Engagement and Motivation in 2013:

How and why managers will be the key to performance

ContentsIntroduction 3

Why managers matter 4

Partnering to engage 6

Providing the right support 8

Getting the tactics right 10

Opening up the loop 12

Conclusion 14

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Every organisation big and small faces similar challenges in delivering and sustaining performance in 2013. Reward and recognition should play a role but focussing on employee engagement is critical.

As we head into this New Year, the superstitious may want to look away. Long gone now is the auspicious 2012 which, thanks to the Olympics and Paralympics, reminded us just how we can be when we work together and get behind a common goal.

Instead, the next year, ending with an unlucky ‘13’, looks like another uphill struggle for those of us in business, as all the signs show we are unlikely to be blessed with an immediate improvement to the commercial and economic environment which has jinxed us since 2008.

But, if there is one thing we learnt from the sporting achievements of 2012 it is that great performance doesn’t just come down to luck. The truth is you can ensure you have the best chance of coming out on top by getting the way you manage your people right in the first place.

With this in mind, it is time for organisations who want to succeed in the coming year to redouble their focus on the environment they create for their people.

So what should those organisations interested be thinking about? On the surface the answers are deceptively simple.

The starting point is the non-negotiable in successful performance: employee engagement. We need to make sure managers and people who keep our customers happy are committed to what we are trying to achieve. After that we need to sustain that engagement and motivation and then we need to ensure we focus on monitoring the extent to which we are succeeding as a result.

But achieving all this is slightly less straightforward. Of course, the quality of the reward proposition we develop and deliver to our employees will have an impact on the extent to which we can encourage the right behaviours. But this is only part of the answer.

Organisations can’t just rely on central schemes and plans to deliver engaged and motivated employees. What employees really want is personal recognition and a human touch. Here it is not the size of the salary or reward budget that dictates success but the role of the manager that matters.

This thinking is at the heart of this whitepaper.

Over the next few pages we will examine the role of the manager and what we think people in HR, reward and benefits should be doing to make sure managers in their organisations are their partners in delivering performance.

“What employees really want is personal recognition and a human touch”

Introduction

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The people closest to the front line are the ones we have to trust to transform performance through improving motivation and engagement.

One of the items at the top of the wish list for most organisations, big or small, is the desire to improve motivation, engagement and performance. Here, among all the innovative schemes we develop and tactics we deploy to achieve this, is one key part of the motivation mix that rarely gets the focus it deserves - the role of the manager.

Managers matter immensely in every organisation that is serious about motivation and engagement.

The first area where they make a difference is as the link between strategy and delivery in an organisation. It is only through effective partnership with managers that organisations can effectively execute future plans. Managers - particularly front line managers – are the ones who we must rely on not just to transmit orders but to motivate and inspire our employees.

The second area where managers matter is in communication. People may sit up and listen when senior managers walk the floor and sit with teams in an organisation. But their influence is fleeting and it is the line managers who work with them every day who are the ones who really matter. They are the people who can deliver the messages that matter in a language our employees will listen to. It is all too easy to let emails, leaflets and posters from head office wash over you without taking notice but consistent face-to-face communication from a line manager is harder to ignore.

The third area where managers have influence is around trust. They are the face of the business who know each employee in the team, a bit about each person’s life and what makes them tick. In many organisations, the loyalty and affinity of an employee will be to their line manager rather than the centre or the top of an organisation. They are the ones who notice the achievements and the shortfalls in the team and have the power to reward, promote and personalise the recognition we give our employees.

Of course many organisations understand some if not all of these attributes of managers, which is why they are deployed for cascading messages and team briefings around targets and priorities.

There is, we believe, the opportunity to go much further, to rethink the tools we give to managers to motivate and engage employees and increase their ability to do that job for us. Our job in the coming year has to be to put these managers at the heart of what we do.

“Managers are the face of the business who know each employee in their team and what makes them tick.”

1 Why managers matter

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At a glance - why managers matter

• Managers are the bridge between strategy and execution in our organisations

• They are critical for communicating what needs to be done and motivating employees

• Their knowledge of what makes employees tick and how we can relate reward to individual achievements is highly valuable

• If we want better engagement and performance we need to give managers better tools to work with

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To deliver improved and sustainable levels of performance we need to rethink the way we engage with our managers.

If the managers in our organisations are the people who hold the key to increased motivation then it is our job to create a framework which gives the best chance of that happening.

Here, we think the starting point shouldn’t be the strategy and tactics of reward but seizing the opportunity for those of us in HR, benefits and reward to rethink our approach to providing that support for managers.

