The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 32: Aug/Sept 2017 | Page 14

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT CHANGE IS SCARY! “If we want them to understand change, we need to speak their language” Successful businesses are built with effective communicators - not just top down to ensure the strategy and values are known, or bottom up to ensure low-level concerns are shared to the senior leadership team, but everywhere. One of the most important times to ensure communications are effective is during any change programme. Primarily because change involves uncertainty which often leads to fear. Change is also hard for leaders because followers have to perceive twice the benefit before they will even consider the proposal! If the resistance to change is about fear and a perceived threat, we need to understand the negative perceptions so we can minimise the fear, and harness the positive perceptions to facilitate recognition of the benefits. Research shows that everyone has a preferred perceptual frame of reference through which we interact with the world. We also have a preferred psychological need; this underpins our motivation. These perceptions and needs provide a verbal and non-verbal language which we use to communicate. Consequently, we need to choose the most effective ‘language’, because how we say something (process) is often more important than what we say (content). Get it wrong and miscommunication and conflict occurs. Using process isn’t as hard as you might think because the ‘preferred language’ of others is observable through words, gestures, facial expressions, tones and posture, along with how they respond when in distress. These distress behaviours are easily recognised and using the unique responses for each perception, we can quickly reduce distress. This process becomes easier when the personality structure of the other party is known via a personal profile. “It is not about pigeon-holing: it is about communicating in the preferred language of the listener” Crucially, the Process Communication Model is not about pigeon-holing: it is about communicating in the preferred language of the listener. When this is not achieved, the listener is likely to misinterpret our message which makes change much harder to achieve. If you’d like to know more about PCM, an award-winning communication and behavioural tool used for nearly 20 years by NASA and now used in business, healthcare and education to improve performance, patient safety and the bottom line, please get in touch. Gareth Lock, Human in the System For more info: www.humaninthesystem.co.uk [email protected] 07966 483832 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Picture your competitor’s team in a rowing boat. Imagine that there are 10 of them. 2 of the crew are rowing hard, working to power the boat to the destination defined for the business and team in the next 1 year, 3 years and 5 years. They are highly engaged! Now consider that 5 are holding an oar, going through the motions, idling, ticking over, pulling only when they feel like it or when pushed to. They are disengaged! “Between 50% and 80% of the UK’s payroll is being paid to disengaged and highly disengaged employees” The other 3 are holding a chain that is attached to the anchor, an anchor that is beneath the boat dragging across the sea bed, slowing progress down. These 2 are actively dismissive 14 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017 of ideas, direction, efforts to inspire and focus them and the team. They are highly disengaged! Thank goodness this is your competitor and not your business and team… Employee Engagement is arguably the most important topic in the world of Human Resource. Why? Because between 50% and 80% of the UK’s payroll is being paid to disengaged and highly disengaged employees. A business that is not growing is dying because it’s competitors and the environment around it are advancing and developing. It’s impossible though to grow a business that is employing disengaged and highly disengaged people. Not only are they less productive and probably negative, but they are also actively disruptive and holding you back. Via a carefully designed programme of controlled training sessions it is possible to re-engage the 80% of your team that are currently disengaged or highly disengaged people and deliver game changing increases in employee engagement. Teams of between 4 and 20 people are the optimal size for Employee Engagement Training, therefore it is within reach of many SME’s and if your serious about growth, it’s a ‘must do’. To take a FREE survey that will define just how many of your team members are highly engaged, or to find out more about the programme and how our team can help you, contact our Engage and Grow specialist Anne Messer on 01793 831029. For more info: www.actioncoach.com/ellisbardsley [email protected] 01865 362109 @ActionCOACHEB