Employee Engagement Seminar

SPEAKERS

Steve, Joe

Joe  00:14

We do hope you find today’s session of value for your client conversations and these really challenging times for many business owners. Okay them. So today you’ll hear from Steve Williams, Managing Director at business continuity and risk management systems or be calm, be calm, provide our risk management and business continuity package, ABP arch business protect, formerly known as fusion thinking. As you know, we offer ABP to all arch commercial combined policyholders paying over seven and a half 1000 premium, Steve will share his knowledge as a business owner to illustrate how a BP can help your clients who are looking to build and maintain employee engagement. Employee engagement is a real area of focus for many businesses and is particularly relevant in these challenging times. At arch, we want to help clients with risks they can transfer in the form of the insurance cover we provide, but also help with those risks that they can’t transfer. Our arch and ABP team want to deliver wider business benefits to your clients, such as reducing the overall cost of risk to your client, and enhancing their operational performance. Now today won’t be looking at RSVP system itself. But I do personally recommend you book a one to 120 to 30 minute webinar with our ABP engagement team to help you engage your clients on how IBP can help them with risk management, or business continuity. And if you don’t already know arch clients get unlimited remote support from ADP over the phone or via video call. The engagement team are experienced at helping clients work out what different areas of ABP will deliver for them, setting up the system bespoke to their business and helping them to roll out the business continuity and risk management tools across their business. It can literally be live and operational in minutes. So I’d encourage you to arrange the call. Remember, also, our branch underwriters and arch business protection partners have a great track record of helping our broker partners engage new prospective clients with consultative webinars to help support your new business process. So if you’re looking for an edge, put us to the test. Okay, then sales pitch out the way back to today’s session. Steve Williams will be looking at three key areas this morning. What is employee engagement? Why is it important to business leaders? How ABP can support clients who are focused on employee engagement. Okay, Steve, over to you to start the presentation.

