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Comment by Carolyn Ray on September 9, 2009 at 10:43pm

Hi everyone, Just wanted to let you know about an IABC International Conference on Employee Communications in Toronto Oct 22-23. I'm co-presenting about dialogue, social media and internal communications with Jennifer Rock from Best Buy (US) who is just amazing. Program is http://www.iabc.com/education/ec/index.htm. Would love to see you there!

Comment by Paul Lush on August 27, 2009 at 9:18am

Hi Jacky!
I'm not sure how specific you want the behaviours but I did work with a CEO who was really connected with his staff. In his organization of 550 individuals, he would routinely have someone take departmental group photos and would have them printed with the employees names listed below. He would take a few moments each day to familiarize himself with the photos and jot notes of any interesting facts he knew about them - interests, hobbys, family, background, special life milestones, etc. Whenever he would meet someone in a hallway, at the coffee station, etc., he would address them by name and carry out a small conversation with any information he knew about them. If he discovered something new about them, he would note it.

Employees never really knew how he remembered everyone but it went a long way - it was extremely seldom for someone to speak about him negatively, even during difficult times and decisions. When someone did, they did so in an almost apologetic manner. The end result: He impacted many, created strong organizational allegiances and people stayed in the organization, productively, for many years!

Comment by Diane Desjardins on August 26, 2009 at 7:52pm

Sorry Kevin, but this is not exactly what I heard. I think he said that this model (incentives/rewards) work for task that do not require a lot of creativity, where there is a process that you simply follow. Don't we also see that applied to customers to stimulate orders or purchases?

It does not work for the creative job, where we have to invent new solution to all the new problems we encounter in the changing world we are collectively creating now.
And as we are running away from the industrial age structure and contemplating the change and rapid evolution of the information age, we have to rethink our model if we want to have engaged and motivated employees. Will they stay "employees" or are we on the verge of an entrepreneur revolution ?

The way we see companies shifting to short work contract, to save some compensation and to adapt to market fluctuation, we train our youth to become entrepreneur of their own career.

There is another think to consider : the culture of the employer. It does influence a lot the motivation to go along or to be part of a culture that provide a purpose worthy of engagement or not.

And the culture is the result of what the employer and his employees do. There is more to the motivation debate than intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Some people are wired with a strong intrinsic motivation, they don't need monetary incentives but, for now, there is a lot of people that are the opposite, they need some kind of exterior stimulation. And there is still a place for them at work. The "revolution" has not occurred yet.

Comment by Kevin Burns - Attitude Expert on August 26, 2009 at 5:06pm

Jacky,

According to Dan Pink, the number one factor in lowering attrition and turnover is autonomy. A most fascinating video featuring Dan Pink comes from the TED conference. In this 18 minute video, Pink points out that incentives and rewards do not improve productivity and engagement but in actual fact retard it. Performance gets worse the more incentives and rewards are involved. The bigger the reward, the poorer the performance. Here is the link http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/618

Comment by Monique Howat on August 26, 2009 at 5:00pm

Hi Jacky~
One specific behaviour that I believe will make a significant and positive difference in the attitude of employees is for management to make a point of speaking (acknowledging) each employee each week (if possible) rather than the initial hello and then later on, "sorry, we're letting you go."

Comment by Diane Desjardins on August 26, 2009 at 4:47pm

Welcome Jacky. You will find here a lot of great ideas. I have learned a lot just reading past posts from our members. Great read too ! Beware: you will loose track of time :)

Diane

Comment by Jacky Jeffery on August 25, 2009 at 6:39pm

Hi Everyone
Joining the group from Southwestern Ontario. I work in Accounting, but am completing my HR certificate with the University of Calgary. As my last course I am conducting a project at work focused on employee retention. I believe if employees are engaged, connected to their fellow employees and their work is meaningful and their contributions valued they will be more likely to stay. I'm looking for low cost methods to increase employee engagement and identifying specific leadership behaviors that will to increased satisfaction for employees which will result in improved retention. Any and all ideas are welcome & appreciated!
Jacky

Comment by David Zinger on June 2, 2009 at 8:11pm

Carolyn:
Good looking report, well done.
David

Comment by Carolyn Ray on June 2, 2009 at 1:11pm

Hi everyone, we just released our study results today about internal communications and dialogue - visit www.national.ca/startthedialogue - would love your thoughts and feedback!

Comment by Carolyn Ray on March 31, 2009 at 11:10am

Hi there fellow Canadians! My firm is doing a small study on internal communications and engagement with a focus on the economy - I wondered if anyone in this group might like to participate. It's a fairly quick 30 minute telephone interview. I'm happy to share the findings with all who participate and are keen to share their insights and perspectives. If you are interested please let me know at cray@national.ca - we've already interviewed over 30 firms across Canada and I definitely wanted to extend the offer to the EE Network.

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