Keeping employees engaged and happy is one of the biggest challenges employers face. Now that the new standard workplace is a hybrid/remote working model, it is near impossible. Without understanding why employee engagement is important many organizations will continue to struggle. So what is employee engagement? Well, in a formal definition, employee engagement is the level of enthusiasm and dedication an employee feels toward his or her job. There is a ton of information on how companies can improve their employee engagement. Some advice can be viable and some can be very organization-specific, and some can be for the person that is still taking their horse and buggy to work. Either way companies need to take it upon themselves to define their version of employee engagement and truly understand how to implement it.
We had a chance to sit down with Jessie Zweigenthal, the Director of Employee Engagement at Jahnel Group. Jessie was Jahnel Group’s first employee and has gotten to not only see, but also be a huge part of how the team has transformed the lives of the now 130 employees on the team. As Director of Employee Engagement, Jessie’s main focus is to care for Jahnel Group’s people and protect what is great for the organization by intentionally maturing the culture as the organization grows. Jessie gave us some insight into how Jahnel Group’s employee engagement has been so successful and helped them become one of the Capital District’s best places to work for five years running.
Building the Lives Of Peoples’ Dreams
To provide some background, throughout Jessie’s time at Jahnel Group, she transitioned from a UI/UX Designer, to a Project Manager, and eventually found her true calling as the Director of Employee Engagement. Jessie mentioned that she is getting a chance to live out what the Jahnel Group leadership team tries to enable on a daily basis, helping build the lives of their employees' dreams. Jahnel Group allowed Jessie to convert from a full-time biller on the team to a non-billable role in which she solely focuses on employee engagement. This speaks volumes to the team and how much they value each employee. Jessie now gets to play a big part in helping other team members assess dreams of their own and turn them into a reality. She mentioned how most recently she was approached by a new member of the team who explained that they felt so grateful to work for an organization that truly cares about their team members.
Cue to the person reading this blog with sweat dripping from their head.... Just to be clear, this blog is not meant to push businesses to change their mission or enact a complete overhaul of their culture. It is meant to show the level of effort that teams are taking to ensure employees are engaged and feel comfortable in their workplace. Every company is different, therefore there is no secret guide that groups can follow. It is up to the leadership team to put the time and effort in to create an environment that they feel is right for their organization.
Create Meaningful Core Values And Live By Them
When describing her role, Jahnel Group’s leaders, and the team’s philosophy on client engagement, Jessie kept using the word “serve.” Could you tell it is one of Jahnel Group's core values? The team constantly preaches that they believe that everyone wins when they serve one another. That means serving their employees, clients, and even other software developers who are not a part of the JG team. It is so apparent that Jahnel Group stays true to their core values when talking to team members.
Team’s should put a focus on setting company values that mean something, are easily understood, and the organization can get behind. These values need to be communicated throughout the entire company and leaders should be able to exemplify them on a daily basis. These values will become the guiding principles that can shape the way your organization functions, both internally and externally.
Company values play such an important role in the culture at any organization. They’re the reason your company does what it does. A great set of company values are easy for team members to get behind, boosting alignment throughout the business. Inconsistent or uninspiring values, on the other hand, can serve as a major roadblock to aligning employees and organizational culture.
Let The Employee Choose Their Own Adventure
Picture this, you are about to select where you will go on vacation, would you rather have someone choose your destination for you, or would you prefer to choose the destination of your dreams... I don’t know about you, but I am headed to Fiji! Now it sounds ridiculous, but this is the same way culture works. Jessie mentions that there are a lot of leaders/organizations out there who think they know what is best for their employees. This is not the right approach. As an organization grows, they will need to adjust and allow team members to have the option to buy into different levels of culture. Jessie referred to Jahnel Group’s philosophy as a “choose your own culture adventure” where the employee decides how much culture they want to buy into. Jessie said that she tries to serve as a guide for Jahnel Group’s employees. Through asking great questions and giving them the space to consider what they want out of their lives, the employee gets to make the decision with guidance if they want it.
First things first, organizations' main focus should be to supply a great place to work for their employees. As this foundation is built and the teams create a great culture, they need to ensure that they are allowing team members the chance to decide how involved they want to be.
Get Out Of Their Way
Being that Jahnel Group is a team of software consultants, they always look to recruit great people who are passionate about adding value and solving problems. These employees look to serve the needs of clients. Jessie explains that since these employees are passionate and knowledgeable about the areas they work, there is no need to look over their shoulders. The best thing that Jahnel Group can do as an organization is put the employee in a place where they will succeed and get out of their way. Now, this is not to say the team would not support these resources, it is more so saying trust your employee to accomplish what they were hired to do. Providing this sense of ownership will allow employees to feel satisfied with their contributions.
Flipping The Script On The Employment Partnership
When an organization is hiring someone, they are looking to bring on someone who can help them reach their goals. So many companies constantly think about their best interest and forget that the employee they are onboarding has goals of their own. Jessie dove into Jahnel Group’s process for onboarding new employees and having the mindset that both the company and the employee have their own interests in mind. The unique aspect of Jahnel Group is that they address this with candidates and want to empower them and put them in a place where they can reach their goals both personally and professionally. Jessie mentioned that her Engagement Team’s goal is to help the Jahnel Group employees “build the lives of their dreams.''
Conclusion
Building strong employee engagement is a marathon, not a sprint. To ensure your organization doesn’t tap out along the way, take it one step at a time and start by creating structure and defining your employee engagement goals. Maybe start with creating a strong onboarding program, or annual employee assessment to create more self awareness. Success does not happen overnight, but if you start building the process your organization will feel the difference.
Interested in learning more about how to level-up your team’s employee engagement? Feel free to reach out to Jessie and the Jahnel Group engagement team for advice on how to increase engagement at your organization.