Steve  02:51

Hi, good morning, Joe. And thank you everyone, again for for attending this morning session. So employee engagement, as Joe said, we’ll be looking at what it is, why it’s important, and how our business protection can help clients with with this area. So as a business owner, for me, this is one of my top priorities in my business. This literally is a turbocharger on business performance. So let’s talk about what employee engagement is. And you might be thinking, okay, so why are we talking about something like this, and then linking it to risk management? Well, all will become clear as we go through the we go through the webinar. So this is understand what we’re talking about when we when we say or when I say employee engagement. So here’s a definition from the Institute of employment studies. And in essence, it is the positive attitude and relationship that exists between the employee and the employer. And complete alignment and engagement by the employee in the company’s vision and his values. Whereby everyone is working collectively together to build the overall performance and benefit of the organization for the benefit of all. It’s a two way relationship. It’s not a it’s it’s a real give and take relationship. And if you if you’ve come across businesses with high levels of employee engagement, you can really feel it this is something that is is palpable when you when you meet an organization. So how do you measure employee engagement? Well, there is a huge industry that focuses on employee engagement out there, because it is such an important business driver. And probably the most reputable and extensive organization focused on this is Gallup and they’ve been undertaking employee engagement surveys worldwide for four over 20 years and have a huge amount of data that they’re able to draw on to use this to, to illustrate how businesses can best engage with their workforce. And, and there’s something called the Gallup q 12. And these are 12 criteria that over the years Gallup have established are the top 12 drivers for building employee engagement in an organization. So number one, I know what’s expected of me number two, I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right. Through our work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day. Before in the last seven days, I’ve received recognition or praise for doing good work by my supervisor, someone who seems to care about me as a person. Six, there is someone at work who encourages my development. Seven, as he quickly moves the presenter, it’s like working my opinion seems to count eight, the mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job as important nine, my associates or fellow associates are committed to doing quality work, can I have a best friend at work? 11 in the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress, and 12. This past year, I’ve had opportunities at work to learn and grow. So you listen to all of those, you think yeah, okay, well, I can see why an employee who, who responds positively to these criteria would be more engaged in in their workplace. And there’s a hierarchy to this as well. So for those of you who have ever come across Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which talks about the basic human needs up to self actualization, this this engagement hierarchy is very, very similar to that. So at the very base of of engagement, you know, employees have to have the materials and equipment they need to do their work, right. And they need to know what’s expected of them first, before they can move on towards the individual areas of engagement, that teamwork and then growth. So there’s, there’s a lot of science behind this, and, and a huge amount of money spell well spent worldwide, trying to get this right. So why is it important? Well, again, if you want to, if you want to look at this research report, I’m happy to send the link out as part of the as part of the deck afterwards. It’s fascinating stuff. So why is it important? Well, this is this is some of the empirical data that exists from from the Gallup surveys, and you this is a worldwide report. But actually, the the data doesn’t shift much from from continent to continent and from country to country, put employees with highly engaged workforces enjoy, in general, on average, 21% higher profitability, 20% higher sales, 17%, higher productivity, and 10%, higher customer metrics, things like NPS and, and customer surveys and the like. Now, that’s that’s huge, you know, have the same base of an employee base, you’re able to drive that much greater performance, you know, this is this is this is maximizing the the output of the organization. On the on the flip side of that, if we then look at what other benefits come, so 20%, less shrinkage 59%, less staff turnover, 70%, fewer employee safety incidents, 58% patient safety and so that, obviously some medical in here as well, and fewer quality incidents as well, as well as absenteeism. So employee engagement as a if you’re running a business, this is a really important business dynamic to to work upon. And just to take some headlines are there, companies with highly engaged workforces are 21%, more profitable 21% more profit for no extra work, they get four times higher performing growth culture. That’s These are from other sources. So this is from Forbes, and then one from a US data here fast track 360 71% of executives say employee engagement is critical to their company’s success. So this is putting insurance and risk management to one side because it’s not the most important thing in the world. But when you’re running a business, this kind of stuff is this is what drives the future success of your organization. And when you think about these challenging times, then having a completely engaged workforce. As we navigate our way through COVID is even more important, it’s an even greater an integrator enabler as an organization. So again, just just to gain why it’s important so I’m a member of a CEO networking An organization called Vistage, which some of you may have heard of it, even maybe members of yourselves. So this is these are these are UK businesses that in general outperform the average UK business by two and a half times in terms of growth and profitability. And this is from their, from their, from their own data, their own surveys, and two thirds of CEOs and boards in Vistage members say, employee engagement is one of the three most important metrics they have for looking forward in terms of their business performance, and just under just under 80%, conducted an E survey at least every two years and have an action plan off the back of it. That is owned by the senior leadership team. Okay, so this is for some businesses, this is incredibly important. So again, why is this important? Well, if we look at some of the data in the report, again, this is a kind of an English thing. So we don’t do too well in this country when it comes to employee engagement. So as well as only having 11% of employees engaged, or rather 89% of employees are not actively engaged in the business, then we actually also have 21% of employees and UK who are actively disengaged, they’re working against the organization. So this is this, there’s nothing new and this is this is fairly kind of run mainstream data. And it’s why the UK, you know, is behind many of its European counterparts in terms of productivity. So So why is this important? Now, this is some very up to date survey data that came out in September this year. But it all feeds into the it all feeds into the same same narrative. So this is a the workforce Institute and UK G group conducted some surveys. In the UK and 42% of UK employees were most concerned about cleanliness and sanitation in the physical workplace. So this is this is returning to work 21% Carry going into their normal workplace and not satisfied with the health and safety measures put in place by their employer. And 32% of those going into work are anxious about catching or spreading COVID-19 at work. So the last two from the CIPD as a source.

