The key to improving employee engagement in the construction industry might start with a little trash clean up. For instance, take the recent employee survey with its basic questions about benefits or perks or managers and toss out the results. But don’t those questions expose important data about employee engagement? Probably not, and here’s why.
When confronted by low survey marks, no matter the topic, most organizations rush around, determined to fix the problem, thinking this will finally solve the persistent issue of low employee engagement. But starting at the end is the wrong way to solve the employee engagement conundrum because going back and slapping a bandage on what’s broken misses the point. Who knows if the survey even asked what employees care about? Does anyone at the organization even know what employees care about?
There’s a better way to improve employee engagement: it’s time to improve the employee experience.
Why engagement matters
Engagement represents a real connection between an employee and the organization and has real-life results in increased productivity, more passion for work, lower employee turnover and higher profitability. High-performing employees are paying attention to big engagement markers such as feedback, recognition and compensation.
Chasing better employee engagement is big business. Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year on employee engagement, but Gallup reports only 13 percent of more than 31 million respondents worldwide are truly engaged at work.
Where we go from here
First, it’s important to do a better job of distinguishing perks from experiences. Organizations try many different initiatives such as offering free lunches, flexible working arrangements, bring-your-own-tools programs and everything else under the sun to keep their employees happy.
The employee experience is the real key to employee engagement. Perks are nice, but they should be thought of differently: as recruiting tools, ways to improve employer brand and retention boosters. But they do not keep employees engaged in their work.
Engagement begins with “moments of truth”
The keys to creating a great employee experience start with “moments of truth.” These moments begin in the very parking lot of the business and the lobby. Are they well maintained and clean? Moments of truth appear in the hallway as employees are greeted by their managers or on the jobsite by supervisors. They continue with employee communications and how easy (or maddening) it is to log in to the company’s systems. Is safety on the jobsite a top priority or does the environment feel unsafe and chaotic? All of these moments of truth add or subtract from an employee’s daily experience.
Making it better, every day
A better employee experience starts with designing an intentional and proactive design of that experience. Here are four steps to create an exceptional employee experience that leads to long-term employee engagement.
- Find out what employees need and want. Do research with focus groups, targeted surveys and manager input. These folks are on the front lines. What do managers hear in day-to-day chatter on the jobsite and in the office?
- Define what kind of employee experience the organization wants to create. How do employees want to feel and experience work? What kind of experience and culture do they say they need? Explain the results to employees via all-hands meetings, newsletters and manager meetings.
- Assess and measure against the organization’s definition of employee experience to create, align and address gaps. You may use tools such as a cultural review, employee “pulse” surveys and check-ins. Take a look at policies, practices and systems to see if there is anything that will stand in the way of the type of employee experience the company wishes to create.
- Rinse and repeat. Validate assumptions, accommodate for changing landscape and make sure to make communication ongoing.
Every interaction an employee has at work, whether it is on the jobsite, in the warehouse or the front office, contributes to their experience. By carefully designing intentional employee experiences, construction organizations can nudge the lever on a better employee experience, deepening employee loyalty and performance for today and into the future.
