The power of small ...

The former CEO of SAS once said "You cannot improve something by 1000% but you can improve a 1000 things by 1%". 1% doesn't look that exhilarating. Most websites/blogs/consultants or coaches will entice you with breakthrough improvement. They promise to bring you from where you are today straight to best-in-class ... The promises are convincing.

But let's take another look at these small 1% improvements. I came across this visual on Linkedin some time ago. Don't know if this is copyrighted in any way, and if it is, credits go to the author ! 1% a day, for one year. Doesn't sound impossible, but also doesn't sound as much of an improvement at first sight. Until you realize that doing this every single day adds up to a pretty huge difference after one year. Just as huge a difference as 1% decline every day adds up to after 365 days.

And I would add that 1.00(365) = 1 ... The biggest challenge for many is that they are stuck in their current mode.They think/talk or find excuses about the changes and challenges around them ... and as times goes by, nothing gets done.

So a gentle reminder that 1% is not that small after all, if only you can keep it up !

Keeping employee engagement simple !

Employee engagement is probably one of the greatest buzz words of the last few years. Consultants make great money with measuring and evaluating employee engagement, and often show leaders how terribly low the engagement of their employees is. And after having shamed these leaders, they then feel obliged to hire the aforementioned consultant to hopefully turn those disastrous numbers into something more presentable. Often, a multi-year "engagement project" is started ... with great costs.

So it is refreshing to once in a while come back to earth and see how simple engaging employees can be ! I had the chance to work with teams at a service firm in Bangkok a few times. Each time I discovered different knowledge sharing sessions being offered to employees, designed and delivered by peers and colleagues. Not by the training department or the HR function, but by the seniors in the different departments.

It is a great step forward if an organization can instill a mindset of sharing knowledge as opposed to hoarding it. Knowledge is the only thing that multiplies when shared amongst others. Yet in reality, people are often incentivized to sit on their knowledge for their own performance measures. Through this kind of sharing sessions, the company instills pride and empowerment when it gives the opportunity for employees to develop and deliver these sharing sessions.

Just think how different this kind of sharing sessions are received by the employees compared to the traditional email from HR about the list of training programs to sign up for ?

Employee engagement is a long term effort, for sure. But it doesn't need to be complicated. When you are embarking on an engagement effort, start by looking at and asking your ... employees !