What it means to work here?

Signature experiences, Inclusiveness and Congruence seem to be the answer.

The Harvard Business Review article by Tamara J Erickson and Lynda Gratton describes the need for every company to have a signature experience that sets it apart. In the War for Talent, many organisations talk about being employer of choice. Signature experiences explicitly communicate what makes your firm unique and can improve employee engagement and performance dramatically.

My first question after reading the article was - are we doing that in our organisation?

Matching other organisations with the right offer may be attractive enough to bring employees to the door but may not be good enough to bring great employees enthusiastic about their work and fiercely loyal to the organisation and its mission.

To enhance the elements of engagement and to foster deeply committed employees, the following are needed:

1.A comprehensive understanding of the types of people who will be productive to the organisation over the long term. What are the competencies they need?

2.A well defined communication programme that conveys for employees the attributes and values of the organisation.

3.A coherent employee experience – none of your company's environmental elements misrepresents what it's really like to work there.

4.Respecting diversity, making people feel inclusive and enabling people from different races, religion, language, functions and gender to mix around. Small groups that cling must be educated to understand the importance of making others feel included. You will never know about others unless and until you work with them.

5.Celebrate success and share stories, identify and preserve the history but do not forget to identify the importance of change for growth.

Comments

Unknown said…
I am sure many would nod their heads in agreement after reading the actions required to enhance employee engagement and commitment. The actions listed make absolute sense but to put them into practice will remain a challenge. So, based on my experience the answer to your question if organizations are providing signature experience to their employees is ‘rarely’. I say rarely because often there is a genuine gap of expertise and skills to implement all the points you mentioned.

Uma Narayanan, KL
2:08 AM
Anonymous said…
There are some orgnaisations who do provide a signature experience and it is the signature experiences that help them engage and retain employees.
9:20 PM
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