Employee engagement can work, but it takes a new way of understanding people ... it takes understanding people’s different perspectives.
Katana Partners applies proven brand marketing research approaches and analytical rigor to increasing the engagement of a company’s most significant asset … its employees. Katana Partners works to strengthen a company’s business performance and build higher levels of engagement and support among the workforce. See how:
Five attitude segments were identified in the company’s unique workforce profile. The company discovered a sizable percentage of uncommitted and negative employees. Recognizing that disengaged employees are generally less productive, less quality and customer centric, and poorer performers than their highly engaged co-workers, the company focused on improving the attitudes.
Segment specific issues most responsible for driving negative attitudes among the uncommitted and negative employees were identified. By segmenting the workforce, the company was able to understand what units within the plant presented the greatest risk. Critical issues were inconsistent treatment by managers, particularly relating to performance, and management effectiveness. Segmentation further identified leadership vulnerability within the plant which proved useful in developing a specific engagement strategy.
A targeted engagement plan was developed to address the issues driving negative attitudes and increase the numbers of employees in the most supportive segments. A cornerstone of the plan was upgrading the quality of the management team and driving consistency in leadership actions, particularly performance management.
Approximately six months into the plan, economic conditions worsened and a performancebased layoff of more than 10% of the plant employees was required. The company continued to address employee issues of concern and improve plant leadership. Within three months of the layoff, the workforce, even though reduced, had measurably improved production continuity, quality and customer service delivery timelines. Morale among managers and employees had also increased.