Steve  12:39

Now, there’s a number of issues in here. So I’m sorry, I’m finally 45% said they have been given adequate information about returning to work. Now, this is this is all feeding into our basic human requirement of safety and security. And, and, you know, again, going back to the kind of that hierarchy of of engagement, it’s feeding in at the very base of employee engagement. And, and so at this particular time, we also need to reflect upon the fact that, you know, companies might be working hard to put their COVID measures in place. But actually, perhaps they haven’t communicated that well enough to their employees. Different employees with different personality types have different anxiety levels around this. And there’s also some of you might have heard of the rule of seven, your employees need to hear something on average, or people not employees, people need to hear things on average seven times before the information goes in. So perhaps the business is doing everything it needs to do. But it’s not reinforcing this message to their employees to the level that it goes in and satisfied that that kind of that kind of basic needs. This is important stuff, because you might have had a previously highly engaged workforce that could becoming disengaged, because they just don’t have sufficient information to satisfy their own base requirements for safety and security. Okay, so that’s that’s the kind of the backdrop to this. So number one, employee engagement, really, really important business driver business enabler and business performance criteria. Number two, as we going into this whole new new world, or whatever the new normal is called these days, I’ve forgotten how many different ways there are saying it. But as we going into this kind of next phase of of COVID, 90, it’s incredibly important to maintain and perhaps build that engagement. That we are thinking about these things as well as just thinking about the basics of hand sanitizers or whatever the other the other basic protections we’re putting in place in our organizations. So, having set the scene, let’s kind of look at what art business protection has within its extensive array of of resources that can that can help businesses address this. So I mentioned earlier about the the 12, the Gallup q 12. Well, obviously, you know, arts business protection isn’t, isn’t actually dealing with things like in the last six months someone at work is talking about my progress is really focusing on three deliverables from the Gallup q 12, which is number one, I know what is expected of me at work. Number two, I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right. And number five, my supervisor of some of the work seems to care about me as a person. So two of those are at the very base of the engagement hierarchy. And the third is actually in the next tier up at the individual tier. Okay. So this is important, because without the base being satisfied, then everything above it in terms of engagement becomes weaker. So let’s deal with with number one, and I know what is expected of me at work. So what is it in and business protection that would that a business might be using to help an employee satisfy this q 12. is cute while driver? Well, there are a number of things. Training is going to be a big one, because that’s how employees genuinely know what’s expected of them at work and actually delivering the information and the capability to do it. Within a much business protection, you’ve obviously got an extensive suite of elearning courses. And if you’re unaware of what they are, then talk to your BDM locally, and we’ll we’ll run you through all of those, but sort of most notably at the moment would be, say the stress module, which went which actually will highlight employees who are experiencing anxiety in the workplace. So elearning a significant way of delivering though that base level awareness information that keeps employees safe in the workplace. A new feature that we’ve talked about in previous ABP webinars is the new safety briefings feature. Now, safety briefings allows the business to deliver kind of a face to face toolbox talk safety briefing to groups of employees, taking them for instance, through a risk assessment or method statements or safe systems of work, all of which define how employees need to work within the workplace and allow them to record straightaway, a training record of that safety briefing which the employee is able to sign saying they’ve received and understood that information. Okay, this is so there’s an element of claims defensibility in there, but it equally shows how important the business takes the safety of the employee in the workplace. And going along with that would be would be toolbox talks as well. But another more subtle way that the system helps employees understand what is expected of them in the workplace is the safety monitoring functionality within arch business protection. So it’s just remind you what that is. So with risk assessments or checklist, the system allows you to proactively monitor these are using users to proactively either monitor your risk assessments, control measures, or, or undertake safety sampling using checklists, all of which generate performance scores. But actually, what they also do is they drive behavior, because if every month, the business is checking to make sure that the protections that are in place, or should be in place are in place, then they’re driving behavior within the business, they’re setting the example of what is expected within the workplace because they take it important people focus on what the boss focuses on. That’s kind of a truism. So if the boss is focused on the safety and well being of the workforce, then that’s a big driver for employees. So so that’s how ADP can can help deliver around the I know what’s expected of me at work. So the next one, I have the equipment, materials, I need to do my job, right. Perhaps this is maybe a bit more obvious. So certainly the implementation of any control measures, though, so that would be for instance, lifting age, PPE or any other equipment that is required on a normal basis or even now in terms of the additional measures that might be put in place as part of a business’s COVID controls. So secondly, you’ve got the PPE manager which allows the business to maintain check and replace his PPE on an ongoing basis, also getting the PPE matrix sign. So again, it’s keeping on top of making sure the employees have correct functioning working equipment is not out of date. And then more specifically, around COVID-19. Again, coming back to this monitoring of controls to ensure that they’re operational, will happily run a separate webinar, if any of you want to for your clients on actual physical practical things that can be done in terms of managing COVID-19 On a day to day basis. But again, these can be specifically monitored and reported on within the business using the system’s functionality. And then finally, because the equipment and materials I need to do my job, right, also includes knowledge. So again, the training center allows the employee to be to ensure that the employee has the correct level of training and expertise and knowledge for their role. And that’s maintained and updated on an ongoing basis. Find the one number number five on cue 12 was my supervisor, someone at work cares about us person? So this is not quite someone going up and saying Are there there are you okay? This is more about functionality that allows the business to understand and support the client. So firstly, as you all know, asked his protection provides a 24 hour confidential counseling helpline to all employees, members of their family living with them as well. So that is, for some people, you know, COVID-19 has not been a big challenge. For others, it has been hugely stressful, really difficult, whether it’s because of homeschooling or whether it’s because they’ve got vulnerable members of their family or whether it’s because they’re just on their own, and they’re feeling isolated. So counseling helpline is a great measure for putting in place something that clients give to their employees to help them deal with, with anxiety that understandably, could be heightened at this time, particularly as we seem to be going into a new raft of measures, and we have more uncertainty coming as the winter months start to build.

