The Stats - Turnover & its staggering costs:
•Employees with the highest level of commitment perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to want to leave the organization (Corporate Leadership Council, 2004).
•Companies that communicate most effectively are 50% more likely to report turnover levels below the industry average compared with only 33% for the least effective communicators (Watson Wyatt, 2003).
•18% of the variation in sickness and absence rates across the company was due to variations in communication practices (Brown, Duncan & MacDonald, 2003)
Appreciation
You can’t miss the mark by saying “thanks” for a job well done, regardless of the cultural background of your colleagues. Yet, not everyone feels appreciated in the same ways. There are alternative ways to communicate appreciation besides words, and words are not valued by everyone. It is critical to communicate appreciation in the way that is valued by the recipient as opposed to what the sender prefers. Perceived authenticity is key and can be a challenge in cross-cultural work relationships.
· White, Paul, (2015 September 9). Appreciation in an international, multicultural organization. Wichita Eagle. Retrieved from: http://www.kansas.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/business-perspectives/article34505772.html
Employee engagement isn't a "thing". It doesn't exist in the physical world -- it is a construct, an idea that someone created and made the definition of "what it is". Employee engagement is a result that occurs from other healthy practices being in place. Employee engagement isn’t the goal. Rather, it is an indicator of organizational health that predicts other good things (increased productivity, lower staff turnover, etc.)
· White, Paul (2016). Employee engagement – It’s not the goal of your organization. Retrieved from: http://www.appreciationatwork.com/
Effectively reward talented employees by emphasizing nonfinancial motivators rather than bonuses. Three noncash motivators—praise from immediate managers, leadership attention, and a chance to lead projects or task forces have been found to be no less or even more effective motivators than the three highest-rated financial incentives. These nonfinancial motivators play critical roles in making employees feel that their companies value them, take their well-being seriously, and strive to create opportunities for career growth.
· Dewhurst, M., Guthridge, M. & Mohr, E. (2009 November). Motivating people: Getting beyond money. McKinsey Quarterly. Retrieved from: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/motivating-people-getting-beyond-money
In the end, there is one thing that determines highest performance, and that is psychological safety. If the team knows we are psychologically safe. Which is in Fabritius and Hagemann’s terms, the reward cycle, which is the climate of appreciation, which is the climate of being respected and accepted. If there is given, there is a high predictability for high performance in that team. Creating a climate of appreciation is the best thing you can do in companies.
· Hagemann, H. & Fabritius, F. (2017). What science says about achieving peak performance. TarcherPerigee. ISBN: 978-0143129356
Contact Dr. Andrea, to learn how to increase the following into your organization:
Take a moment in reflection…
Most often it’s not that our team is unskilled, uneducated or lacks knowledge, it’s typically that we cannot get along! Yet, icebreaking or team building exercises haven’t seemed to work. Employees must learn how brain and body chemicals work for and against them, as well as when to trust those internal chemical and electrical impulses, and when and how to override them. Imagine if you could be freed up of the energy you expend intervening in relationship squabbles?