Employee Engagement: How 3 Top Companies increased It
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Tweet Tweet 5 Email Employee Engagement: How 3 Top Companies Increased It October 30, 2013 By Leila Durmaz Leave a Comment How are companies today keeping their employees engaged? Read this article to learn how today’s top companies like S outhwest Airlines and Google are keeping their employees engaged. Discover how using the right engagement practices can create a more motivated and high-performing organization. How Zappos Created an Engaged and Productive Organization Z appos, an online retailer known for their standout customer service and selection of shoes, would not offer great customer service if not for their engaged employees. The company’s goal evolved from providing the best selection of shoes online, to providing the best possible customer service (internally called their “WO W philosophy”). Zappos’ great customer service starts with their employees and a culture of trust. When hiring, Zappos pays a5ention to specific criteria: the employee’s alignment with Z appos’ 10 Core Values and their fit for the culture. “Our number one priority is company culture. Our whole belief is that if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff like delivering great customer service or building a long-term enduring brand will just happen naturally on its own.” – Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh Zappos wants their office to be a place where employees can feel comfortable and be themselves. The company then works to further engage their employees by making relationships a top priority. This helps employees build connections, establish personal and professional relationships. Not only is this great for employees themselves, but it promotes a culture of trust. Z appos believes that building strong relationships make “communication easier, and increases collaboration and productivity.” To engage and encourage strong relationships at Zappos, the company has created 6 ways to build relationships and engage employees . B elow are just a few of the programs that Z appos uses to engage their employees and increase productivity… Z appos Z ollars: The currency of Zappos employees is awarded to those who are recognized when a co-worker or manager feels that they’ve gone above and beyond. Zollars can be spent on Zappos branded goodies, can be donated to a charitable foundation, or be entered in a raffle for bigger prizes. Shadow Sessions: Z appos employees are allowed to “shadow” other employees in different departments for a few hours. This helps employees to understand the ins and outs of other departments and the company while also building relationships across the company. Z’apprentice Program: Zappos encourages growth and learning through their apprenticeship program. This lets employees check out a new career path to see if they’re a good fit for the role. Employees can apply to become a z’apprentice in any area, including one which they may not have any prior knowledge/skill. When an employee is selected, they have a 90-day tenure in the role. After the 90 days, a mutual decision is made to see if the person is right for the position or not. If not, they are able to return to their previous role at Z appos. HOME ABOUT US Share Share 1 converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
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A blog post written for IdeaGlow's blog, ESP Ninja. It describes how three top companies increased employee engagement.
Transcript of Employee Engagement: How 3 Top Companies increased It
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Employee Engagement: How 3 Top Companies Increased ItOctober 30, 2013 By Leila Durmaz Leave a Comment
How are companies today keeping their employees engaged?
Read this article to learn how today’s top companies like S outhwest Airlines and Google arekeeping their employees engaged. Discover how using the right engagement practices cancreate a more motivated and high-performing organization.
How Zappos Created an Engaged and Productive OrganizationZ appos, an online retailer known for their standout customer service and selection of shoes,would not offer great customer service if not for their engaged employees.
The company’s goal evolved from providing the best selection of shoes online, to providing the best possible customer service (internallycalled their “WO W philosophy”).
Z appos’ great customer service starts with their employees and a culture of trust. When hiring, Z appos pays a ention to specific criteria:the employee’s alignment with Z appos’ 10 Core Values and their fit for the culture.
“O ur number one priority is company culture. O ur whole belief is that if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff likedelivering great customer service or building a long-term enduring brand will just happen naturally on its own.” – Z appos CE O Tony Hsieh
Z appos wants their office to be a place where employees can feel comfortable and be themselves. The company then works to furtherengage their employees by making relationships a top priority. This helps employees build connections, establish personal and professionalrelationships. Not only is this great for employees themselves, but it promotes a culture of trust. Z appos believes that building strong
relationships make “communication easier, and increases collaboration and productivity.”
To engage and encourage strong relationships at Z appos, the company has created 6 ways to build relationships and engage employees.B elow are just a few of the programs that Z appos uses to engage their employees and increase productivity…
Z appos Z ollars: The currency of Z appos employees is awarded to those who are recognized when a co-worker or manager feels thatthey’ve gone above and beyond. Z ollars can be spent on Z appos branded goodies, can be donated to a charitable foundation, or beentered in a raffle for bigger prizes.S hadow S essions: Z appos employees are allowed to “shadow” other employees in different departments for a few hours. This helpsemployees to understand the ins and outs of other departments and the company while also building relationships across the company.Z ’apprentice P rogram: Z appos encourages growth and learning through their apprenticeship program. This lets employees checkout a new career path to see if they’re a good fit for the role. E mployees can apply to become a z’apprentice in any area, including onewhich they may not have any prior knowledge/skill. When an employee is selected, they have a 90-day tenure in the role. After the 90days, a mutual decision is made to see if the person is right for the position or not. If not, they are able to return to their previous role atZ appos.
