with staff and give them opportunities to
express their opinions to them directly. This is not only important at a line management level, it is also crucial that
senior executives such as CEOs, Managing Directors, CFOs etc…present to staff regularly and field Q & As so that they
aren’t perceived as distant and unapproachable. The size of a business will determine how regularly management can
address employees, but however regularly they occur they should be open forums and remote workers should also be
invited in to participate so that they continue to feel part of the business.

24. 5 Communication Tools to Help
Improve Employee Engagement
Newsletters
A regular newsletter is the perfect vehicle the reinforce core values and celebrate success through positive news
stories e.g. a sales person landing a particularly large order or a marketing executive passing their CIM exams. It also
provides an opportunity to get to know colleagues better by publishing interviews or reporting achievements that
may not be directly associated with work. Newsletters are often circulated by email, but these can easily be ignored
and skipped over. To really maximise the positive benefits of a newsletter the investment in printing and circulating a
hard copy is the better solution.

25. 5 Communication Tools to Help
Improve Employee Engagement
Away days
An away day, whether it is a strategy day or a team building event, is a great opportunity to allow staff to mingle with
their fellow colleagues outside the confines of the workplace. It also provides businesses with a chance to pause and
reflect about its current operations, its successes and its future strategy. However, away days can be expensive, but
this investment will demonstrate to employees that their work and opinions are valued which will have a positive
effect on engagement.
But, be warned the enthusiasm for such an event may vary at first, but if it is run properly, it should be a positive and
worthwhile experience and you will gain interest in making it an annual fixture. Our blog regarding the benefits of
away days can be found here.

26. 5 Communication Tools to Help
Improve Employee Engagement
Notice boards
Having notice boards around the building is the perfect way to keep employees’ updated and informed. However,
they must be displayed in key areas which employee’s interact with them on a daily basis such as the staff canteen
and locker rooms. Also, the messages must be updated regularly and engaging otherwise the notice boards will
eventually just fade into the background.

27. 5 Communication Tools to Help
Improve Employee Engagement
Social media
Giving employees access to social media platforms at work is often considered as another potential distraction from
their daily work load, but if it managed correctly they can actually be a powerful tool in promoting your company and
establishing its company culture. By allowing staff to post, comment and share positive messages relating to your
business and communicate with customers directly through social media can be extremely productive. For example, a
staff member sharing a vacancy first hand with their Facebook friends is a much stronger endorsement than anything
you could write, as they wouldn’t do so if the company was terrible to work for.

28. 5 Communication Tools to Help
Improve Employee Engagement
Is that everything?
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it outlines some of the popular communication channels used to improve
employee engagement. Unfortunately, providing regular communications and giving staff the opportunity to voice
their opinions simply isn’t enough. The final step to truly engage is to demonstrate to staff that you and listening to
them, that their contributions are valued and that they are credited when ideas are implemented.

29. 4 Reasons Why a New Placement May Already Be Disengaged
Due to the amount of effort and expectation the
recruitment cycle requires it is heart-wrenching when a
chosen candidate starts showing signs of under-performing
only a few weeks after their employment has commenced.
But it is wrong to instantly assumed that they have pulled
the wool over your eyes if they aren’t the candidate that
they sold you at interview as the causes of their below par
performance may be a little closer to home.
It is easy to assume that the process of engagement begins
when a new employee starts work, but it can go as far back
as the interview process its self.

30. 4 Reasons Why a New Placement May Already Be Disengaged
The oversell
One of the biggest faux-pas an interviewer can make is overselling the
company during the interview in a desperate bid to entice the best
candidates to the organisation. It is important to be open and honest
with candidates regarding the circumstances even if this means
forgoing some of the better candidates in the process. Embellishing
the truth may get the foot of a more desirable talent in the door, but
as soon as they discover the truth this will affect their trust and will
no doubt have an impact on their happiness and motivation.
It is important to keep an open dialogue between employee and
employer once the chosen candidate has started to monitor that their
expectations are being met and vice versa. These conversations can
often be difficult especially for a new employee who doesn’t want to
alienated their new employer, but their unhappiness is likely to affect
their performance even if they don’t openly vocalise it. Whether the
situation can be resolved will depend on the gap between what the
new employee had been sold and reality, and whether it can be
rectified. For example, a guaranteed quarterly bonus that doesn’t
materialise isn’t likely to keep a new recruit motivated for very long.

31. 4 Reasons Why a New Placement May Already Be Disengaged
Lack of understanding
The lack of progress from a new employee may simply be down to a
lack of understanding of what they need to achieve and by went. It
is therefore important that objectives are set, agreed and recorded
early on in any new recruit’s employment and that they are made
accountable for achieving them. Of course the adequate support
must be provided in order for a new employee to succeed and the
objectives need to be SMART (Specific, Measured, Achievable,
Realistic and Timely). But by providing direction, the adequate
support and open communication then there shouldn’t be any
misunderstanding between employee and employer regarding
expectations.

