Human Resources Issues for Senior Management
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/343811
9 said. " e compensation has to be in line and appropriate, but what really drives engagement is being involved and having some control over the work that's being done." It's also important to deal with the elephants in the room, said Wexler. "Nothing kills employee engagement faster than where employees see and talk about something that is wrong — it can be an individual who has a toxic nature, it can be an individual who is not upholding the core values of the organization, it can be an indi- vidual, frankly, who is doing something criminal and that activity is allowed to continue. Because what it then says to the organization or parts of the organization is leaders are not walking the talk." On the ipside, one of the ways to really help build engagement is honest, frank and transparent communication, said Wexler "When you try to hide things, when you try to paint a rosy picture when there are issues that have to be addressed, employees are too intelligent and too connected to not be talking with one another and not be thinking about what the reality is. It's better to be honest and share the news — good, bad or indi erent." And there's not necessarily a one-size- ts-all solution — dif- ferent issues such as silos, language or behaviours can impact engagement, said Hendry. "So if the top of the house doesn't behave the way it should and provide the leadership, then people won't follow," he said. "One program doesn't t all so it's the tweaks that you do and all the as- sociated things that go with it that ultimately drive engagement." at's apparent when it comes to tolerance for perceived bad behaviour, said Wexler. "Certainly I nd that amongst cer- tain generations, they are much quicker to exit should the organization not live up to their expectations. What is says is that the bar is actually getting raised higher and higher in terms of employee expectations around behaviours." But in having done a discovery last year to come up with a cul- ture statement with a group of associates from across Cara — young, old, seasoned, new — it became apparent there were foundational similarities, said Wyllie. People want to know what they're held re- sponsible for, they want frequent, transparent communications and they want to be held accountable. " ose are the foundational pieces," she said. It's also important to let employees know where the company is headed, what the strategic plan is, said Bird. "To drive engagement, there's that core value piece that needs to be in sync with who you are, but also the understanding of what is the bigger picture… what are we trying to do. When you do have changes, when you do have things that move around throughout the year, people understand how that connects back to the strategic plan," he said. "It comes back to the integrity of leadership and if you start with that foundation of trust and belief that the leaders that they are work- ing with are actually acting in the best interest of the company and the plan, then you start with great foundation. And when we do have missteps, we can honestly say, 'Oops, that didn't go the way we had planned,' course-correct and people will say, 'OK, got it, understood, we all make mistakes… if you've got underlying integrity and trust, I think people will accept that there's a misstep once and awhile." It's good to show vulnerability, that builds trust too, said Wyllie. "We do make mistakes all the time as a leadership team so course-correcting and declaring, 'Yeah, we screwed up' and righting a wrong is OK — that drives engagement versus ignoring it or not doing anything about it." One bad apple can spoil the bunch But can one bad manager ruin employee engagement? What's important is the culture and foundation, and then living and acting upon that, said Bird. "And when you do run into that bad manager and that leader that clearly is not aligned, that you act quickly on it and you don't let the problem sit there and fester because that will kill employee engagement when they start to see, 'OK, well we've got the plaque on the wall that says this but we're not living to that' and when we've got leaders that aren't aligned to that and we don't do anything about it." e challenge is getting the bad behaviour to bubble up and become evident, said Hendry. "When it's blatant, it's easy to deal with, it's really easy. Most of it isn't — it's very subtle and to identify those who play that game is a di cult thing to do." "ONE PROGRAM DOESN'T FIT ALL SO IT'S THE TWEAKS THAT YOU DO AND ALL THE ASSOCI- ATED THINGS THAT GO WITH IT THAT ULTIMATELY DRIVE ENGAGEMENT." 9 THAT YOU DO AND ALL THE ASSOCI- ATED THINGS THAT GO WITH IT THAT ULTIMATELY DRIVE ENGAGEMENT." continued on page 10 PHOTOS: SANDRA STRANGEMORE