A Closer Look @

Employee Engagement

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the [people] to

go to the forest to gather wood, saw it, and nail planks
together. Instead, teach them the desire for the sea.

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 Some Frightening Possibilities!

American businesses are operating @ only 1/3 of their capacity

What if:
• Banks opened only 1/3 of their branches each day?

• Manufacturing companies operated only a 1/3 of their machines

at capacity each day?

• What if customer service call center took only 1/3 of all calls
received daily?

What opportunities are these businesses losing?

What is the potential impact to their future growth?

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 Some Startling Statistics*
Of the 11,000 employees surveyed:
• Only 15% could identify their company’s most important goals
• 51% were unsure of how they were expected to help the
company achieve its goals
Other findings:
• Only 49% of all available work time is dedicated to a
company’s most important goals
• 53% of American workers are unhappy in their jobs

• 29% are engaged

• 55% are not engaged
• 16% are actively disengaged
* Findings taken from:Gallup & Harris Polls
Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.
Tallahassee, FL
 Significant Loss

If you have 100 employees with an average salary including

benefits of $35,000, with 71% not delivering a full hours worth
of work for a full hour of pay you are losing.

$3,500,000 x 71% = $2,485,000 of lost productivity just in

wages alone not to mention how their behaviors have affected
other internal and external customers.

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 Defining Engagement

Engagement happens when employees:

• Think (head)
• Feel (heart)
• Act (hands)
in positive ways toward their jobs, their
work, and their companies

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 Who Are These Guys?

• The Engaged Employee

• The Disengaged Employee

• The Disengaged Manager

• The Actively Disengaged Employee

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 Engaged Managers &
Employees
Represent 29% of the workforce

Engaged Employees:

• Believe in the company

• Sincerely want to make things better
• Clearly understand the business and how their work fits into the
corporate “big picture”
• Are respectful of, and helpful to team members and others
• Find opportunities to stay current with developments in their
fields of expertise
• Are willing to go the extra mile

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 Disengaged Employees
Represent 55% of the workforce

They are not:

• Risk takers

• Commitment to the company

• Connected to the company or their supervisors

• Enthusiastic—they lack a sense of achievement in their work

• Focused on the results they’ll achieve—instead they focus on the

individual tasks associated with just doing the job
• Trying to advance in their roles, rather they are doing just enough to
keep their jobs

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 Disengaged Managers
Fully 20% of managers fall into the disengaged category

They:

• Have high focus but low levels of energy

• Are exhausted and lack the inner resources to reenergize themselves

• Are unable to commit to tasks that hold little meaning to them

• Have strong reservations about the jobs they are asked to do and as a result approach

them halfheartedly

• “Defensive avoidance” a form of denial

• Are extremely tense….they are often plagued by feelings of anxiety, uncertainty,

anger, frustration and alienation

• Suffer from burnout and easily over-whelmed by unexpected events

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc. Beware the Busy Manager,

Harvard Business Review, February, 2002
Tallahassee, FL
 Actively Disengaged Employees

Represent 16% of the workforce

They:
• Are unhappy at work and act out their unhappiness

• Thrive on being part of the problem

• Find it almost impossible to become part of a solution

• Spread discontent

• Consistently fall short of meeting performance expectations

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 The Secret Sauce of Engagement

A (S + K) G + PBC = IR
v
b
Key:
• A = Attitude
• S = Skill
• K = Knowledge
• G = Goals
• PBC = Positive Behavior Change
• IR = Improved Results
• V = Values
• B = Beliefs

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 Benefits of Building an
Engaged Workforce
Employees will be more:

• Effective in their work

• Willing to change in all circumstances and less resistant

when change happens

• Innovative and will generate more good ideas
• Likely to influence others
• Energized and enthusiastic
• Satisfied with their work and less stressed
• Productive
Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.
Tallahassee, FL
 Employee Engagement
Survey
Sample Results

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 S=54 = Positive direction = Slipping = Dysfunctional
Average
Strongly
Agree Agree Neutral Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
5 4 3 2 1

• I know what is expected of me at work. 4.1 15 31 5 2 1

• I have the materials, equipment and information I need to do my work. 3.2 9 16 8 18 3

• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day. 3.3 9 15 18 7 5

• In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work. 2.3 3 6 10 19 16

• My supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person. 3.1 2 21 19 5 7

• There is someone at work who encourages my development. 2.8 3 14 21 10 6

• The mission of my company makes me feel like my work is important. 3.4 6 20 19 6 3

• My co-workers are committed to doing quality work. 3.6 8 25 13 6 2

• I have a best friend at work. 3.1 8 14 16 8 8

• In the last six months, I have talked with someone about my progress. 2.9 8 10 14 15 7

• At work, I have had opportunities to learn and grow. 3.3 8 20 13 7 6

• At work, my opinions count. 2.7 3 11 18 13 9

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL
 What Would Engage Your Head,
Heart & Hands @ Work?

Look at work Generate more Develop new

differently excitement skills
about work and
capabilities

Ferris Consulting Group, Inc.

Tallahassee, FL