Employee Engagement

Jul 20

*|MC:SUBJECT|*

Here is Issue 11 of Affirmative’s Newsletter — What Sustainability Really Means — focusing on EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

TRENDING:

Are There Benefits to ‘The Great Resignation’?

HAVE YOU HEARD OF?

SDG SPOTLIGHT:

Goal 4: Quality Education

IMPACT TIP:

Prosocial incentives

WHAT’S IT MATTER?

Employee Engagement

AFFIRMATIVE
SUSTAINABILITY INC.

p. 250-814-4657
e. info@affirmativesustainability.com
a. PO Box 1734 Revelstoke BC V0E 2S0
w. affirmativesustainability.com

TRENDING:
ARE THERE BENEFITS TO ‘THE GREAT RESIGNATION’?

“There’s no erasing the lived experience and lasting impact of the past two years. Empowering managers to adapt to new employee expectations helps set businesses up for long-term success.” - Jared Spataro, CVP, Modern Work, Microsoft (March ‘22).

First of all, what is the Great Resignation and what brought it on? The Big Quit. the Great Reshuffle. A trend (?) of voluntary resignations beginning in early 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for worker safety. A simultaneous rise in the cost of living and stagnation in wage opportunities led many to rethink their working conditions and their long-term career goals.

As workers return to employment, they are potentially seeking jobs that are in greater alignment with their purpose and their principles. They are also searching for greater satisfaction, work-life balance and are more likely to consider their own mental health.

Though seemingly daunting, The Great Reset promotes the opportunity to build back better. Fairer outcomes, equality, sustainable development and harnessing innovation are foundational to creating prolific economic systems. We have the opportunity to encourage exceptional emotional intelligence from our leaders. Nurturing better relationships between employees presents the opportunity to create greater efficiency & productivity, an increased sense of job satisfaction and enhanced motivation to contribute at work. Employee engagement is a critical component of creating sustainable companies — ones that are profitable, benefit people and give back to the health of our planet.

Engage your Employees with Affirmative ➙

HAVE YOU HEARD OF?

Work From Home (WFH)

While working from home became popularized through the pandemic, many companies are planning a hybrid virtual model; combining remote work with time in the office. A 2022 study showed that 34% of knowledge workers have returned to the office full-time. Of those now back to the office full time, 55% said they would prefer a more flexible work arrangement.

In an analysis of 2000 tasks, 800 jobs in 9 countries; more >20% of the workforce could work remotely three to five days a week as effectively as they could from the office. Since returning to work, employees are reporting poorer work-life balance, less job satisfaction, and increased work-related stress and anxiety compared to remote workers. It’s never been more important to engage employees.

Create an employee engagement strategy➙

SDG SPOTLIGHT:

GOAL 4: QUALITY EDUCATION
TARGET 7: ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge & skills needed to promote sustainable development.

What are you doing to contribute to knowledge- sharing on:

Sustainable Development:
- Are you mainstreaming global citizenship as a corporate priority? Are you promoting knowledge of local culture?
Sustainable Lifestyles:
- Do you teach employees how to simplify their lifestyles? Are you providing opportunities for learning about and improving employee footprints?
Human Rights & Equality:
- Can you encourage cultural diversity and recognition of heritage? Do you promote gender equality and help employees understand its value?
Education:
- Does your company contribute to national education policy, curricula, teacher training or enhance learning opportunities outside of the office?

Create customized Workshops & Training➙

IMPACT TIP:
PROSOCIAL INCENTIVES:

A prosocial incentive, is one where an individuals' effort benefits a charitable organization. Prosocial motivations have become an increasingly important element of both employee rewards strategy as well as marketing strategy; aimed to promote customer engagement and satisfaction.

Interestingly enough, a prosocial incentive plays to an individual’s motivation to benefit themselves while also enhancing their social reputation or even one’s own self respect. It’s an opportunity to give back to solutions that are of interest to the individual, but one might not have otherwise contributed to. To create a great incentive, it’s important to align with the right cause.

Explore impactful partnerships ➙

WHAT’S IT MATTER?

Employee Engagement

What changed for employees?
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused nearly two-thirds of US-based employees to reflect on the purpose of their work; resulting in nearly 1/2 reconsidering the kind of work they want to do. Millennials are 3x’s more likely than others to say that they are reevaluating job options. Those who feel their work is purpose-driven are more productive. They are also healthier, more resilient, and more likely to stay at the company.

How does individual purpose relate to work?
McKinsey research indicates that 70% of employees said that their sense of purpose is defined by their work. This means that employers are directly affecting an employee’s ability to do purpose-driven work — why not provide opportunities? Encouraging new employees to express their personal values at work leads to significant outperformance of their peers, higher satisfaction at work, and increased retention by more than 30%.

What opportunities do employees want?
Employees want to feel respected. They want opportunities that provide freedom, growth, enjoyment, stability, integrity and equality. According to a February 2022 study of over 10,000 knowledge workers in 6 countries; 79% say they want location flexibility but 94% say they want schedule flexibility.

What should employers do?
There are plenty of easy initiatives employers can take right away to increase the quality of an employees experiences:

Initiate Conversations: Ask individual employees how they are doing and learn how you can support their needs. Find out what motivates them, lights them up and makes them feel like they are contributing.
Provide Context: Help employees to understand how their work fits into the big picture. Find out what barriers prevent them from feeling like their work matters.
Be honest: Provide transparency and vulnerability from the top down. Admitting mistakes provides opportunity for the employee to fulfil a corporate need — a win/win!
Give opportunity: Allow employees time to work on inclusive culture initiatives (like event planning & community engagement). Consider providing incentives for alignment between employees and corporate core values. Also, provide learning, growth, experimentation and training for upskilling into areas of employee interest.
Answer questions: For example, many employees (and potential employees alike), want to understand which corporate sustainability policies and initiatives exist. If you don’t have these answers, ask what they’d like to see done and consider providing training to incorporate those individuals into corporate solutions.