Richard Harbridge

Don't just focus on the outcome! Often, organizations fall short by limiting recognition to the outcome, overlooking the innovation process itself. The integration of continuous, bidirectional feedback mechanisms that acknowledge and inspire contributions matters. You are working to create a culture where feedback loops catalyze innovative behavior. So prioritize mechanisms that celebrate experimentation and learning from failure. This includes implementing recognition systems that value attempts at innovation—regardless of their immediate success.

Most of the time employee engagement and performance are tightly connected but innovation is often not as closely aligned or integrated into the strategy. Traditional performance evaluations often miss capturing the creative process, focusing solely on end results. To bridge this gap, organizations should prioritize understanding how employees work with one another and how they share ideas/innovate. For example, organizations can track the number of initiatives proposed, the diversity of ideas contributed, or the successful adoption of these ideas back down to employees engaged and involved. These metrics not only measure but also encourage the creative process, aligning it with engagement and performance.

Do's: Share the Process: Openly share how decisions are made regarding engagement initiatives, including the criteria and data used. Communicate Regularly: Provide consistent updates about the status, including both successes and areas for improvement and how it led to action Don'ts: Don't Withhold Challenges: Avoid hiding difficulties or failures in engagement efforts. Don't Over-Promise: Avoid making commitments on engagement initiatives that cannot be realistically achieved or measured. Don't Ignore Concerns: Never overlook or dismiss employee concerns. Don't Create a Facade: Avoid the trap of performing transparency without meaningful action.

Tieing this to real business impact is very helpful. People will believe leaders care genuinely about things like employee experience if there is a clear connection they champion around growth in the business, sustainability, competitive advantage or more from better employee engagement. On the other side of that I think often overlooked is the impact of micro-actions by leaders on organizational culture. For instance, a leader who openly shares their own challenges and learning moments sets a powerful precedent for transparency and continuous improvement. Prioritizing visibility in these actions is crucial. It's not just about the values behind closed doors but making these visible and acknowledged across all levels of the organization.

The essence of overcoming skepticism in Employee Engagement lies not just in involving stakeholders but in genuinely integrating their voices into the engagement strategy. A common oversight is treating stakeholder involvement as a procedural step rather than a cornerstone of engagement. To truly bridge this gap, organizations must prioritize creating mechanisms for continuous, open dialogue that compliments traditional surveys or occasional meetings. Encouraging real-time, transparent communication where employees can see their feedback lead to actionable change is critical.

While sharing evidence is pivotal in overcoming skepticism about Employee Engagement there is an important differentiation between qualitative and quantitative data's persuasive power. The common mistake lies in over-reliance on metrics and benchmarks, which, though crucial, may not fully capture the emotional and psychological facets of engagement. To bridge this gap, incorporating narrative-driven data—such as employee testimonials and qualitative feedback—into the evidence pool is key. These narratives should complement quantitative data, providing a holistic view of engagement's impact. I love quantitative data and for some people it's key, but relatability matters (not just on productivity metrics but things like quality metrics).