At the heart of our thinking is that if we are to get more out of our managers by way of motivation and engagement, then we need to start by getting closer to them. The priority areas we see here are as follows:

• Make it a collaboration. Get out of your office and talk to the people who actually use the tools you give to them to understand the support they need and what the blocks are to motivation and making the most of reward and benefits.

• Take time to understand how they work. Whether your organisation is big or small, the reality of how managers work with their employees is best understood first hand. That way you get an idea about which communications and initiatives are simply disregarded and those that really work. This insight can make your benefits communication work better and link more meaningfully with managers and employees.

• Make it real communication. Communication is a two way process of listening and talking. We often do all the talking and only listen in the form of surveys. Take time to listen to the detail of what managers have to say about what they need and find out why they are saying it to show you are engaged with their needs and priorities.

• Take action. Make a pledge to treat your managers like partners and take action where you need to, explain when you don’t and communicate what you are doing.

This partnering is critical for creating a closer relationship between central corporate functions and managers and creates the foundations for your refreshed strategy, focused on the manager, to work.

“If we are to get more out of our managers by way of motivation and engagement then we need to start by getting closer to them”

2 Partnering to engage

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At a glance – a partnership approach

• Those responsible for motivation and engagement need to get closer to managers as a first step to improving performance

• Listening to managers’ needs will give better insight into the tactics and communications which can work in reward and how you can help them

• A partnership approach will strengthen engagement with any changes you make as well as support future delivery of reward strategy

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For our managers to make a difference to performance we need to give them the right tools to do the job and ensure they understand their role in motivating employees.

The ability of our managers to make a difference to motivation, engagement and performance will depend entirely on the framework we create for them to work with.

A good framework will focus on ensuring managers understand the context and purpose for reward and recognition. That means making the following explicit:

• Behaviours – clarifying every manager’s understanding around the things employees need to do in order to be rewarded. The link between specific behaviours and business targets should be explicit.

• Values – Ensuring behaviour is aligned to the way your organisation wants to do business.

• Expectations – Specifically explaining their role in reward and recognition and why it is important.

Working hard to establish these foundations with managers will ensure there is a thread of steel linking individual performance to business performance and reward for the right behaviours.

If this is to work effectively, we need to work hard to ensure that we bring our ideas around performance, reward and recognition alive in the minds of our managers so they can easily translate our strategic intentions into day-to-day interventions.

Here, if we rely on the usual internal communications channels, there is a real danger of things getting lost in translation. We believe that in order to make a real difference through managers we need to work harder with them to understand their role in driving engagement and motivation. There is no perfect template we can apply to every organisation as managers on the front line can vary in their sophistication but core areas to focus on should cover:

• Insight - ensuring those with management responsibility understand the drivers behind work and motivation and how these impact on reward.

• Training - developing and maintaining management skills which underpin employee performance, especially around the role of giving timely and constructive feedback.

• Clarity – modelling the different types of reward available and explaining how and when they should be given and what the priorities are.

• Control – trusting our managers and giving them the authority to deliver reward and recognition to an agreed budget over an agreed time.

3 Providing the right support

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• Feedback – the opportunity to discuss change, challenge and opportunity in the way reward is delivered based on the needs of the manager.

Although the adoption of a specific training and development programme focused on the role of managers in performance may be desirable, we have to accept that it is unlikely for many organisations to do this. So what is needed from those of us responsible for reward and recognition is to influence current policy, training and development to ensure these areas are prioritised and for us to take a lead with working directly with managers on this agenda.

“We need to help managers translate strategic intentions into day-to-day interventions.”

At a glance – creating a framework for managers

• The starting point is to ensure a strategic link between behaviours, reward and business outcomes.

• We need to give our managers better knowledge to increase their ability to improve motivation and engagement

• This means focusing on training, development and support through partnering if we are to make a difference to our managers

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Formal recognition schemes need to be part of a wider reward mix which are personalised and relevant to our employees.

A critical element in the toolbox for managers is the ability to reward in a way that is right for their employees. While organisation-wide schemes are important in ensuring consistency in reward – as well as the ability to measure inputs and outcomes from our investment – we need to make sure there are more dimensions to reward than this.

From our work with clients we believe there are five areas where we should be helping every manager in order to improve front line motivation and performance throughout an organisation.

1. Praise – it costs nothing but the effort of saying thank you or well done, but praise is a frequently undervalued reward for employees. That isn’t just about hitting targets but recognising the right behaviours, development and team work. A culture of positive feedback should be the first tool managers use in nurturing motivation.

2. Informal recognition – these are the opportunities to buy a colleague lunch, bring in biscuits for the team or leave chocolates on the desk when they have been working hard or going the extra mile. Some managers will spend their own money to say thank you, far better to give managers a small budget for this each year to encourage a culture of informal reward – you can control and monitor this if you use vouchers or preloaded gift cards.

