Kim Wolf Leadership Coaching and Consulting

  In my latest blog series, we have been discussing employee engagement – what it isn’t, what tools to use, and how to sustain a culture rich with employee empowerment.   Today, in Part 6, we are going to discuss how companies can maintain a high level of employee engagement in the virtual world that most of us are bridging, just by using one simple tool.   Some of my clients are just not able to have employees work from home, but may have customers or suppliers who they are communicating with virtually.   Some companies have gone 100% virtual, and, in fact, have shuttered their doors and everyone is working from home.   Most companies that I work with have implemented a model that incorporates both of these.   In any case, knowing how to communicate effectively, engage your employees, and continue to prioritize employee engagement, in this world where the team may be scattered is challenging, to say the least. The biggest tip that I can share with companies is to do a “check in” wit

 Please join me in my most recent post in our employment engagement series, "What does employee engagement mean to your company?  Part 5" We will be finishing our blog series about employee engagement on Part 6, where I will discuss how to best sustain employee engagement in your company culture. Kim Wolf Leadership Coaching and Manufacturing Consulting

 In previous blogs in this series, "What does employee engagement mean to your company?" we have discussed what employee engagement is not, using some typical examples that companies often cite as examples of involving employees.  We also talked about two tools that companies can use to effectively implement an extensive and sustainable employee engagement program, developing a compelling business need with clear objectives and goals and giving employees time to be a part of initiatives.  Today, in Part 4, we will discuss another tool that is integral to the success of employees' efforts - team development.   How can we develop self-motivated work teams that include high-participation and high-involvement?  Our role as leaders is to provide the support and the training to our teams in order that they can, ultimately, function as self-directed, with a high degree of autonomy.  The values that this type of environment provide are extensive, including: making work more i

  In the previous blogs of this series, we discussed what employee engagement is not.   I shared two examples of what activities some companies may say is employee engagement, a typical Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) or a social committee.  In Part 2 of this series, we began to discuss some tools that companies can use as part of their employee engagement strategy, starting with identifying a compelling business need, with clear objectives and goals . In Part 3, we are going to discuss another tool to drive empowerment - how a team, a JHSC for example, can truly integrate employee involvement, interaction, and accountability.  We will focus this part of the series on giving employees the time that is needed to be successful on project or process implementation, continuous improvement efforts, or safety results. How much time do the team members at your business actually spend on team activities?  Is it the hour each month for the meeting?  To really be involved, it needs to

  In the introductory blog for this series, I asked the question about how your company might look at employee engagement, perhaps citing a safety team or a social committee as good examples.  I hope that you have been able to think about how your business believes they are implementing employee engagement and how effective it really is. Today we are going to explore some of the strategies that you can use in your engagement plan to ensure that your team is being effectively involved in the business and that it is sustainable over time. One of the first things that I do when I am focusing on involving the entire employee team is to find a compelling need to get everyone involved.  If you believe that you can just wave a magic wand and proclaim "You are now empowered.  Go forth and make things happen." then I guarantee that you will not be successful.  If, however, you are able to clearly communicate what the company's goals are, where the company is going, and the expect

I have so many companies who contact me about wanting to improve their employee engagement in their facilities, believing that they are already well on their way.  When I begin to ask questions about what they may already be doing, I often get examples like "We have a Joint Health and Safety Committee" or "We have an employee social committee."  Although having those teams is better than having nothing, that is really not true employee engagement.   First of all, the JHSC is a requirement, not an option.  Secondly, many JHSCs function very basically, with the HR Manager or Safety Manager leading the meetings and assigning many of the tasks to themselves or to supervisors.  Employees on those committees show up once a month for a meeting, often without a pen or paper, listen for an hour, then leave the room, not having to think about safety or the team until next month's meeting.  There is little accountability for the team members. Although social committees are