12 Keys to employee engagement: Your job is important

I love talking to people who are passionate about their jobs. You find them in all walks of life. Our UPS guy is passionate about delivering packages to my door. He bounds up the walk in his brown shorts and shirt, reaching into his pocket with his free hand to pull out a biscuit for my dog. Bella knows that brown truck and her tail starts wagging the minute she sees it.

The other day I heard a guy who made car parts talk excited about his job – he was definitely passionate about it.

Over the years I have had friends and relatives (not naming names here) who always seemed to hate their jobs. They complain about their bosses, their hours, their benefits. Still, they show up for work, put in their hours, collect their paycheck. Not ideal employees, I imagine.

Gallup asks this question, number 8 in the top 12 questions that measure employee engagement: “Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?”

Those of us in the business of providing care to seniors ought to be easily able to give our employees the advantage of answering a hearty “Yes!” to this question.

Isn’t every single job in senior care important? In my book it certainly is. I’ve known a few managers, however, who managed to convey the sense that there was a hierarchy of importance in senior care: The top manager or executive director was clearly the most important person, followed by department heads or team leaders, followed by care staff. Housekeepers, maintenance workers and kitchen staff were often at the very bottom of the manager’s list of important workers.

If you look at pay structure you could certainly get that impression.

A good manager, however, knows how valuable every single member of the team is to the overall organization, especially the ground-floor employees. They are usually the ones responsible for delivering the hands’ on care and making the property look great.

You can’t pay them manager’s wages, but you can recognize the value of their work.

You can greet them by name.

You can introduce them to visitors and guests, and mention something they do extraordinarily well.

You can thank them for the work they do, and tell them how important you know it to be.

You will soon watch them glow, as they recognize – and know that you recognize – that their job, their work, is truly important to the mission of the organization.

12 Keys to employee engagement: My opinion counts

Have you ever worked for a boss who genuinely wanted to hear your opinion? How about one who wouldn’t listen to anyone’s opinion – certainly not yours.

Which one made you feel more valued as a person? Which one made you want to think harder and do better work?

If you’re now a manager, think carefully about which one describes the way you manage.

Do you ASK for ideas and opinions from your team members, or just tell them the way things are going to be?

Do you stop talking and actively LISTEN if a team member offers an opinion or idea?

When was the last time you changed a plan because of the opinion of a team member? When did you last implement something based on the ideas of a team member?

Among the keys to employee engagement is this one thing: “My opinions count.”

I’ve sat in on employee meetings and heard managers say, “I want to remind you about our policies for being late, tardy or sick. If you’re sick, you’ll need to get a doctor’s excuse or it will be an unexcused absence. Does anyone NOT understand this policy?” Sometimes, the review of policies goes on and on, in a tone that wouldn’t make me feel valued or engaged if I was the recipient.

What if the manager had said, “I’ve noticed a lot of people being late or sick lately. Does anyone have any ideas on how we should handle this?” Perhaps, through active listening and open discussion, the manager may have arrived at the same place as the company policies, but perhaps some other conditions may have surfaced that could be handled in a way to build and strengthen the team, and the loyalty to the company.

New managers often believe their main job is to enforce company policies. Experienced managers who are focused on building a strong, engaged, successful team know the importance of collaborative decision making, and of seeking – and valuing – the opinions of each member of the team.

Training Personal Care Aides to deliver quality care

We’re excited around the aQuire Training offices. We just received our private school license from the Oregon Department of Education to offer the Personal Care Aide Certification course (and some other pre-hire courses) though our newest website identity, the Institute for Professional Care Education (www.IPCed.com).

Why is that so cool? Because with our school license we can now train workers who are job seekers and help prepare a pool of more qualified, trained workers. These individuals may be able to get workforce development funds to pay for their training, too – a clear win/win all the way around.

This matters to you if you hire caregivers. Hiring someone who has invested the time, initiative and money in a comprehensive 40 hour course means you’re hiring someone more likely to succeed and to love their job as a caregiver.

This matters to you if your loved one needs a caregiver. Ensuring that the caregivers providing care to your loved one are comprehensively trained and certified is an important step to feeling confident in the quality of care your loved one is receiving.

This matters to you if you’re focused on building a strong reputation for quality care. Demonstrating training above and beyond the minimum requirements is one way to set your organization ahead of the pack. And being ahead means business success, any way you slice it.

This matters to you if you’re involved in training, too. We are actively working to develop strong training partnerships with others in their training field to help reach as many people as possible.

This is one way we can reach out and improve the standard of care that is delivered, every single day, to people who live and work in our state, our town and our homes.

For details about the comprehensive 40 hour online Personal Care Certification Course see www.IPCed.com. Contact Wendy@aquiretraining.com for information on pricing advantages for bulk purchases of this Certification Course or to set up a personal web tour of the course.

12 Keys to employee engagement – 6

“We don’t like to train our employees. When they earn certifications or get other accomplishments they think we should pay them more. That just makes a lot more work for us, explaining why we can’t pay more.”

This is a real quote from a real corporate executive. He said it directly to me (a training fanatic) just last month.

Then he answered my question about his turnover rate with an answer that made me embarrassed for him.

Think his employees are engaged and working at a level which significantly contributes to the organization’s bottom line success?

