Stuart Walker Training

Would you like your business to have that all elusive competitive advantage?

Want to steal a march on your rivals?

The biggest weapon in the armoury of the best businesses are the talents of their employees. Having workers who are totally engaged in the ethos and aims of the organisation is imperative.

Of course, the theory is all well and good but how do you actually foster this elusive engagement?

Here’s my top ten tips for how you can increase your own businesses employee engagement.

Tip1 – Communicate the vision.

History has shown that people will rally around a cause and if you are in an organisation that has a clear purpose then you should work out a way of encapsulating this and communicate it at each and every opportunity.

Tip 2 – listen to what people are saying.

There is nothing that increases buy-in more than actually giving people a voice…

…and nothing destroys it quicker than just paying lip-service to what they have actually told you.

Work out a process of getting good quality feedback, make sure you’ve understood what you’ve been told and report back what action you’ve taken as a result.

Tip 3 – Give people constructive feedback.

One of the worst mistakes companies make is to have a kind of ‘letterbox’ culture where someone does work and sends it off and then never hears any feedback, be it good or bad.

Take time to let people know how the piece of work they stayed late to finish has made a valuable difference to the company.

Tip 4 – Walk the walk

Employees don’t suddenly become engaged because people tell them to be.

They have to see the directors and senior management team buying into the ethos of the company and exhibiting the behaviours that they themselves are expected to show.

Almost ‘management by osmosis’, it’s both the easiest to do and the hardest to fake.

Tip 5 – Hire attitudes and behaviours

…and not qualifications or background.

There’s an old saying that a woman marries a man thinking that she’ll be able to change him and a man marries a woman hoping that she won’t change at all!

Don’t expect that you’re going to take on someone who is dull and negative and then they will magically become dynamic and positive just because they are exposed to your culture.

Instead take on people with a compatible attitude then train them to do the job.

Do what football teams do and hire people who are already better than you and then look to improve them further.

Tip 6 – Invest, invest, invest

If you’ve ever been in the position where someone has gone out of their way to help with your career then you’ll know just how much loyalty that can engender.

Employees that see their managers going out of their way to invest in training and development opportunities for them are always going to be much more engaged than those that are left to stagnate.

Tip 7 – Be transparent and honest

Telling people what they want to hear works for a very short time and then quickly destroys credibility.

Most people behave like adults and if you have bad news but can give them good reasons why they can’t have what they want and you’re totally transparent about the decision process then people will really appreciate your honesty.

Tip 8 – Take time to do something good as a team

a sponsored walk, volunteering at a local food kitchen, raising money for your local hospital, whatever it is then spending a little bit of time to help a good cause can really help with team bonding.

Tip 9 – Take time to have a little fun

Some companies have ‘beer Friday’ as a social calm down after the working week, some play games in the office but all good companies know that having fun together increases engagement from their colleagues and builds a much better supportive environment.

Tip 10 – and my best tip? Say ‘Thank you’

Nothing makes people feel valued and that their contribution is worthwhile more than their boss saying a heartfelt thank you. Make it a habit and make sure you mean it.

And one final word…

Notice that none of my tips really involve paying people more money.

In fact, they are pretty much all about attitude and what’s come to be called ‘emotional intelligence’.

Just simply thinking about your colleagues and being considerate goes such a long way in terms of employee engagement and doesn’t cost the earth.

Well if you are in this situation then you are not alone.

For a number of years Business Partnering was the phrase on management’s lips.

People spent time and money assembling a team of business partners and giving them the tools to do their job, but often the results fell flat.

From the various business partnering set-ups I’ve seen over the years they tend to have the same basic issues.

Paying lip – service

If the CFO isn’t fully invested in business partnering, and if the board don’t support them then frankly you may as well go and do something else more productive.

Sure there will be one or two forward thinking managers who will love to get their numbers and have a direct line into finance but most will take their lead from the top.

If you are a CFO who hasn’t put their weight behind the initiative then you need to make a decision, and soon.

Action – get fully behind the function, get fellow board members and senior managers on side, relaunch the function.

A business partner isn’t just for Christmas (or month end)

Often the only contact the BP will have with the department they look after will be once a month (or even a quarter) when they present a bunch of numbers.

Business partnering is all about relationships.

If you have a big organisation then sitting the BP with their department is ideal, but if not then making sure there is regular contact and inclusion is vital.

The managers (and staff) need to feel comfortable asking their BP questions and feel like they have someone who actually understands the real issues they are facing.

Action – make sure that your BPs either sit with the department or are regularly meeting with them. Try and get them involved in more operational meetings rather than a regular finance update.

GIGO

Garbage in – Garbage out.

A famous phrase from the early days of computing but in terms of business partnering it relates to information provision.

If your business partners can’t get quick and easy access to accurate information then they are going to quickly lose credibility with their department.

Action – BPs need the tools to do the job, so ask them what they need and sort it out.

Square pegs

Business partners have to have a combination of technical knowledge, ability to present information in a digestible way and a bit of a personality.

I once saw someone operating as a BP who was the stereotypical accountant but more so.

He was an amazing technical accountant who could quote GAAP for any given situation and was totally across the numbers.

The only problem was he really didn’t like talking to people – at all.

He was miserable as a BP and frankly ineffectual. Luckily we were working with a very big company at the time and he got moved to a place where he was much more at home and effective.

So make sure your BPs are the sort of people that thrive in this environment.

Action – assess your team and make sure that they are the right people for the job.

Give them a chance

An effective business partnering relationship won’t just spring up overnight so you need to give the situation time and space to develop.

Check back from time to time, find out if they need anything but give it time to grow and you’ll be rewarded.

Actions – monitor and assess but apart from giving encouragement just let them get on with it.

Give them a chance 2

I’ve seen many companies set up a business partnering function thinking that all they need to do is to say the words and it will magically be so.

When people get moved or promoted they need to be given training and support in their new roles otherwise it’s likely to fail.

Just because someone is good at one job doesn’t mean that they will be amazing at another without any training whatsoever.

You also need to set it up as a proper function with all of the communication and backup that this requires (see point 1).

Actions – sort out training for your new BPs, make sure they have the information and the facilities they need.

Summary

So in short, get the right people in place, give them the training and kit they need, place them in the right areas, throw your weight behind the project and then give them the time to develop and grow.

A business partnering ability within your finance team will give you much better visibility, coordination and will improve the depth of your reporting massively and make your life much easier!

What’s not to like?

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10 tips for great employee engagement