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Why do 50% of startups fail after 5 years? What is happening within these companies, that after ten years, only 30% are still active?

The reasons for failure can be many, but a key building block for success is finding the right team.

‍Startups are small - very small. The foundations and fuel of the company are almost entirely derived from the skills of the team behind it. Because generous budgets are a luxury startups do not often enjoy, the available resources are limited to what your small group of ambitious visionaries is bringing to the table.

Everyone in your ranks should be a bit of a workhorse. In a startup, being driven, self-motivated, and passionate are essential. Each one of you would never say no to a task considered too small because you all know that every job is equally critical to the company’s success.

Because these qualities are a given, let’s look at the three people you absolutely need to find for your company.

The Visionary

This is usually the founder or CEO of the company, but the qualities would be equally as beneficial coming from any employee!

A visionary sees the big picture and empowers everyone around them to help build their dreams. Charisma comes naturally to a visionary, who is so impassioned by their ideas that they could get you excited about any new project.

Within the company, the visionary encourages all team members to share their ideas as well.  While cultivating a work place culture of open communication and collaboration, they also reach out beyond the company to make connections and establish relationships with investors and partners.

A visionary brings an optimism that will keep you all encouraged through the bumps and hurtles which will inevitably come your way. Just make sure they aren’t too impulsive—a little self-restraint and level-headedness are definitely assets.

The Structure Giver

The Yin to the visionary’s Yang, a structure giver is the person who gives shape to ideas. This person sees the vision and identifies the steps needed to get there.

Defining roles, outlining goals, and monitoring performance fall under this team member’s to-do list.

When looking for the right person to fill this role, you want someone who is reliable, organized, inventive, and being a penny pincher also doesn’t hurt. However, for all of their type A personality traits, they are still adaptable. The structure giver within a startup must always maintain a certain malleability—listening to others, staying approachable, and communicating effectively will ensure the company functions as a democracy, not a dictatorship.

The People Person

You are all working very hard, but please, for your own sake don’t forget you are human beings! Putting your heads down and grinding the days out may be productive for a while, but it will inevitably tire everyone out.

Having someone on your team that is naturally a social butterfly and morale booster will keep the positivity alive. You can usually identify the talkative trait in a face to face interview very quickly, but it's not just about being chatty.

This person should be highly perceptive and able to shift their perspective at key moments. They know when a night out for drinks is needed or if the appropriate solution is to offer a helping hand to a stressed out co-worker. They are the consummate listener and mediator: when someone opens up about a problem, they know how to respond and find a solution.

Think of your people person as your HR department, but because you’re a startup, less of a department and more an invaluable force of positive, compassionate energy.

As you sift through resumes hunting for that perfect combination of dreamer and doer, take a moment to reflect on why these applicants are attracted to working for you. Yes, startups are exciting and offer a chance for rapid personal growth and innovation, but they are also agile, fast-paced, and demanding. Many hopefuls are not aware of how vastly different the attitude and skills needed in this environment are from those in a much larger and more stable organization.

But you do know.

So now, your job is to read between the lines of their carefully crafted cover letters and to find indications of courageousness: a startup is no place for the risk-adverse.

You cannot rely on their self-describing adjectives: so they say they are innovative, but what concrete examples of creative “outside-the-box” thinking can they provide?

Lastly, when you think you really have found the right person, have your entire team interview them. A startup is no place for big egos. Put in a room with the rest of your A+ quality team, an arrogant applicant will likely let their need to be the biggest star in the room slip out.

Don’t rush into hiring someone- hold out for the person who can work with every member of your team. Your company’s life depends on it.

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You know what else your startup can't live without? A full circle recognition and rewards program!

A look at the three most common formats

Employee reviews can be a concrete way of identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement, evaluating overall job satisfaction, or giving well-deserved recognition.

There are many different types of performance reviews out there and knowing which ones will work best for your company is not a straightforward answer you can get through a Google search. Some reviews have been shown to work ‘better’ than others, but the reality is that their effectiveness is as variable as your company is unique.

Deciding on the format of the review—whether it is to be conducted by a manager, peers, or the employee herself (or some combination thereof)—should take into consideration the culture of the company, the employee’s role, and the extent to which their job requires interaction with co-workers.  For instance, a review given by an absent superior in a company where most interaction occurs between teammates risks being uninformed and demoralizing for the employee.

Because your ultimate goal is to facilitate conversation and collaborative goal setting, the best results will come from choosing an approach that is also harmonious with your management style and your team dynamic.