32. 4 Reasons Why a New Placement May Already Be Disengaged
Training needs
Skill gaps may have been identified for each candidate during the
interview process but training needs can quickly be forgotten about
following the making an offer and the count-down to a new recruit
starting. Ideally interview notes need to be reviewed and an
adequate training schedule implemented prior to a new recruit
beginning. But if this isn’t the case it may be a lack of training that is
the root cause of their underperformance and most be identified
and rectified as quickly as possible.
Training also needs to be evaluated to ensure it is adequate to fulfil
the necessary requirements.

33. 4 Reasons Why a New Placement May Already Be Disengaged
Personal circumstances
It isn’t feasible to get to know a person in-depth during the
interview process. Psychometric assessments can be used to help
determine whether a candidate is a good fit in terms of skills set and
personality, but even if they are used, it is possible for a person’s
personal circumstance to change between them first accepting a
position to when they first start with an organisation. It can often be
difficult to speak about personal circumstances especially for a new
employee, but if they are underperforming and displaying strange
behaviour then they need to be reassured that they have support
and encouraged to communicate, but the expectation of the
business also needs to be reiterated.
The process regarding what happens if circumstances don’t improve
also needs to be explained and understood.

34. Managing remotely: how do you engage who you can’t see?
Due to the combination of increased opportunities for
global expansion, greater expectation and demand for
flexible working, and the continuing improvement in
technologies such as cloud based software and video
interviewing, there is an increasing trend for some
employees to work in a different location from their
leader. But as a leader how do you supervise and engage
people who you don’t physically see or hear from on a
daily basis?
Leaders now not only need to have
the ability to manage what is right in
front of them, but also have the skills
to guarantee results and productivity
from those who work remotely,
whether it be from home working, a
regional office or from a different
country altogether. Here are a few
considerations to think about when
supervising staff who are more than
just a stone’s throw away.
This article was originally published on
executivesontheweb.com

35. Target practice
Whether a staff member is capable of working remotely is
dependent on their experience and character. If they don’t
have the qualities to be self-sufficient then they probably
shouldn’t be working without direct supervision in the first
place. The key to overseeing capable staff in a different
location similarly to new employees is to provide clear SMART
goals and targets, allowing them the flexibility to achieve
what is required in their own way providing their practices
are ethical and condoned by the organisation.
If employees know exactly what they
need to achieve and you trust them,
they should be self-motivated enough
to hit their targets without you having
to check up on them too often. It is
important to remember that just
because someone isn’t doing things
your way or the way that it has always
been done doesn’t mean that it’s
wrong.

36. Obviously you still need to be available if they need you
for any advice and guidance, and although micro-
managing shouldn’t be necessary, regular meetings are
still needed to ensure progress is being made and so that
you can identify and help with any obstacles that may be
preventing them from reaching their targets or affecting
their performance.
The regularity will depend on
circumstances but at least a weekly
video call and a quarterly face-to-
face should be achieved in most
situations. Even if you have nothing
specific to talk about it is important
to maintain regular contact to make
them feel involved in the day-to-day
running of the business.

37. Go out to play
Whether it is managing someone in another country or a
homeworker, it is beneficial to visit their place of
work. This may not always be feasible and it is a drain on
time and resource, but it is important to get a feel for the
trials and tribulations of your employees at the coal face.
Also, by taking the time to visit you are also
demonstrating, as above, that they are an important part
of your team and make a vital contribution to what your
organisation is trying to achieve.
Spending time with employees out
of the office in more informal
surroundings also has its fringe
benefits. They are likely to feel
more comfortable talking to you in
their own domain or a neutral
location and may tell you things
and share ideas that they wouldn’t
necessarily do so on the telephone
or in a formal meeting.

38. Culture vulture
It is important to involve remote staff in
company/departmental activities so that they feel like they
belong and are part of the organisation. For example invite
them to any socials that it is feasible for them to attend or if
someone is having a Birthday/maternity presentation,
maybe bring them in on a conference call. It won’t be
feasible to include them in every single thing internal staff
do together but by including them in as much as you can
and by making an extra effort to keep them involved will
make feel like they belong, all be it virtual.
On the flip side, if you are managing employees in
different countries it is also important to be aware of
their individual culture. Time is obviously a major
factor when liaising with staff on the other side of the
world.
There needs to be flexibility on both sides for the
relationship to work. But time isn’t the only
consideration, there may also be cultural differences
which need to be taken into account. For example,
would you stop your best Spanish salesperson taking a
siesta just because it isn’t part of UK culture even if
they were out-performing everyone this side of the
English Channel?

39. Is this thing on?
It is an expense, but allowing remote employees the
appropriate technology to do their job will only increase
their job satisfaction and productivity in the long run. For
example allowing them to have a phone or laptop with
video conferencing facilities so that they can talk face-to-
face to office based staff will help them feel like part of
the organisation.
To conclude
Managing people remotely is always
going to have its challenges, but by
setting your stall out in advance,
scheduling regular checks and
providing remote staff with the right
tools to do their job efficiently, there
should be no reason why they
shouldn’t be successful even without a
leader’s stare burning into the back of
their neck.

40. Newman Stewart is a market leading Executive Search and Management Selection
company headquartered in Wetherby with additional offices in Leeds and London.
If you would like to receive further guides on the recruitment process then please
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