Steve  22:33

But there’s another area as well, which, which allows a business to identify potential issues that their employees have, and then take action. And that says someone cares about me, because they’re taking action around things that I’ve that I not necessarily reported on or that but things that I have recorded. So again, if you’re unfamiliar with this element of of the, the ABP learning system, as well as to as well as a tutorial, and a self test to check competency, when an employee completes an E Learning course, they also do a self assessment, which allows the employee to identify potential shortfalls in the employee’s area of work, and then address these. So an employee might say, well, I don’t know about this, the I haven’t received this information. An employer can actually identify that through this method, and provide them that information, or I don’t have this equipment to do this particular function. So these things can be picked up at a granular employee level, and the employer is able to address them, okay, you’ve put yourself in the employee shoes. If an employee says, Look, I understand that you haven’t got this, okay, here you go, this is what you need, then that shows they care, they’re paying attention. Employees can also leave comments as well as part of this self assessment, which again, allows the employer to react to those comments and show that there is a level of care and engagement with the employee. And finally, you can actually set up alerts in the system, which will flag up immediately when there is a split a particularly significant risk to an employee and then respond to it. So it allows for the employer to intervene in areas of risk without the employee necessarily having to say look, you know, I’ve got a problem with this, because, you know, understandably and regardless of now, but some employees are reluctant to come forward with problems. That’s just a fact of life. It’s, it’s a challenge for any business to get genuine feedback from from its workforce. And again, a specific eLearning module, which I’ve touched on before is the stress module. And that actually highlights as part of the self assessment where an employee might be exhibiting high, higher risk for factors around their well being. So final error, just to mention as well, is the fact that within a BP, you have a very powerful Reporting Suite. So it means that a business can you know, and again, if you want a webinar to see how you do it, then just just contact the engagement team. It’s very simple to run a report of how well the business is performing against all of its COVID control measures, and allow them to communicate this on an ongoing basis to the workforce. And again, going back to that rule of seven, to keep a constant communication flow going, updating people, providing them with information, providing them with certainty about their working environment. So the system provides the data and the functionality that allows a business to then do that. And I was talking to a client, or must have been about two months ago, they were looking to open up. And one of the things that they were actually building into their kind of their back to work was an agile communication plan for all of their employees actually extending over a three month period, so that they were constantly feeding information into their workforce, just to help build that sense of safety and security and maintaining engagement in in, they maintain their employee engagement, which is really critical for their business. So summarize, then, how does ADP help clients employee engagement? But number one, isn’t it you know, it’s, it is at the end of the day, a basic human requirement. Everyone wants to feel safe. And for those of you know, Maslow, it’s the base of the, of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. High employee engagement is a key key driver for business performance. And if you weren’t aware of that before, hopefully today, you’ll now understand why employee engagement can be something that many businesses strive to, to achieve high levels of just because of what it does to their overall performance. As businesses battle through COVID-19, you know, the more engaged the workforce is, the more that’s going to support the business coming out of the coming out the other side of the situation in the strongest possible place. Final thought for you find me a company with an engaged workforce that puts profits it hasn’t safety. There aren’t many.

Joe  27:28

Well, hopefully today’s sessions provided everyone with some food for thought. I hope you found the session today of value. Enjoy the rest of your day.