We're just wondering; do you know which approach fits best in your company?

Should you try the “Self Evaluation”?

If your employees perform the bulk of their work autonomously with little collaboration or interaction with a manager, there is really no one better equipped to do their review than themselves!

In a self-evaluation, an employee is asked to judge her own performance, usually against predetermined criteria. Self-evaluations have received some criticism as to whether they improve productivity since the subject may exaggerate or undervalue their accomplishments.

However, there is just as much support in favor of this form of assessment under the belief that when completed honestly, the process can provide invaluable insights.  Employers can use this information to more accurately customize a plan that will achieve higher engagement and stronger manager/employee communication.

For example, one format for self-evaluation is the Critical Incident System. Here, an employee will be asked to evaluate her performance against the core responsibilities of her job. She may be required to give her performance a numerical rating or to describe specific examples that illustrate her on-the-job performance.

Because the self-evaluation gives the employee a direct say in her evaluation, it can be a great way of starting a healthy dialogue with her manager and together identifying objectives and putting together a plan of action.

You may be already be using the common “Manager Evaluation”

When successfully implemented, this is more than just the standard six-month performance evaluation template.

If your workplace functions with high manager-employee interaction rates, adopt a coaching approach to guide your teams. Employees today are seeking a constant stream of feedback with very brief lag times between the event and feedback: Stop treating reviews as once-a-year check-ins and connect more regularly. The relationship between an employee and her manager should consist of both informal and scheduled conversations to build trust and promote an open work culture.

That said, the scheduled reviews themselves are a great time to formally look over employee successes and areas for improvement, set goals, and evaluate how an employee can best contribute to achieving the company’s objectives. Take time to prepare for these.

Performance reviews are only effective in improving job performance when there are specific examples used. The more effort you put in, the more likely your employee is to feel valued and to respond constructively to feedback and areas for improvement.

When it comes to the review itself, there are numerous options for managers to use with employees, each with its own strengths. Decide what skills and qualities are important to the company and choose a grading system in line with those priorities.

Some of the most frequently used formats in organizations today include Management by objectives, Essay Evaluations, Weighted Checklists, and Numerical Rating Systems.

Have you considered obtaining a 360-degree view with “Peer Reviews”?

There is some highly insightful and honest feedback available to you via the input of an employee’s co-workers. Co-workers witness and experience the strengths and weaknesses of one another in a way that a manager may not be able to; having their feedback as well as a manager will give you and the employee the benefit of knowing what the team appreciates in their work and where they should focus next for overall improvement.

The one disadvantage here is that co-workers may be overly critical of one another if they feel there is competition for a promotion or pay raise. Keep this method separate from any such considerations and make sure peer reviews are done anonymously to avoid any unfair evaluations.

Gathering all this information will mean committing to a review format that is somewhat time-consuming in comparison to the first two approaches. That said, you are gaining 360-degree feedback: a multi-dimensional, comprehensive look at your employee that is guaranteed to be the most accurate.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. You are working towards a successful system that yields identifiable results in employee engagement and satisfaction. This will likely require some reworking throughout the life of the company as the organization grows and takes on new employees.

Not surprisingly, your current employees are the go-to source for feedback on the review program itself. Ask them if they feel they are being supported in their growth- is there a sense of appreciation coming from the company or does the review feel like a test? Action plans and objectives should always be the product of communication between management and the employee, so the sooner you find a way to maximize that dialogue, the better.

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While we're on the topic of a 360-degree feedback loop, book a demo with Qarrot to learn about peer recognition!

Meetings are a necessary part of company management but have a bad reputation for often being ineffective and time-consuming. Employees and management alike are all too aware of those meetings that run far too long and don’t accomplish their goals. Even with an agenda, group meetings can easily be thrown off track and one on ones can become one-sided lectures. As attention spans dwindle, employees disengage, and the clock ticks away valuable company time, you may think to yourself, there has got to be a better way!

Well, there is!

‍Group meetings and one on one sessions can be utilized strategically to achieve different results. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the two models will save your company time without sacrificing any of the benefits.

The Group Gathering

There will never be enough time in the day for everything on your team’s to-do list, so setting aside time specifically for a meeting guarantees you a chance to address the entire office. Now that you have this distraction-free period, how should it be used?

A group meeting can benefit your organization in several ways a one-on-one cannot. This is a chance to get everyone on the same page and foster communication, collaboration, and workplace culture.

