Avoiding engagement pitfalls

The organisation is a complex system made up of many different parts, interconnections and functions. Viewing the organisation from the systems lens, we see the interconnections between staff, organisation culture, staff engagement, organisational policies and the achievement of goals. These relationships are graphically represented in the diagram below.

It is now common for organisations to conduct “climate” surveys to determine staff engagement levels and measure gaps between current and desired cultures. Organisations embark on this research to a feel of the pulse on the ground and to arrest key issues in a timely way – expecting this to lead to an increase in organisational effectiveness and hence the achievement of organisational goals.

In our experience, we have found that surveys are indeed useful. Post-survey follow-up and communication efforts however, are key success factors. You should also be aware of some pitfalls in the systems:

» Delays in the review of HR policies and management style.

Organisations may not be proactive in evaluating and making changes to HR policies or management styles for various reasons. This could cause (continued) frustration

» Delays in the impact of policy changes on organisational culture.

Organisational culture and staff engagement do not change overnight. When an organisation does eventually get down to implementing a new (or revised) policy, it takes a while for the effect to be felt on the ground. If you belong to an uber-efficient organisation with a two-year roadmap to improve survey ratings all drawn up, here are two common system traps that you should take note of:

» Seeking the wrong goal.

It is often assumed that high staff agreement ratings imply high staff engagement and would hence lead to increased organisational effectiveness. Measurements of staff engagement are typically based on management-determined indicators. Be sure that the indicators reflect the real desired state. Your interventions may effectively produce what you set out to do – but towards a wrong goal, a wrong indicator.

» Today’s problems come from yesterday’s “solutions”.

Be careful of putting in place symptom-relieving policies or practices that do not address root causes. Think long-term reformation rather than short-term relief.

Go beyond conducting organisational surveys. Take follow-up actions but be aware of delay impacts on organisational effectiveness. More importantly, watch out for “system traps” when implementing follow-up actions.