Get Engaged! Podcast: Strategies for building an engaged work culture.
Chapter 1: Overview to Get Engaged!
Hello, I’m Ted Hernandez.
Welcome to the Get Engaged Podcast:
Strategies for building an engaged work culture
Chapter 1: An overview to the book, Get Engaged!
Hello, I want to say thank you for purchasing my book “Get Engaged! – Strategies for building an engaged work culture.”
I also want to say, congratulations on your desire to build a culture of trust within your organization, where employees feel communicated, recognized and know the work they do is valued.
I have spent my career working with many companies that had great work cultures, and leaders who knew the importance of building an engaging work community - and the competitive edge it produced.
I want to share what I have learned over my career with anyone interested in building a work community, that we all want to be a part of.
This book is a practical approach to attracting and retaining top talent, by building and nurturing a culture of belonging and trust. The information is built on the company culture you want to create, then build your strategy on top of your desired culture.
These strategies are for anyone who wants to build a positive work environment within their company, department, project team or volunteer organization.
Vendors will try to convince us that a complete engagement program is just an app away. I call this the “magic app”. If only it was that easy. In reality, it takes planning, strategy, budget and a dedicated staff to drive a successful program.
Now is a good time to discuss staffing. I have seen some companies try to build an effective engagement program with a volunteer staff. In another words, these employees have their regular job, and work on engagement when they have the time.
My experience is that you need a full-time staff for the care and feeding of a successful program. It will never be as successful as you hope it could be, with employees who are not fully-focused on engagement as their full-time job.
Because other work will be prioritized over this engagement work, as employees know that they are evaluated and compensated on the job they were hired for, not the job they volunteered for.
As you build your programs, think about the different ways people take-in information. Some people prefer to read their information, while others want to watch a video, and some prefer listening to an audio program.
Be sure to build a 360-degree solution that delivers information in multiple formats to various listening and learning styles. You will have more people engage with your program if you provide them a preferred path to participate in.
For example, let’s say you need to communicate a new process. You could email the information, place it in an article that appears in a weekly update, or you could place it on your Intranet.
In addition to those ideas, consider combing the message with complimentary tools, such as an infographic, podcast or animated video.
The delivery of your message should be as diverse as your readership. You can track open rates and, time on pages, to determine which are the most used channels and tools.
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I have organized this book in the order that I have had success with in implementing engagement programs.
Chapter 2 discusses the most important element of your strategy, what type of culture are you building? This book focuses on a culture of trust. A culture where people feel that they have a voice and feel connected to the mission of the company and are eager to be a participant in your community.
Once you have defined what type of culture you want to create, Chapter 3 starts the discussion on building a strategy that you can implement. It offers concepts to consider while documenting your messaging and focus.
Chapters four thru seven go into detail on the tools and resources required to build your culture of trust. I believe an engaged strategy consists of four major cornerstones, transparent communication, meaningful recognition, effective training and engaging events.
This order of implementation is important. I have found it easier to start with a communication strategy, as most people are familiar with internal communication and its importance. Once your communication channel is successfully launched and your program has begun to gain credibility, you can move onto the other three cornerstones of recognition, training and events.
The book wraps up with a chapter dedicated to putting it all together. We discuss using additional resources that compliment this book, including an audio program, not a book on tape, but some additional information delivered in a more casual format, just like you’re hearing now. There is a workbook to help brainstorm and document ideas, and a PowerPoint template to assist you in communicating your strategy.
You may have already started building your engagement program, if so, congratulations. This book is a great resource to fill in the gaps, or incorporate additional solutions into your current program.
Thank you again for purchasing this book and enjoy your rewarding journey, as you create an engaging culture, that attracts and retains top talent.
Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed today’s program.
Thank you for listening.
Good day and good health.
