I had promised to discuss the New Venture BC seminar series I attended earlier this year in my last post. I decided to write about a very interesting conversation I had this week with a colleague instead. This person used to be passionate about the company we work for. Sadly frustration has made way to apathy now. I can assure readers this problem is not limited to where I work. Employee engagement remains a huge problem for most companies. A recent article in BusinessWeek suggests that employee engagement is at all time low in the US. Most employees no longer fear losing their jobs. The emotional attachment and loyalty many employees used to have for their employers and leaders is gone.

The HR leadership council has published excellent reports this year supported by qualitative data to highlight the problem. For a less robust analysis of the problem but a far more interesting read you can check out an online site called glassdoor.com. The site invites employees to rate their company and share salary information. For potential candidates you can check out previous candidates comments on interviews and how some employees really feel about their company. There is a lot of angry people venting about the perceived failures of their employers. Take  the time to read more and you will find a lot of very insightful and more balanced comments as well. As an MBA student it is very interesting to compare what we read in textbooks with feedback on the site. For example, I frequently read about the fantastic work culture at SouthWest airlines. This was reflected in the feedback on the site even in challenging times.  Other companies, fare less well…..

A couple of interesting trends are evident when I compared large competitors to the company I work for.

1. Many employees have had their cheese moved. A lot don’t like it!
2. Companies trying to reinvent themselves to survive have struggled to communicate their strategy in a way that resonates with their employees.
3. Many outsiders brought in to implement the new visions are clearly resented at these organizations.
4. Due to downsizing, there are fewer leaders accessible to employees to discuss challenges candidly in a personal way.

There was more interesting feedback of course. I’ll focus on the points above for now. These trends are indicative of a pretty treacherous operating environment for leaders. How can they reconnect with their disillusioned workforces? The colleague I mentioned earlier has little faith in leaders any more. I understand the frustration. I see things differently though. Put yourself in an executive’s shoes for a moment. Presumably many know they are not trusted. Most executives probably have more responsibility after the layoffs of the past few years.  They are under huge pressure to deliver or face the chop themselves.  Many are leading business transformation initiatives. This means they have many urgent, complex and strategic problems to solve.  As a result they have less time to deal with employee morale and engagement which is silently killing productivity. To make matters worse companies operate in a tough economy which severely restricts their ability to reward high performance. That is a “sticky wicket” as the English would say.

My colleague had several good points though. It seems to me many leaders needlessly lose credibility when their actions don’t align with their words. For example, it is fine to talk about “walking the halls” and more personal contact. Is this really possible any longer for more some senior executives who are constantly on the road? New expectations could be set and communicated to reflect the new reality. Even more importantly, replacement local leaders must be identified and available to hear employees concerns and perspectives. A local leadership team prepared to speak to the company strategy on a regular basis could be an excellent start to rebuild a local employee culture. Social media has shown a pull communication strategy is likely a more successful approach to build a community. Make attendance optional. Employees interested will go. They will share their perspective with colleagues not inclined to attend but curious to know what is going on in the company.  A small group genuinely interested in the topics at hand offers a far enjoyable and productive meeting for all concerned. These small groups are the linchpins company’s need to re-energize the base.

I have also seen leaders implement successful tactics where I work that could be of interest to readers. The corporate intranet is much more relevant than before. An “Ask the Executive” feature was added which has been a great way to foster open communication. For now it is limited to a Q&A format with no comments possible. Apparently this feature will roll out shortly which will raise communication to a new level.  There is no easy answer to the leadership problems executives face at the moment. Executives are  not the enemy. They are chronically overloaded. Most are doing their best and willing to do the right thing. It’s tough at the top!

On a side note, it is important to know I have not followed this advice many times over the years. Hopefully, I am wiser as I get older.