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Take some of these ideas and run with them in your organization to create a more engaged and productive workforce. S trive to create andbuild relationships in your organization to create a culture of trust.
Google is another organization that has created a foundation of trust in their engagement culture. Take a look at how they managed to do it…
How Google Created a Culture of EngagementTry to picture Google’s offices in your mind. More than likely, you’re picturing their gourmet cafeterias, slides instead of stairs, and nappods.
These perks may seem unnecessary for the office, but Google knows – and has known – what it is doing to create a culture of engagement.
B efore you go ahead and add coffee bars and beach balls to your organization to engage your employees, think twice. Google didn’t addplentiful perks just because they would make work more fun. Google first spent time establishing a “people analytics team” to find outwhat makes their employees happy now vs. tomorrow.
P rasad S e y, VP of People Analytics and Compensation at Google, manages a team that quantifies the effects of all Google’s perks andbenefits. Google relies on these metrics to see what their employees want, need, and how they benefit their work. From there, Googlecreates programs that align with the needs of their employees to help them thrive.
B ut there’s more to Google’s engagement culture than their perks. The Internet giant knows that people truly thrive in their jobs – andremain loyal to them – when they feel fully supported and authentically valued. Google invests in their employees because they know thatwhen their employees love their job, that’s when Google will be successful.
“O ne of the tenets we strongly believe in is if you give people freedom, they will amaze you.” – S e y told FastCompany
S o Google balances out its plentiful perks with a culture of transparency, trust, and inclusion. They do this in the following ways…
T ransparency: S haring is big at Google. Google founders host a weekly meeting to review news and product launches. A few weeksinto every quarter, the E xecutive Chairman presents to Googlers most of the exact materials presented to their B oard of Directors attheir last meeting.
“We share everything, and trust Googlers to keep the information confidential,” L aszlo B ock. Google’s S VP ofPeople O perations, writes in his article.
T rust: Google solicits feedback and uses it on everything – from how employees prefer to be compensated to the design of their newcompany bicycles.Inclusion: At the end of every year, Google conducts formal employee surveys. The employees also get to see everyone else’s feedback,though privacy is protected. E very Friday, company leaders conduct employee forums to respond to their top 20 most-asked questions.
Take the foundation of Google’s culture of engagement and see if it works for your organization. B e open with your employees and instill asense of trust with them.
L ike Google, S outhwest Airlines keeps things fun and engaging.
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How Southwest Airlines Leverages Employee Engagement to Remain Fun and ProfitableS outhwest Airlines is known for their happy employees and has been profitable for 40 straight years. O bviously, S outhwest must be doingsomething right. S o how do they do it?
Gary Kelly, CE O of S outhwest Airlines since 2004, say that it’s all about love:
“L ove is part of the fabric at S outhwest Airlines. L ove F ield is our headquarters in Dallas. L U V is our three-le er symbol onthe New York S tock E xchange. It’s a word that we’re not embarrassed to use about how we feel about the company, ouremployees and our customers,” Kelly told the Denver P ost in an interview.
It’s a cycle, really: The major airline takes care of its employees who then take care of their customers. Their customers then take care of thecompany by using their services.
S outhwest Airlines show their employees love with…
E mployee Recognition P rograms to recognize their hard-working employees and those who go above and beyond their normal jobduties.B iennial employee surveys to gather candid feedback.C elebrating their anniversaries and employees. For their 40th anniversary in 2011, S outhwest celebrated the hard work of theiremployees. They had a special banquet, printed an anniversary edition of LUVLines (S outhwest Airlines’ E mployee Magazine), andspecial 40th anniversary merchandise. Talk about a party!
These programs have helped S outhwest thrive. The airline is the only major airline who has never filed for bankruptcy and has never laidoff, furloughed, or given pay cuts to employees. According to a study done by the Department of Transportation, S outhwest had the fewestamount of complaints, 0.14 per 100,000 passengers, in 2012.
B y keeping their company culture fun and engaging, S outhwest Airlines stays profitable and on top of its game against other majorairlines.
Increase Engagement In Your OrganizationIf you have the right engagement practices in your organization, you can improve your success. It all starts with your employees. E ngageand help your employees thrive first and watch how it translates into customer service and your profits.
Take the proven engagement tactics and programs from Google, Z appos, or S outhwest Airlines and tailor them to fit your organization.
U nderstand how you can increase employee engagement with these 5 simple tips.
Suggested Next Steps:Get new information we publish on employee engagement right in your email inbox, sign up for FRE E email newsle er packed withuseful info.Companies of all sizes (from Fortune-500s to growing startups) use IdeaGlow software to build their own employee engagementprograms. IdeaGlow is affordably priced & relatively easy to implement. If you’re interested, you can apply for a FRE E 30-day trial ofIdeaGlow software.
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Leila DurmazHello, I 'm your author, L eila Durmaz. I spend a lot of my time researching the best practices for E mployee S uggestion P rograms,and writing articles to share them. I hope you find them helpful! I work at Accompa - one of our products is IdeaGlow E mployeeS uggestion P rogram S oftware.
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