Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Employee Engagement Means More Financial Success

Hello from Chicago! I will be presenting and Rippling the Women's Franchise Network tonight. Should be a really fun group and I it sounds like they are expecting a record setting attendance. How cool is that? Wish me luck!

So anyway......

Chief Learning Officer Magazine wrote an interesting article about employee engagement and the very direct impact it has on a company's financial success and employee retention. The article reveals some of the truly interesting findings of the Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study. One nugget that specifically caught my attention stated that "The study found that companies with the highest levels of employee engagement achieve better financial results and are more successful in retaining their most valued employees than companies with lower levels of engagement."

Hmm....didn't I say something very similar in some earlier BLOG posts this year on team engagement and connectiveness (this is a Steveism if you are wondering)?

I speak about employee engagement on a regular basis and how having a proactive plan for connecting people within an organization is an executive's secret weapon of success. Engaged employees are far more likely to feel ownership to their roles and responsibilities within the company and that translates into positive Ripples throughout the organization; innovation, creativity, better communication, and yes more contributory attitudes to forwarding the jointly held financial football are just a few.

Recently I spoke with an executive from a Fortune 100 company who before attending a Ripple couldn't just didn't see the power of helping people engage and connect, at least not within his company. Following my presentation and after putting him through an actual 8 Minute Ripple with executives from different companies, he came up to me and said with a big smile that he "got it." The light bulb was actually visibly shinning brightly about his head as we spoke. He now understood just how much we really think we actually connect but that in society and in our own trenches we really don't have a clue. The Ripple philosophy and process made it safe and fun for him to step outside of his box to discover that connecting wasn't difficult or hard, it just needed to be done differently.

Regular readers of my BLOG know that I am passionate about what the Ripple can do for individuals and companies alike. The Towers Perrin study only further supports my need to grow my business and bring more Ripples to corporate teams, departments, partnerships and alliances. It validates my gut instinct as to why so many companies so desperately need a rallying cry that resonates throughout their organizations. The Ripple certainly makes a good rallying cry in my humble opinion.

To read more about the study please click here.

To learn more about what a Ripple-centric program might mean to your organization, please feel free to email me at steve@ripplecentral.com or call me at 512.577.3700.

No matter what you do, if you are in an leadership capacity for your company, do something...anything to get and keep your people engaged. The value so far outweighs the effort. I think the Towers Perrin researchers would agree.

Ripple On!!!

Steve

4 comments:

jag said...

Safe travels to you, Steve! I'll be arriving in Philadelphia next Thursday... Missed you by THAT much! :-)

Pace e bene,
JAG

Tom Magness said...

Steve -- I'm looking forward to hearing how your event went last night. I'm sure you hit one out of the park! Thanks for what you do. Hooah!
TM

Steve Harper said...

Jag,

Dang! Sorry to have missed you. Philadelphia was amazing and Chicago was incredible as well. But have to say...was nice to get out of the cold!

Have a safe trip my friend.

Steve

Steve Harper said...

Tom,

Thanks my friend. Both events went really, really well and I have been fielding lots of emails and inquires about how people can bring the Ripple back to their teams and communities. It looks like these past few weeks have really started my 2008 ball rolling in the right direction.

Let's plan another chat soon my friend.

Ripple On!!!

S