‍Departments that wouldn’t regularly interact with one another and employees who work remotely and rarely make it into the office can all be called into the same room. With a group meeting, you have the ability to create an interactive environment where new perspectives, ideas, and knowledge can be shared. Something someone says or proposes may inspire a new collaboration or project, fostering an ongoing relationship beyond the boardroom.

With group meetings, watch out for the age-old problem of “too many cooks in the kitchen.” When there are multiple voices vying to share thoughts and comments, the meeting’s schedule can fall off track and that allotted thirty minutes may turn into an hour. Make sure there is a clear leader in the conversation to ensure you stay on track and cover everything on the agenda for the day. Don’t be afraid to cut a conversation short - make a note to schedule a follow-up time for those involved and move onto your next topic.

The One-On-One

The best part of a one-on-one meeting is just that: it’s one-on-one. Making time for an employee shows you care and is the optimal time to check in with that member of your staff on how they are doing in their role, their strengths, weaknesses, and what you can do to help them succeed.

This is your chance to have a personal, honest conversation. Whether it be with a new employee or someone who has been with the company for years, an individual meeting gives you both an opportunity to build a stronger relationship and trust. You can use this time to ask about anything! You may want to know about your employee’s experience with new policies the company implemented, their overall job satisfaction, or even provide feedback yourself on their job performance.

The key here is to be careful that you don’t monopolize the conversation, or you will miss out on learning more about the person in front of you.

Understanding the members of your team on a personal and professional level will help you utilize their personality and skills to their maximum potential. You are effectively assessing the parts of the whole; knowing the members of the team will give you invaluable insights on how to help the group function as a whole.‍

One-on-one meetings are extremely useful when time is tight. If hitting all your pertinent topics is crucial, a personal meeting will be the better option since you can manage the conversation and won’t have other voices to contend with. Also, shy employees who wouldn’t necessarily feel comfortable speaking up in front of the office will be more engaged and involved in a one-on-one.

If meetings are something you are just beginning to implement, it is important to let staff know that this is a new company-wide practice. Be clear that the intention is to help management connect the team and establish a new workplace culture; employees may feel singled out or concerned that meetings are a punishment if they are not aware of the actual reason.

Whatever meeting model you choose to use, always have clear objectives and an organized timeline going into it. There is nothing more frustrating than setting aside that invaluable time, and at the end of it realizing you haven’t accomplished what you needed to.

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Book your free demo with Qarrot to explore all things recognitions and rewards related!

Employee recognition programs help create a collaborative, encouraging workplace where in employees are engaged and working to their full potential. With the benefits of recognition programs having been proven in companies across North America, why aren’t all companies implementing them?

For smaller organizations or those on a tight budget, funding an employee recognition program seems like a great idea in theory, however financially impossible.

Here is the oversight: Employees don’t have to be recognized through hefty monetary rewards! Research shows that when employees are already being fairly compensated, cash or near-cash rewards do not yield the highest engagement levels.¹ Companies with limited funding can institute a recognition program where acknowledgments are given not in currency, but through peer-to-peer acclamation, work autonomy, or sincere private thank you cards. Adhering to a realistic budget for your organization merely requires being knowledgeable about your options and establishing an effective program: with an informed plan, it is possible to achieve all your company objectives on any budget size.

It is a common fear amongst employers that if they don't give monetary rewards or bonuses, their employees will feel undervalued and more likely to seek out another job. In fact, the key to retaining talent and promoting work engagement is to create “constant gratitude.” Constant gratitude does not require a large financial investment, but a creative one. By understanding the generations which make up your employee base, you are given insight into the modes of appreciation which resonate with each age group. The ability to recognize, retain, and invigorate your staff is not a question of dollars, but of insight and sincerity.

There are currently five generations working simultaneously within the workplace.²  The individuals that make up these classes are shaped by various age and life-stage demographics. The nuances within these influences make any research on the characteristics of an entire generation a general evaluation. However, even a basic understanding of the forms of recognition your employees will best respond to can save you time and money.

“You cannot manage what you don’t understand. You won’t be able to manage outside of your generation unless you can see through all of the generational lenses.”

— Tammy Hughes, CEO, Claire Raines & Associates

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If not money, then what?

Consider your generation.

‍Traditionalists, also known as The Silents (1900-1945), are now a generation nearing the end of their presence within the workforce. Statistically the most loyal generation, these employees grew up before the surge of social media and technology and prefer to have their time and commitment recognized privately.

