A colleague forwarded an interesting post to me yesterday titled “The Trojan Horse of Employee Engagement.” The title instantly piqued my interest – maybe it was the image of 30 I/O Psychologists stashed away in a giant wooden horse. The author, David S. Cohen, Ed.D., raised some very interesting questions throughout the article and laid out 7 specific ones.
This “geek” is glad you asked. These types of questions come up all the time – and they are good ones. At Questar, we are always up for a game of devil’s advocate, so here is my reaction to your 7 questions. First a bit about engagement. Sure, productivity is becoming increasingly important. But it’s not just about getting employees to work harder. It’s about retaining the best talent, aligning behind values, and helping employees grow with changing needs of the company. All things I/O Psychologists strive to help organizations do better. It’s about the antecedents, the experience, and the outcomes. I think that is why it has had such great success in practice. People get it – even if it’s not a neat and tidy construct.
1. If you are not engaged, i.e. not excited about the work you do, can engagement training get you more involved? Conversely, if you are excited about your work, is engagement training a waste of time? (more…)
Filed under: Uncategorized
Yesterday Questar announced the capability for our current and future clients to seamlessly integrate sentiment and text analytics into their customer experience measurement programs. And we couldn’t be more thrilled, to tell the truth, because this is no small announcement. Why, you ask?
Well, let me tell you a little more about Questar’s new friend, Clarabridge.
Where to start…how about here: Clarabridge is the leading provider of text analytics solutions to track and improve the customer experience. Period. They provide Global 1000 companies with the ability to automatically collect, classify and apply sentiment analysis on text-based verbatims found in voice of the customer feedback channels. (more…)
Filed under: Uncategorized
Questar has joined Twitter! We plan to use the account as a source for industry news and a format to connect with customers and prospects on the topics of customer experience management, employee engagement, and leadership.
Feel free to follow us: http://twitter.com/QuestarResearch
Filed under: Employee Development, Employee Engagement, Employee Recognition, Employee Retention, Executive Leadership, Uncategorized
New jobs require new skills. And it’s through new challenges that we build those skills. So it should come as no surprise that the way most leaders learn to lead is by jumping in the deep end.
One of my stories related to this is from a client I worked with years ago. The main character in this story is an up and coming young executive – we’ll call her Sarah (not her real name). Sarah was a go getter, recognized by corporate leadership for her achievements, her performance and her potential. She was just 33 years old when she got her first chance to truly lead. She was named president of a small division within the large global corporation for which she worked. And boy was she ready – this was her chance to really prove herself.
This part of the business was new to her. But Sarah was a quick study and knew just what to do. She wasted no time evaluating the competitive landscape and identified some “quick hits” to gain market share. She worked hard developing plans, securing resources, contacting clients, and informing key stakeholders. She found places to cut costs, introduced efficiencies, and pushed ahead with some innovative product development. (more…)
Filed under: Employee Development, Employee Engagement, Employee Recognition, Employee Retention, Uncategorized
The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Conference is taking place this weekend in Washington D.C. (if you are interested in attending there is still time to register). The conference will be a great place to network, learn and celebrate healthy, high-performing organizations.
Some of the key note speakers include:
- Nico Pronk, PhD, FACSM – Vice-President and Health Science Officer, JourneyWell, HealthPartners, an expert on worksite health promotion and multi-component interventions
- Benjamin Schneider, PhD – Senior Research Fellow, VALTERA, an expert on employee engagement
- Cali Williams Yost – CEO and Founder of Work+Life Fit, Inc. and author of Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You, an expert in work flexibility and work-life issues
- Rich Cober, PhD – Senior Director of Talent Management Analytics & Solutions, Marriott International, an expert on employee assessment and selection, performance management and hiring effectiveness
- Fran Melmed – Owner, context communication consulting llc, an HR communication consultant and blogger at free-range communication and Fistful of Talent.