3. Discretionary recognition – for some employees the best reward is extra flexibility whether this is the opportunity to come in late after an intense period of work, rejigging shifts to create a holiday and some time out or simply the opportunity for time off. HR policy is there for a reason but managers should be allowed to show small discretion in these areas to show your organisation appreciates the efforts of your employees.

4. Formal recognition – of course there is also a role for formal recognition schemes which support the organisation in achieving specific objectives, whether this is customer services, sales or identifying cost savings. The key is to make sure that the reward in question is achievable and relevant for the group of employees you want to motivate. For many organisations, breaking down recognition and reward for specific teams will pay dividends in increased performance.

5. Personalisation and timing – cutting across all of these routes for recognition is the need for managers to understand the best context for reward. Where some employees thrive on public recognition, others are embarrassed. The individual circumstances should also dictate the type of reward a manager uses. And of course every manager needs to make the most of catching someone doing something good by delivering timely reward.

4 Getting the tactics right

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One area which also needs to be addressed in reward and recognition is a mechanism for dealing with unmotivated employees. These are the wreckers who can disrupt teams and stop others from engaging with the efforts of managers. Here, again, we need to work with our colleagues to influence HR policy and clarify to managers the route available to them and the actions to take where this is an issue.

“Reward needs to be multi-dimensional if it is to be effective”

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At a glance – getting reward tactics right

• Organisations need to give managers the right tools to motivate their teams

• This should include a mix of formal, informal and discretionary reward

• Personalisation and timing of reward are critical in motivating and engaging employees

• We should also take steps to deal with demotivated employees.

Opening lines of communication with our managers, listening and acting on our feedback will allow us to ensure there is an ongoing dialogue and importance attached to reward.

Perhaps one of the most powerful ideas for putting managers at the heart of reward is for those of us responsible for developing the strategy and proposition to act as a business partner for managers rather than a distant support function which dictates what they should do.

Adopting a partnership approach and listening to managers, as outlined earlier in this whitepaper, is the first step towards this. However, this is just a start and there are other behaviours we need to adopt if we are to champion the role of managers.

The first of these is to act as a partner in communication and for us to really own the delivery of messages about performance and reward to teams across the business. Of course we can’t be everywhere at the same time, but working directly with groups of managers, providing informal support and helping managers with employee communication, are all areas we can support.

The second area we need to consider is maintaining a dialogue with managers, making it clear we are open to feedback, challenge and discussion. Often it is in the course of these conversations we can really strengthen and support the managers’ understanding of their role. This also allows us to act as a return channel of communications which identifies problems and issues with motivation and performance way before they appear in formal employee surveys or at review time.

The third area is around sharing results. It is the lot of managers in many organisations to tow the corporate line and follow initiatives with little sense of how their contribution has made a difference. We need to make a point of sharing the success – and equally areas to improve – of the reward and benefits initiatives we put in place and deliver through our managers. Part of that also needs to involve giving them the freedom to explain why they think engagement and motivation is working and come up with ideas for change.

By taking this opportunity we can ensure reward and recognition are seen as key drivers of business performance and that we play a more significant role in shaping the policy and activities our organisations deliver to support that performance in the future.

“Reward needs to be multi-dimensional if it is to be effective”

5 Opening up the loop

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At a glance – the importance of communication

• Once we have established a framework for reward we need to keep managers engaged

• We need to play a listening role, accepting challenge and working to identify what is working well and what needs changing

• We need to show our managers what their role has been in improving performance by sharing the results of their work

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Conclusion This whitepaper deals with many practical steps organisations can take to improve engagement and performance by working more closely with managers. At the heart of its thinking is the idea that we need to do more with what we already have in our organisations.

So in an environment where we have fewer resources to focus on the flood of new tactical ideas and initiatives which seem to suck up time and energy, we are presented with the perfect opportunity to focus on what really matters: the employees who service our customers and the managers who support them. If we do this well, performance and success will follow.

About Edenred

Edenred is a leading provider of reward and benefits which supports employee performance. We design and deliver solutions which make employees’ lives easier.

Our products and solutions include: Employee Benefits: Luncheon Vouchers®, Childcare Vouchers®, Cycle to Work, Flexible Benefits, Employee Savings, Total Reward Statements, MyWorkOffers®

Expense Management: Premium Card, Eyecare Vouchers®, Clean Way® Vouchers

Incentives, Rewards & Motivation: Compliments Select, Compliments® Card, Compliments® Experiences, Incentive Award Card, Capital Bonds®, Single Store Vouchers, Travel Clubs, Webcentiv®

Communication Services: A comprehensive range of solutions to help organisations engage and motivate their staff

To find out more call us on 0843 453 0053 or email sales@edenred.co.uk

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