Employee Engagement Activities

I've blogged several times to make the case – because I don't think it can be stressed enough – that using people practices that may seem "squishy," with the goal of producing more highly engaged employees, is in fact a productive long-term business strategy. Here's one recent example of this.

InnovationTools is one of the most recent resources to underscore this case. This quick read on the site by strategy expert Roy Luebke argues that something as simple as management's persistent effort to show their supervisees respect (one of our six building blocks for creating a Winning Workplace) can improve a company's innovation. Greater innovation, of course, fuels customer satisfaction and growth, leading to higher revenues and profitability.

The small organizations that just finished applying for our 2010 Top Small Company Workplace award bear out this case in the real world. Of the record-setting 496 firms that completed an application this year,

450, or 91%, were profitable in 2009
They had average 2009 revenues of $28.3 million
They grew revenues 12% over 2008 – in a very tough economy!

How do these impressive business results tie back to respectful employee engagement? When I review these applicants' answers to our qualitative questions that run the gamut from unique workplace culture practices to employee leadership development strategies, the word "respect" came up 331 times. That averages out to two-thirds of a reference per company.

So it's obvious that creating a culture of respect is top of mind for these firms, and they actively design their trust building activities to support the attainment of key organizational goals.

What are your thoughts on the relationship between respect in the workplace and achieving desired bottom-line outcomes?