HROTodayGlobal

Learning effect." This implies that your work-related emotions spill over into other areas of your life. It's easy to understand, even if you don't have a dog. Similar to the spillover effect is the crossover effect. That's what it's called when one person's emotions or attitudes "crossover" and affect another person. It's not something most of us think about and is probably harder to believe. It means, after all, that you have a bad day at work, come home, and your spouse kicks the dog. Our feelings about work—whether good or bad—impact our health, relationships, and even children. Consider the following: • A New York University study shows that dissatisfied workers have less sex in their marriage. • A Queens University study of 189 fathers showed that children of dissatisfied workers are more likely to misbehave in school. • The British Medical Journal reports that dissatisfied workers weigh, on average, five pounds more than satisfied workers. • Researchers in Sweden found that dissatisfied workers are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or other cardiovascular event. Yes, having a bad boss can apparently kill you. Engagement Drives Growth and Profits The engagement crisis is not just negatively affecting workers, it's hurting companies, too. Engaged employees provide better service, are more productive, and stay in their jobs longer. All this leads to happier customers, which drives growth and profits and ultimately shareholder value. over year, while disengaged companies lose one-third of their operating income. So how can we combat the engagement crisis? How do we roll back this growing epidemic that is hurting companies and families alike? The recommendations that follow are drawn from Kenexa surveys of more than 10 million workers a year, and are based on my and my co-author's own experiences as serial entrepreneurs. While many variables, of course, can drive engagement, and every organisation is unique, in general it comes down to three things. People want recognition, they want to have trust and confidence in their leaders, and they want growth. Recognition isn't about annual award dinners and plaques, but rather feeling appreciated on an ongoing basis. You should give "thank yous" liberally and frequently, as long as they're legitimately deserved. Say thank you with specifics; mention the accomplishment or activity you are specifically praising, and how that behavior ties to your company's goals, values, or standards. Remember that the value of the thank you is often tied to the amount of time taken to deliver it—a handwritten note is more valued than an e-mail, a gift more valued than a note, a party more valued than a gift. It's the effort that counts. The foundation for all engagement building is trust and confidence. The basic ingredient is, of course, being honest and ethical, and unfortunately, we still have too many incidents of Enron, Madoff, and other blatant offenses. But beyond feeling that our leaders are fundamentally honest, we also need to trust that our leaders are capable of guiding us safely to our destination. In other words, we need a sense of confidence in the future. This can best be achieved by overcommunicating your company's mission and strategic plan, and ensuring that each person knows how she fits into the big picture. It comes down to knowing where we're going, and that there is a map that will lead us there. In fact, a study performed by the Kenexa Research Institute showed a five-fold difference in total shareholder value over five years between the companies with the most and least engaged workforces. Towers Watson research has shown that the most engaged companies increase operating income 19 percent year When we talk about growth and development, we're talking about how satisfied employees are with progress towards their career objectives and about their access to learning and developmental opportunities within the organisation. Let's look at growth in more detail. Growth and Learning for Engagement Kenexa research shows the strong link between perceptions of growth and engagement and retention. This is an important concept to think about, because when employees are satisfied with their development, they are more likely to have higher loyalty, motivation, commitment, and overall satisfaction—and all that adds to improved performance. In fact, half of all workers who feel that their skills are stagnating indicate that they will leave their employer within one to two years. Many think growth and development simply means more "training." In fact, this belief is at the root of many worker-employer conflicts on this issue. Senior management might look at all the time and money [42] HRO TODAY GLOBAL | SUMMER 2011

• Cover