The successful employee engagement program (EEP) needs to treat targets like sales and marketing departments with specific and measurable goals that are communicated easily and publicly for company-team member alignment and then follow up using 3 core engagement factors:
- Identification- Identify your "A" players
- Recognition- Recognize them for a job well done
- Reinforcement- Reinforce "A" player behavior
The success of your EEP relies strictly on the structure of your program, the technology used to implement the pillars and the managerial execution of these 3 core factors.
Identification
The core of any EEP is based on the ability to track and measure the work and progress of an individual employee. Regardless of the time, money or initiatives spent on your program if you cannot quickly and easily identify the results you are in jeopardy of wasting time and money. Your EEP should have a leader board, dashboard, and reports that lets both the employer and the employee know who’s doing well.
Recognition
The goal is to recognize your employees for a job well done frequently, promptly and publicly, which we all know is easier said than done. As franchisees, we are busy running our businesses, we see reports on same store sales, food costs, labor costs and other business metrics. However, the report doesn't show all the great things that are happening in our stores every day. We don't see Joani's excellent customer service, or Scott's attention to detail, or Sara's great speed or service. CrewHu allows managers and employees to recognize each other for a job well done that would normally go unnoticed through a badge-based system. Helping us fulfill our employee's need to be appreciated.
Reinforcement
As a franchise owner your goal is to drive business results such as: sales, customer retention,cost-reduction and ultimately ROI. The productivity of your staff is key in driving these results. While positive employee behaviors are favorable to increasing sales, negative behavior could upset a loyal customer, create a bad reputation and decrease traffic. Therefore, reinforcing positive behavior publicly and promptly is essential to driving positive business results. Using a social media style newsfeed lets your crew interact with each other, share ideas and recognize each other publicly for a job well done reinforcing great behavior and establishing a supportive culture.
Ultimately, the creation of an EEP that drives REAL results is a big task with many moving parts. The use of technology like CrewHu's cloud based employee engagement and recognition software gives small businesses the tools normally reserved for large businesses to engage their employees and increase sales. You will see results in just a few short weeks.