- Roy Saunderson, MA, CRP – President, Recognition Management Institute, an authority on employee recognition
- Judy Martin – Emmy-award winning broadcast journalist, speaker and founder of WorkLifeNation.com
- Howard Ross – Founder and Chief Learning Officer, Cook Ross, Inc., an internationally recognized speaker on diversity, leadership and organizational change
- Tonya Vyhlidal, M.Ed., CHPD – Director of Wellness, Safety, and Life Enhancement, Lincoln Industries, an experienced health and wellness professional with a track record of success
- David C. Munz, PhD – Professor of Psychology, Saint Louis University, a recognized expert on organizationally-based stress management training
- Michelle James, MBA – Health Communication Manager, Intel Corporation, an experienced communications professional with expertise in wellness program development and health promotion
- Matthew J. Grawitch, PhD – Chair of the Organizational Studies Program in the School for Professional Studies at Saint Louis University, an expert on healthy workplace practices
For more information please visit: http://www.phwa.org/conference
As we look for signs of better things to come, will we see a super hero streaking across the sky? Making a connection between business recovery and a fictional crime fighter might seem improbable, unlikely or even silly.
In fact, we often find ourselves “looking up” for guidance…especially to the most highly respected companies that seem to outperform all others, year-after-year. Yes, we want to know who’s on top but we REALLY want to know why. We want to know what companies that are succeeding in today’s new economy have done in the recent past to maintain their top position. We also want to know what they are planning to do in the near future.
Questar took a look at what their clients did over the last several years. We found that those clients that fit into the category of top companies (market leaders, or runner up position in their industry), had not abandoned their leadership and talent development efforts in favor of short-term pressures. While spending in 2009 was down 20% across the board, at no point did the discussion of organizational development ever fall off the table. What we saw was that top companies remained steadfast in their focus of developing talent, in part to retain them but mostly because it was simply a part of their organizational DNA. (more…)
Note: stick with me here in the beginning. I know what you’ll be thinking in a second: quit with the sales pitch. I only do it to provide a context for my experience from the other day. I promise. Well, sort of…
At Questar, we measure the customer experience. We help our clients deliver a consistent, superior experience for their customers, because consistent, superior experiences breed customer loyalty. And loyalty equates to sales growth.
It’s what we do.
In our industry, customers are typically invited to provide feedback through transaction-based invitations, meaning that you purchase a good or service and then the invitation is printed on your receipt or emailed to you as a follow up. When customers participate in the survey they’re asked to rate the recent experience across all critical touch points, such as: greeting at the door, friendliness of cashier, wait time in line, etc.
The two critical bits of information here are: transaction-based and critical touch points.
So…let’s get to my recent experiences. One is an experience I actually had and one is the experience of a good friend—let’s call him Mike. Mike recently purchased a Blu-ray player and some necessary components from a large retailer. And he received a survey invitation on his receipt as part of the transaction. But after he set up the player, he realized that one of components was the wrong part. When he went to exchange the component the retailer would only provide him store credit because the box had been opened, even though they didn’t carry the right component. Even after he got the manager involved. (more…)
Filed under: Work Life Balance
Today the American Psychological Association’s newsletter Good Company included an article I wrote. Check it out.
The Babies At Work program at Clockwork Active Media Systems is a formal policy allowing parents to keep their babies with them – in their workspace – while they work. Clockwork has implemented the policy with resounding success and if you believe it’s a program just for working moms, think again. Click on the link below to read the full article.
http://www.phwa.org/resources/goodcompany/newsletter/article/150
Anna Erickson Ph. D. | Director, Consulting Services
We have all experienced some form of incivility at work one time or another. Someone completely ignored your email. You overheard someone taking credit for your work. You went to get a cup of coffee only to find an empty pot. A coworker criticized you personally in front of the whole group.
As innocuous as they may seem, research has shown us that these toxic behaviors can leave employees hurting mentally – and even physically – and can leave organizations hurting in their pocket books. They have been linked to depression, anxiety, and medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease. They have also been linked to absenteeism, higher turnover, decreased job satisfaction, and lower productivity. Questar’s own research has shown that employees who don’t feel respected by their managers are 5 times less likely to be satisfied with their jobs!
In the interest of creating healthier workplaces, Massachusetts is introducing a law that would allow targets to take legal action against bullies. Sounds like a great idea, right? I am a huge proponent of healthy workplaces and completely buy into the importance of stopping workplace incivility and bullying. But I am skeptical that such a bill could work. (more…)