I think not.

“Is there someone at work who encourages your development?”

That’s the sixth question in the Gallup organization’s 12 measures of the engaged employee.

To me, this measure means a couple of things: first, it means knowing your team members well enough to know how to encourage their development.

Secondly, it means helping each person set individual development goals, and reach those goals. It might not mean more training at all; it may mean giving them the opportunity to mentor with someone in a different role or department to see how another area of work fits for them.

Clearly it means management taking an interest in the individual, and helping them grow personally and professionally.

I feel sad for the people working for a company that sees employee development as a negative. I know that, despite this, many dedicated people work for this company – for now. But I also know that for this company – or any company – to truly thrive, they’ll have to focus on, and support, their worker’s development.

12 Keys to employee engagement – 5

Take a quick poll of your employees. Make it in writing, and ask just this one question:

“Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?”

Let them mark one box: yes or no; and return it anonymously. Then take a close look at the results.

Gallup’s highly successful organizations all have one thing in common: engaged employees. And engaged employees – not those just doing their jobs adequately, but those individuals who “work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company,” spell success.

One key indicator of the level of employee engagement is how they answer this one question. It gives us as managers pause to think about how we influence the answer to this question.

Do we know each member of our team individually: their family, pets, living situations?

Do we celebrate when something significant happens to them – and not just in monthly batched birthday “parties?”

Do we include their spouses/significant others and children on occasion in work-related gatherings?

Can we tell when they’re struggling or when they’re particularly excited? Do we do something concrete to acknowledge it?

When I first started working as a manager I was taught that work and friendship should never overlap. We were to have strictly professional relationships with the people who reported to us. Talking about personal goals, families or problems was never appropriate. Encouraging friendships at work was also viewed as negative – disciplining one person could result in all of her friends’ work suffering, too.

Today we know that work and personal life are much more closely connected. We meet our best friends – and sometimes our life partners – at work. We share births, illnesses and deaths. We often spend more waking time, after all, with our work mates than our family.

My goal as a manager has always been to hear each one of my team members say, “I love my job!” and mean it.

Obviously, taking a personal interest in their lives is one way I can help them achieve this level of engagement. I’ll be a better manager – and my organization will benefit, too.

Sounds like a win all the way around!

12 Keys to employee engagement – 4

“Wow – you’re really great with our clients’ families!”

“Thanks for finishing that report so quickly – it was well done, too.”

“Kudos to the kitchen team for the great dinner last Monday night!”

It’s nice to hear something good about your work, isn’t it? As a manager, though, we’re trained to be on the lookout for work that isn’t up to standard, and to watch for things that slip through the crack. We often don’t stop to think about the need to positively reward or recognize our team – on a consistent, regular basis.

Gallup’s index of items that create an engaged team includes this important question: “In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?”

The answer to this question may well determine just how engaged your team is in their work, and how successful your organization will be.

Clearly, if a highly engaged employee will answer “YES!” to this question, then the highly engaging manager needs to do these things: Provide recognition and praise on a regular, consistent (weekly, at a minimum) basis.

We know from behavior modification theory that we can change people’s behavior by positive reinforcements. As a manager, this is a very valuable tool. This doesn’t mean setting up charts and giving out tangible rewards. What it does mean, as indicated in the Gallup question, is giving frequent, unprompted verbal recognition for work well done. It means giving verbal praise – as simple as saying, “Excellent!” with a smile, when an employee reports on a completed project.

It means, in short, recognizing the efforts of the team members explicitly. It means changing management behavior from watching for errors, to watching for work well done. It means, when you catch an error, discussing it in a positive way with the individual: “I noticed you missed signing one day on the med sheet. You’re always so great about signing – can you go back and fix it so you can keep your perfect record?”

I’ve learned to add the words, “Thanks - great job!” when someone reports a task complete. I try, as well, to casually remark in the hearing of others how much I appreciate the work well done and prompt.

Learning to be the manager of highly engaged people takes focus and effort. Focusing on recognition and praise is one positive step we all can take to build the best team possible.

12 Keys to employee engagement – 3

Naomi can get any resident to take a shower. Even the most stubborn, confused, difficult resident seems to become a marshmallow in her hands. She will sing, laugh, hug and make miracles happen.

Naomi has a gift. We all know exactly what she does best, and we give her the opportunity to do it almost every single day.

The third question on the Gallup organization’s index of employee engagement asks, “At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?”

As a measurement for managers, one key element of employee engagement is being able to answer that question in the affirmative: “YES!”

Do you know what each of your employees does best? Have you discovered the person who organizes and straightens the linen closet in her free time, and glows when you notice it and thank her?

Juan makes the floors in the dining room absolutely glow. He will clean, buff and polish those floors, and you can see his pride in his work. Juan knows that his floors are the most beautiful floors in the entire company – management and visitors see it, too.

Figuring out the special talents of your employees is actually pretty simple: watch what they love to do. Ask what they do during those few unstructured moments during the day, or ask what their favorite part of their job is. We often love to do what we actually do best.

Naomi and Juan are employees who, every day, get to do what they do best in their work. It’s no wonder that they are happy people who stay on the job, year after year, contributing to the overall quality of care delivered to clients.