Leadership Blog
United Way would like to show our appreciation for our company sponsors, donors, employee campaign managers, volunteers, and advocates. As a thank you for their support, below are articles from Through Eagles Eyes, written by Diane Winn and Tom Searcy, which will be posted monthly. These inspirational articles will discuss today's management and leadership hot topics.
Diane Winn and Thomas Searcy co-founded Through Eagles Eyes, Inc. in 2006. Through Eagles Eyes, Inc. is a talent management organization. It works with medium sized companies to drive profit growth through their people development. Improved productivity throughout an organization is its goal. Both Diane and Tom have extensive background in the financial consulting field (over 50 years combined) which gave them extensive experience in understanding the challenges business leaders face, as well as gaining expertise in coaching them through those challenges. Diane is a Professional Certified Coach, one of only a few in Indiana, and Tom is certified in neuro-linguistic programming, the basic science of communication that forms the basis for coaching practice. Also, Eagle Eyes' ability to support performance excellence for its clients took a giant step forward with its alliance with Kerry Garman, SPHR, a highly skilled professional in training, coaching and organizational development.
Visit www.througheagleseyes.com to learn more about how Eagles Eyes can help your organization.
July 2011
Does it matter whether or not your employees are a few percentage points higher on an engagement survey? The short answer is yes. A recent study conducted by International Survey Research, LLC reported the following statistics:
- A 52% gap in the one year improvement in operating income between companies with highly engaged employees versus companies whose employees have a low engagement score.
- Operating income over the study period in highly engaged companies improved 19.2% while low engagement companies declined 32.7%.
- Other findings include a 13.2% improvement in net income growth over a one-year period for companies with high employee engagement, while seeing a 3.8% decline in net income over the same period for companies with low engagement.
- Companies with high employee engagement also demonstrated a 27.8% improvement in Earnings per Share (EPS) growth while companies with low engagement reported an 11.2% decline in EPS over the same period.
A friend of mine related the story of how during a recent investigation to create a joint venture in China, there was a consistent theme in the interactions with Chinese business leaders. "Teach us what you know!" If you do not think this makes a difference to you, find out where things are made in your household. It is becoming impossible to find consumer items "Made in the USA." In the global economy competitive advantage can only be found and sustained through the management of talent. High employee engagement becomes critical.
Too often sales leaders begin to shed staff when the economy slows. Everyone knows that "tightening the belt" is a mutually shared pain. In the last slowdown, a few astute businesses added staff while reducing their overall spending. This resulted in two important results. First, the depth of their slowdown was less. Secondly, their recovery was faster. They had the right talent in the right spot to move through slow times.
These decisions also meant that there were no layoffs in these companies. Turnover was limited to normal attrition. It also meant an improvement in their engagement scores. Employees worked longer and smarter once they were able to take their mind off the fear of job loss. The return on this investment meant sales increases and net profit improvements. These improvements did not come from new facilities or equipment. It came from focusing on improving engagement by eliminating fear of job loss at work.
In human resources, an engagement survey result is the platform to build people systems for organizations. To implement talent retention strategies or change a culture without the benchmark of an engagement score is flying blind. What is missing and what needs to be changed or focused upon should come from the results of conducting an engagement survey.
Keep your competitive edge by knowing the commitment level of your employees.
Tom Searcy and Diane Winn
