{"id":311,"date":"2018-03-02T06:33:14","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T06:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grosum.com\/topTalk\/?p=311"},"modified":"2018-07-11T08:36:55","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T08:36:55","slug":"henry-stewart-employee-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grosum.com\/topTalk\/henry-stewart-employee-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Henry Stewart, Founder and Chief Happiness Officer, Happy Ltd."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Employee<\/a>Henry Stewart<\/strong> is the Founder<\/strong> and Chief Happiness Officer<\/strong> of London-based learning business Happy<\/strong>. The company was rated one of the top 20 workplaces in the UK<\/strong> for 5 successive years and now helps other organizations create happy workplaces. Henry himself was included in the Guru Radar section of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential business thinkers in the world<\/strong>.\u00a0 “He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business”, explained list compiler Stuart Crainer. His book, The Happy Manifesto<\/strong>, was published by Kogan Page in 2013 and was shortlisted for the Management Book of the Year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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What does employee engagement mean to you?<\/h2>\n

I don\u2019t tend to use the term employee engagement. I want to see people more than engaged. I want cultures where they are happy and fulfilled, and finding real joy in their work. So the term doesn\u2019t go far enough for me.<\/p>\n

Because it’s not about improving your communications or agreeing with a new set of values to put on the wall and forget about. It’s about creating an organization which fundamentally trusts its people and give them the freedom, the resources and ability to do a truly great job.<\/p>\n

How to measure employee engagement?<\/h2>\n

As I say, I\u2019d measure happiness, fulfillment and joy. You can get a sense of that when you simply walk into an organization, and from how at ease and supportive people are. But its always a good idea to have regular surveys to assess how people feel. There are the classic G12 Gallup questions. But we ask about happy they feel at work if they find joy there, and if they feel trusted and if they feel a) their manager and b) the organization has their best interests at heart.<\/p>\n

What are the common causes of employee disengagement?<\/h2>\n

What people don\u2019t like are managers who micro-manage and tell you what to do, not seeing how what you do makes a contribution and blame cultures.<\/p>\n

What people like is being able to do something they are good at, having the trust and freedom to do it well, having a manager who coaches rather than tells, knowing how they make a contribution and a no-blame culture. Simple!<\/p>\n

What are the drivers of employee engagement in today\u2019s\u00a0fast-moving\u00a0world?<\/h2>\n

If you want your organization to respond quickly and flexibly, you need as few restrictive policies and procedures and as much trust as possible. You need people who know they make a difference and know they are able to act, to help a colleague or support a customer \u2013 without having to get approval for it.<\/p>\n

What makes a really effective employee engagement\u00a0programme? Any best practices to share.<\/h2>\n

The most effective programme is one that changes the fundamental structure of how an organization works and how it operates. This needs to include:<\/p>\n