If you have traditionalists amongst your employees, they are nearing retirement and likely occupy a higher position within your company. For a traditionalist, a personalized thank you card is likely to reinforce their already dedicated behaviour. Because these employees hold the development of interpersonal communication skills in high regard, recognition can also come in the form of mentorship: have a traditionalist take a younger or new employee under their wing to show you value their skillset and wisdom.

‍Baby Boomers (1946-1964) are the generation of competitive multi-taskers who value work and career advancement over a work-life balance. Most Baby Boomers crave challenging, creative work in their pursuit of self-gratification.

Give a Baby Boomer flexibility, their linear focus on career and security means they will highly value a day off from all those extra hours. Boomers also appreciate being shown respect through titles or public recognition; by highlighting their achievements in a formal setting or opening an opportunity for skill training or work experience, you are demonstrating high regard for their performance.

Generation X (1965-1977)Often incorrectly labelled as slackers, Generation X established the work-life balance mentality and believe in accomplishing work as efficiently as possible to leave more time for ‘living.’ Whereas traditionalists and millennials thrive in team settings, this generation generally prefer to work alone and focus on conquering challenges.

Like traditionalists, these employees prefer to be recognized in private over public praise. Their long-term goal is hold a job which enables a balanced lifestyle. Thus, they are consistently looking for ways to build their resume skills. Recognize Generation X employees by offering opportunities for personal development or enlivening their work routine with a new experience such as a conference or out-of-office work.

“For rewards and incentives, I would emphasize experiences more than anything—travel, project experiences related to work and their career.”

— Buddy Hobart, Author of Millennials and the Evolution of Leadership

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Millennials (1977-1997) grew up being recognized by their parents for every little thing, often being praised not for success, but just for showing up. Millennials have a difficult time comprehending why they shouldn’t be able to work where and when they like. Consequently, freedom, autonomy, work-life balance, and frequent feedback are top values.

Cost effective recognition ideas for these employees include strategic leaderboards, which celebrate various contributions from sales goals to commitment; the ability to work remotely or be given time off work; or an informal method of liking, sharing, and posting through which to give and receive recognition.

Constant Gratitude for All Generations

An option to attain ‘constant gratitude’ on a budget is to integrate an Employee Recognition Software that allows you, management staff, and employees to recognize one another with ‘high-fives’ or ‘badges.’ The absence of cash or purchased gifts as a reward means the cost of the program is reduced to a basic, per employee registration fee; enrolled participants can view all the recognitions throughout the company and comment on each, compounding a one-time recognition into a team conversation.

Millennials especially will adapt quickly and thrive in this program format. Known as digital natives, their social connectedness is second nature and implementing an online communication platform echoes their everyday discourse through social media. The software also offers a balance between public and private recognition enabling individuals who prefer not to have a spotlight on them in front of a crowd to still feel appreciated without any embarrassment. Although there is no monetary reward, the nature of the program- where an individual is recognized for a distinct behaviour- fulfills the need for consistent and specific feedback, which defines genuine constant gratitude.

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Your company can't afford NOT have a recognition program - book a demo with Qarrot to see why!

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Sources

• ¹ Incentive Research Foundation

• ² Forbes.com

Recognizing the unique Millennial

The top three challenges for HR organizations today are employee engagement, turnover rates, and succession planning. Though these issues are not new, former strategies just don't seem to have the same effect and the shift has left employers - especially those with Millennials in their ranks - scrambling for answers. In the past, reward systems were monetarily based, providing employees with compensation for their time and extra efforts with strictly financial compensation. The ineffectiveness of this method in retaining and motivating employees is indisputable.

• 37% of U.S accommodation and food services employees say that they had or will quit their position in their current place of employment within a 12 month period.
• The majority of employees in 2015 were reported as “not engaged” while another 17.8% were “actively disengaged”
• For the majority of 2015, monthly averages for consistent employee engagement hovered between 31.5% and 32.1%
• One-third of new hires quit their job after about six (6) months.¹
• Nearly four out of five (78 percent) of business leaders rank employee retention as important or urgent.
• In 2015, 40% of companies reported that with the arrival of lower unemployment rates, the difficulty in finding and maintaining talented individuals has heightened their concern for loss of personnel.

So, what has changed?

‍Millennials.

As of 2015, Millennials make up the largest section of the global workforce and will compromise nearly 75% of personnel by 2030.² The average tenure of a millennial employee is only two years and the key to building a strong, profitable business in 2018 rests in the ability of a company to redirect this pattern. Millennials may have a bad rap for being on cell phones and a general sense of entitlement, but here is the truth: Millennials aren't lazy, they have specific needs.

