Employee engagement is the bedrock of driving motivation. But how do we build a culture of employee engagement?
Every organization has an identity or a culture that reflects how the establishment is perceived both internally and externally. There is also a business correlation between those two points; employees who are immersed in the organizational culture are far more likely to project that outward when interacting with customers, clients, and prospects.
In this post, we take a deep dive into how we are building a culture of engagement through culture champions. Culture Champions is a group of employees who are creating and nurturing the conditions conducive to building employee engagement.
While much of their work focuses on enticing employees to participate in work-related activities, there is a correlation between the agent experience and the customer journey. It’s long been said that many of us spend more time with co-workers than with our families, so it is essential to make those relationships meaningful. Part of creating a positive work atmosphere is producing opportunities for colleagues to interact with the company outside their assigned roles.
How Culture Champions Build Employee Engagement
The thumbnail description of the Culture Champions’ role is to generate a means of reflecting the company’s mission statement and organizational values.
Work and fun are not mutually exclusive terms; if anything, numerous studies show that people who enjoy their jobs and the time spent with their co-workers are more productive, creative, and supportive of one another. In our business of outsourced customer care, the spirit of the team is crucial to the company’s well-being and to serving the interests of our clients.
Every month includes a series of events that have little to do with any individual’s daily tasks and everything to do with building cohesion. The calendar can typically be divided into three distinct categories:
- Activities are driven by the calendar, whether that means holidays, commemorations of historical days, or for fun, recognition of things like International Chocolate Day or dressing like a movie character day.
- Things with a hint of competition: talent night, singing contests, or sports events with employee-formed teams.
- Off-site work, such as visits to a girls’ home in the Dominican Republic, a housing facility for pediatric cancer patients in the Philippines, or a day with the Little Sisters of the Poor in India.
The greatest degree of employee engagement comes from the things that allow for self-expression and where individual personalities can shine through. The most rewarding functions are the ones that involve some measure of service outside of the GlowTouch orbit.
In either case, the net result is lowering barriers between and among co-workers. After you’ve channeled your favorite rock star, costume, and all, you’re no longer just a workplace colleague. Now, you’re an individual at a human, personal level.
How Employee Engagement Leads to Purpose
Building bonds and relationships extend from teams that work together daily to people whose work lives rarely, if ever, cross paths. This extends organizational unity and creates a higher sense of purpose from the work being done.
It’s one thing to resolve customer issues and defuse tense situations; it’s another to impact lives beyond the company campus, where motivation has nothing to do with performance or financial reward. Serving others is particularly valuable when nothing is expected in return.
One challenge is including remote personnel in activities that revolve around being on site. At least a couple of monthly activities are online to create a sense of belonging among people who are separated from colleagues by distance. The Culture Champions also engage in little things, like sending digital birthday and work anniversary cards to at-home personnel so that they remain connected.
Employee Involvement Creates a Self-Perpetuating Feedback Loop
If participation is one marker of program success, then employees randomly suggesting potential activities is another, and this dovetails with the organization’s open-door policy on work-specific issues. When activities are well-received and staff members begin to independently call for more, the train moves smoothly down the tracks.
Feedback is a significant element of what we do as a company – listening to the voice of the customer and hearing what it has to say. In this case, the Champions’ customers are employees, and the same dynamic applies. Along with suggestions, we regularly survey employees to better understand what impacts morale and how it can be improved.
The program’s biggest challenge at this point might be the expectations that have been set. There is a sense of “how can we top that?” and, as a motivational tool, the initiative has created enthusiasm in our offices. There is an element of anticipation in wondering what activity will be next and then preparing for that day once it is established.
Staying Flexible and Celebrating Successes Keeps the Program Going
One standing rule with this program is pictures and/or video, or it did not happen. What’s the point of putting together good times if they are not memorialized and shared?
As to planning, there is no set formula. Flexibility is a program feature. While some events will be more popular than others, each builds on the ones before it. Some activities, such as off-campus trips, take a lot of time and effort to plan, while things like commemorating a particular calendar event are more easily managed.
The planned activities are augmented with a monthly rewards and recognition program publicly recognizing outstanding performance. That serves as a motivator for the employees watching and gives them a target.
All told, the Culture Champions have established a tradition that will continue to improve employee morale and build engagement with long-term rewards for everyone.