Psychologically, every human being experiences a direct correlation between their perception of self-value and their state of happiness. This is even more pronounced in millennials, where monetary rewards are secondary to the feeling of personal growth, engagement, and significance within a company. With every resource at their fingertips, millennials are constantly looking to jump into a role that will fulfill these elements. The employer then is fighting a perpetual battle against the threat of the “next best thing.” In order to win the fight, you have to understand your employee's criteria.

Fuelling your employees

Retaining valued talent in your business depends on your employee engagement levels. For Millennials, the single highest contributor to this is their belief that they are truly valued for their unique strengths. Recognizing the influential role an employee plays within your company bolsters their confidence and boosts their comfort with expressing ideas amongst coworkers and superiors. If a millennial believes their employer recognizes them as an asset, they respond by fully applying themselves to maintaining high standards, simultaneously satisfying a need for self-growth and importance.

“More than ever, they want to be part of a workplace culture that allows them to discover their own identity and inner confidence so they can unleash their full potential. (Glenn Llopis, Forbes 2014).

”Currently, less than 40% feel so engaged.³

Because Millennials base their performance on output rather than time spent on a project, it is essential that they feel their commitment to quality is noticed. According to a recent survey by TriNet, one in four millennials feel in the dark about their work performance; As it stands, 8/10 Millennials think they deserve to be recognized more for their work. Only 54% of female employees say they are recognized when they do excellent work and only 61% of males.⁴ That's an average of 43% of employees operating under the impression that they are not valued!

‍The answer to these statistics is relatively simple- Workplace culture is everything. Traditional superior-to-employee encouragement, though beneficial in its own way, can often feel contrived, insincere, or infrequent to an employee. Peer-to-Peer Recognition fosters camaraderie, heightens energy levels, and alleviates preoccupying worries about work performance which deduct from creative spirit.

You can completely re-establish your work culture by integrating a peer-to-peer recognition program. By encouraging staff to communicate with one another on their successes, you are cultivating company-wide collaboration. Values-based recognition from a peer is like getting a compliment from a friend on your outfit or touchdown in high school- instantaneously that person is invigorated with new energy to duplicate their success or surpass it. The cycle peer-to-peer recognition promotes quickly takes on a life of its own, as each compliment given encourages the receiver to then offer one of their own to another co-worker.

Did you Know? ‍

86% of values-based recognition programs show an increase in worker happiness.

Peer-to-peer recognition benefits

Peer-to-peer recognition is statistically 35.7% more likely to have a positive impact on financial results than manager-only recognition. In 2015, 41% of employees said that if they were given the tools to comfortably engage in peer-to-peer recognition, they would gladly do so. Once a program had been established, 58% of “happy employees” (individuals who considered themselves fulfilled by and content with their job) reported giving regular peer recognition.⁵ Staff who are empowered to recognize other employees are twice as likely to identify themselves as highly engaged while 90% of employers say their employee recognition program had a positive impact on overall employee engagement.

These interactions then, are not one-off comments, but authentic conversations progressively developing gratifying company habits, transparency, and teamwork. Not to mention the right culture attracts new, talented employees who will vie for the chance to be a part of a positive, collaborative team. Millennials will choose to invest themselves in your business' long term, thriving in the synonymous relationship between their ambitions and your company’s achievements.

What are you waiting for? Mature employee recognition programs are 12 times more likely to have quantifiable, superior business results!!⁶

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Foster a collaborative and engaging workplace culture of your own - book your Qarrot demo today!

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Sources

• ¹ https://www.tlnt.com/9-employee-retention-statistics-that-will-make-you-sit-up-and-pay-attention/
• ² Bureau of Labour Statistics
• ³ Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Review
• ⁴ Modern Survey
• ⁵ Great Place to Work
• ⁶SHRM/Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey 2012

Are your staff coming in late, leaving early, or constantly chatting with colleagues? According to a recent survey by TotalJobs, one of the UK’s leading online job boards, these are sure signs of low employee engagement.‍

Employers are concerned. A majority attribute low engagement as a key driver of poor performance. And 1 in 3 report that they’re struggling to keep their employees adequately engaged.

The good news is that signs of decreasing employee engagement aren’t hard to spot. 59% of surveyed employers say that lower productivity is the first major sign of problems followed by other behaviors such as arriving late for work, leaving early, frequently chatting with colleagues and extensive Internet browsing. These tell-tale signs have tipped off employers that they need to take action. And many are beginning to combat low employee engagement in a number of different ways.

How employers are taking action

51% say that clear communication - whether via company email, newsletters, or team meetings is an effective way of reinvigorating engagement.

Nearly 46% report that setting out clear objectives for both individuals and teams is also a highly effective approach.

Other strategies include creating a stimulating work environment (39%), fostering a strong team dynamic (28%), building a strong and visible management team (25%), and recognizing proactive and engaged employees (24%).

As part of their efforts to combat employee disengagement, employers are increasingly turning to a roster of tools for help. Chief amongst these are employee rewards and recognition software solutions.

How can rewards and recognition software help?

As the name suggests, this type of software lets employers easily recognize and reward employees - whether for their on-the-job achievements, demonstrating the company’s values, or for their years of service. But good recognition software should go well beyond just helping employers dole out rewards and praise. Consistent with the results from TotalJobs’ survey, a good solution should also improve an employer’s ability to:

• Disseminate objectives and priorities to front-line staff
• Focus individuals and teams on business goals and values
• Encourage and promote teamwork
• Make earning rewards fun and engaging

In industries such as retail, food service, and manufacturing, these additional elements can make the difference between success and failure in the battle against low engagement since management aren’t always right on the front-line with employees.

In particular, employee recognition software should facilitate the communication of the very goals, targets, and behaviors employers want to reward and provide the ability for individual employees and teams to cheer one another on as they work towards accomplishing them.

The keys to this are the immediacy and transparency the software provides, both in notifying employer goals and then letting employees post their own updates and comments as well as displaying individual or team progress towards the objectives.

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Curious about employee recognition software and solutions? Speak to one of our experts today!

Workers feel valued when they believe that their manager, peers, or higher-ups in the organization are aware of and understand their individual contributions on the job. The best way to help employees feel valued is to recognize them when they’ve done a good job. As many studies have shown, recognition doesn’t have to be big and expensive—often, a simple “thank you” will do.

How engaged are your employees?

‍If you’re unsure or don’t know how to approach this question, continue reading for our 6-question self-assessment survey to quickly gauge employee engagement.

Before diving in, we’d like to point out that this 6-step process is meant to quickly ‘triage’ your overall level of employee engagement on your own. More in-depth assessments can be done using one of the many great employee survey tools now available on the market. Unlike those tools, this approach is meant to jumpstart your thinking and give you a rough-and-ready sense as to whether your employees are generally in a good place or not.

When you answer these questions, simply give each a score of 1 (low / rarely), 2 (medium / sometimes), or 3 (high / often). Then add up your scores to arrive at your overall score.

With that said, let's get started.

Do your employees feel a sense of purpose?

Whether it’s working on a world-changing new technology or running the french-fry station at a quick service restaurant, your staff do better work when they feel a sense of purpose related to their job. It may be a feeling that they’re contributing to a greater good or simply understanding how they contribute to a great customer experience.

When thinking about this question, ask yourself: Do you or the managers within your organization communicate a sense of purpose to employees? If not, chances are you’re not scoring too highly here.

Do your employees feel valued?

How often do you or your managers recognize employees for their accomplishments? Do you promote a culture of recognition where employees also feel empowered to say “good job” to their peers?

Do your employees have clearly defined roles? Are performance expectations clear?

It’s common sense that employees need clear roles and responsibilities in order to do their job well. But our research shows that while most workers understand their overall job description, many are still hazy on the boundaries of their roles and often lack a good understanding of their manager’s expectations.

Many tools exist for communicating employee responsibilities and manager performance expectations. But in considering this question, ask yourself: Do you or your managers regularly talk to employees about their work? Are you giving them feedback? Are you clearly communicating expectations for how you’d like them to perform their responsibilities?

Do your employees feel accountable?

It can be easy to assume that anyone you employ feels accountable for fulfilling their job responsibilities, but here too our research shows that reality is different.

Feeling accountable on the job is driven by many different things. Sometimes it’s just an age or maturity question. Sometimes, it’s the seniority of the position (more senior positions carry a higher level of ‘accountability’ by their nature). But just as often, it’s a question of whether a manager has imbued a sense of accountability in her team. This comes from leading by example, but also in expressing an expectation of accountability to employees.

How well do you or your managers communicate an expectation of personal accountability to your employees?

Does your work environment promote open communication?

While it might be tempting to grade yourself highly here because you and your managers are great at keeping staff ‘in the know’, think again. A workplace that promotes open communication is one that encourages employees to express their ideas, concerns, and to give feedback. Not only does this help employees feel more valued, but it lays the groundwork for staff to grow professionally and progress within your organization.

How well do you or your managers promote open communication with your workplace?

Are your employees properly enabled to perform their responsibilities?

Resource-strapped businesses like startups often lack all the tools they need to be successful. This can be motivating for resourceful staff for a time. But in most organizations, if employees lack the tools or manager support to do their jobs properly, they quickly become frustrated. That frustration can turn to active-disengagement if they believe their situation isn’t going to improve anytime soon.

Whether you’re a part-timer at a cafe or are an executive at a large, global organization, feeling enabled to perform well in your job is critical to your motivation.

How well do you or your managers enable your employees to perform their jobs?

Final question: Have you been honest with yourself? Great. Add up your scores. What’s the result?

6 to 10    

Danger zone, immediate action is necessary.

12 to 14  

You’re okay, but some improvements are probably in order.

15 to 18  

Congrats, you most likely have highly engaged staff!

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Uncover more tips to help improve your team engagement! Visit us at Qarrot!

In an era when nearly 70% of U.S. employees report being “not engaged” or “actively disengaged at work¹, many companies are scrambling to determine their level of employee engagement and, if it's low, whether that's having a negative impact on their business.

Employee engagement - or how motivated staff is to perform their jobs - can impact businesses in different ways. Depending on the type of business and the employee role, the impact of low engagement levels can affect different business metrics.

Though poor engagement universally affects employee productivity and turnover rates, it can extend to a broader range of impacts, including everything from sick days taken to customer loyalty. For customer-facing staff, employee engagement levels affect their interactions with customers, impacting everything from customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and even the company’s brand and reputation. For manufacturing businesses, low engagement correlates to higher rates of safety-related incidents. Similarly, across most businesses, absenteeism, sick days, and health claims (related to company health plans) are all impacted by employee engagement levels. In all of its various forms, poor engagement also correlates strongly to decreased sales and profits.

Regardless of the impacts you observe and measure, it’s important to understand these are the outcomes of poor engagement. And so any effort to improve engagement should start with analyzing why your employees are unengaged in the first place. A good understanding of the key drivers will arm you with the information needed to develop an action plan. Then, when it comes to business-casing the investment required to support your plan, you’ll know which metrics you can expect to impact. And you’ll be able to show the ROI from improving the metrics you believe you can impact through your action plan.

From analysis to action - national retail chain case study

Vision Source, a retail optical chain with 4,000 locations, realized that its franchise employees did not view themselves as “salespeople”. In particular, staff did not make a point of attempting to cross-sell or upsell patients as often as they could. The chain determined that this was largely due to a lack of system-wide sales training as well as motivational tools to focus front-line staff on making the effort to promote certain products and services.

Given this assessment, Vision Source put in place a system-wide sales motivation program that included online training, reference materials, and sales incentives.The impact was immediate. Employees suddenly had access to training that helped them improve their on-the-job performance and attractive incentives for selling certain higher margin products and services. Employees felt more empowered and motivated. And the result was a significant increase in the year-over-year growth rate.

Impact statistics from the field

As presented earlier, the impact of poor employee engagement varies by business, industry, and employee role. Here are statistics² from companies that have implemented employee recognition programs in which the focus is on recognizing and rewarding behaviours that reflect the company’s core values:

Engagement

90% of companies say it has positively impacted engagement, resulting in a more meaningful and happier work environment.

Retention

68% say it has positively impacted employee retention. The estimated cost of replacing an employee ranges from one to three times his or her annual salary and the average company loses about $1 million with every 10 professional employees who leave.

Safety

37% say it has positively impacted employee safety, resulting in reduced absences from work-related injuries, lower injury-rates, and lower costs associated with worker medical expenses, worker replacements, training, and insurance premiums. On average, $1 invested in injury prevention returns between $2 and $6 in direct savings.

Wellness

29% report a positive impact on health and wellness goals, reducing the number of sick days taken, paid sick leave and lost productivity.  Engaged employees are absent two-thirds less than the employees who are disengaged and unhappy.

Brand and Reputation

Organizations with 50% or more of their employees rating themselves as “engaged” retain over 80% of their customers.³ More highly engaged employees provide a better customer experience, which, in turn, promotes greater customer loyalty. In fact, companies in the top quartile of employee engagement experience a 10% higher customer rating than those in the lower quartiles. Improving the customer experience may pay for itself as U.S. brands are reported to lose approximately $41 billion each year from poor customer service.⁴

Cost Control

A high employee turnover rate correlates with inventory shrinkage. Inventory shrinkage is estimated to cost retailers a staggering $30 billion annually, and half of that loss, or $15 billion, is attributable to employee theft.

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The amazing growth of gift card rewards

Recalling my days working for a leading customer loyalty program, I remember the remarkable growth of program members exchanging their points for gift cards. This growth was remarkable for different reasons. First, it was a travel program where the majority of members accumulated their points for airline tickets. This travel orientation meant that members were accustomed to saving-up their points for long periods of time. Moreover, before the program introduced gift cards to its catalog, it added merchandise and experiences. This meant that members had a wide range of choices—everything from plasma TVs to show tickets to VIP events. Despite all these options, gift cards quickly grew to become the most popular non-travel reward.

Looking back, I now realize that the popularity of gift cards as a reward option had a lot to do with their flexibility and their faster attainability compared to the more aspirational, less attainable travel rewards.

But, my previous company isn’t alone. The entire incentives industry has seen the same trend in the past decade. In fact, the Incentives Research Foundation states that in 2012 gift cards had become the most popular gift among consumers shopping for friends and relatives and the tool of choice for businesses hoping to motivate employees, customers, and partners.

Gift cards: the preferred employee incentive reward

When it comes to motivating employees, gift cards are now undeniably the preferred non-cash reward option and used by 75% of businesses. Use of gift cards in employee rewards and recognition programs has even exceeded travel, merchandise, and cash rewards according to the October 2011 October 2011 report “State of Gift Card Use in the U.S.” by the Incentive Research Foundation. According to the IRF’s research, consumers have embraced gift cards because they make gift-giving “easy” and “reduce shopping time”. This convenience factor has no doubt also influenced people’s warm reception of gift cards as incentives in the workplace.

Incentive program managers and planners also prefer using gift cards as incentives because they are easier to administer, are more flexible and personal, and are popular amongst company staff. Above all, incentive planners view gift cards as the “most effective” reward option that offers the best overall return on investment, even compared to cash.

Similar to the IRF’s findings, we believe the effectiveness of gift cards over other non-cash and cash rewards is largely due to the unique combination of flexibility and “trophy value”. For example, if you offer your staff a catalog of merchandise, you’ll achieve high trophy value but low flexibility as staff may aspire to have some of the items you offer, but won’t necessarily find something appealing at any given time. In contrast, cash rewards offer high flexibility but low trophy value. The following quote from Mike Ryan, President Emeritus of The Performance Improvement Council, in the IRF report highlights this perfectly:

“A responsible person who receives cash as a reward may not feel comfortable about spending it on themselves, so it is not exciting for them. A $25 gift card is better than $25 cash because it gives them license to spend on themselves and this makes it appealing.”

Gift cards seem to strike that perfect middle ground - by offering a selection of well-known brands, as well as “open” prepaid cards from Visa, MasterCard, or American Express, your employees will find both trophy value and flexibility.

Compared to merchandise and travel, gift cards also dramatically reduce the administrative costs and burden associated with employee incentive programs. Ever shipped a TV across the continental US? It’s not cheap. Not to mention that merchandise programs require frequent catalog refreshes to maintain employee interest and tend to have higher customer servicing requirements (with staff calling to find out when their rewards are going to be delivered).

Digital revolution: the rise of e-gift cards

With the rise of mobile and digital payments, it’s not surprising that gift cards too are increasingly offered electronically. “E-gift cards” are similar to their plastic equivalents in that they can often be used in-store (printed or with a barcode displayed on your phone) or used to pay for purchases online (by either entering a PIN or redemption code). Moreover, Millennials prefer e-gift cards because, unlike physical cards, they can’t be “lost” and don’t need to be remembered before going shopping.

Plus with the growth of online retailers like Amazon as well as the online offerings of bricks-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy and Walmart, the number of possible ‘reward options’ is nearly infinite. Why manage a merchandise catalog with hundreds of items, when these online retailers have tens of thousands? And to offer their catalogs as rewards to your employees all you have to do is provide their e-gift cards as rewards in your employee incentive program.

Beyond the flexibility and choice provided by e-gift cards, I believe they will quickly overtake physical gift cards in the coming years as the most popular employee incentive reward due to their simplicity. Incentive program managers and planners will love them too - from the low cost of fulfillment to the instant gratification they provide (e-gift cards can be emailed or received instantly upon redemption), they help simplify and, at the same time, expand the utility of incentives.

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Qarrot makes motivation easy with our feature-rich platform and catalog of e-gift cards! Book your demo today!