Category: COM 610

In this time of rapid industry growth, it is important for you as an employer to tend to the needs of your employees. Adding a few simple initiatives can improve organizational culture, further the overall vision and mission, and retain happy, openminded employees.

Here are three ways to integrate creativity and innovation into your organizational culture:

Acknowledge impact | As children, we knew that we were excelling in our classwork when we received our report cards. The same can be true in the workplace, especially when taking a look at Peter Senge’s concept of learning organization. Particularly in regards to a shared vision, “members act in concert because they share a common organizational vision and understand how their own work helps build on that shared vision” (Eisenberg, Tretheway, LeGreco, & Goodall, 2017, p. 111). Build company morale by showing employees how their collective efforts impact your organization’s mission. For instance, if satisfactory healthcare is at the heart of your goals, let your employees know about any positive feedback you receive from consumers. This will make them feel a sense of purpose, and strive to go above and beyond.

Encourage breaks | Make sure your employees know that you are supportive of them taking breaks. After all, a relaxed brain allows for increase productivity and innovation. “For example, researchers have shown that watching a funny eight minute video (Cheng & Wang, 2015) or spending less than one minute looking at nature (Lee et al., 2015) improves employee performance after they return to the work task” (Grippo, 2017). Taking a moment to disconnect from one’s responsibilities opens doors to new possibilities upon returning to work. When employees leave for the December/January holidays and come back to work, they feel refreshed. Think of these breaks as mini-vacations for them.

Improve outcomes | Most businesses have specific processes that they utilize to achieve company goals. It is important for you and your employees to take a collaborative approach and evaluate the efficiency of these tools at regular intervals. Are they truly getting the job done? Are you measuring the correct indicators to determine the success of these processes? How can your processes be improved? It may be helpful to implement a continuous service improvement framework similar to that of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), which is used to manage service delivery. Although this framework is specific to the information technology industry, others can learn from it. “The benefits of ITIL include reduced cost of service development and deployment, improved customer satisfaction with service delivery, increased productivity from IT personnel, quality improvements, better management metrics of services and increased flexibility in adapting services to changing business requirements” (Tittel & Follis, 2019). Involving your employees in the assessment of your organizational processes and steps for refinement can create efficiencies within the company.

 

Cheng, D., & Wang, L. (2015). Examining the energizing effects of humor: The influence of humor on persistence behavior. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(4), 759-772.

Eisenberg, E.M., Tretheway, A., LeGreco, M., & Goodall, H.L., Jr. (2017). Organizational communication: Balancing creativity and constraint. (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Grippo, A. (2017). Why and How You Should Take Breaks at Work [Psychology Today]. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-wide-wide-world-psychology/201704/why-and-how-you-should-take-breaks-work

Lee, K.E., Williams, K.J.H., Sargent, L.D., Williams, N.J.G., & Johnson, K.A. (2015). 40-second green roof views sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention restoration. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 182-189.

Tittel, E. & Follis, E. (2019). ITIL Certification Guide: Overview and Career Paths [Business News Daily]. Retrieved from https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10696-itil-certification-guide.html

Introduction

     In today’s work environment, employee engagement has become an important focus. A few initiatives that may come to mind include after work socials, pet friendly offices, onsite health screenings, and even annual retreats. These activities can boost communication, foster interpersonal relationships, and show that a company is truly appreciative of their employees. According to DeSteno (2017), “Making people feel proud — not arrogant, but proud of the skills they have — makes them more willing to wait for future rewards and more willing to take on leadership roles in groups and work longer and harder to help a team solve a difficult problem.” Overall, if employees feel appreciated and proud of where they work, they tend to be more loyal, and dedicated to their job duties which can greatly benefit an organization.

Leaders must begin to implement new, innovative strategies to retain employees who are committed to the overall vision and success of the organization. “Success in this digital economy may take a new level of engagement, reconnecting at a very human level and paying attention to the real conversation behind every interaction” (Grove 2019). Appealing to human emotion is an important key to employee engagement, which is essential during this evolution of technology. Of course, many employees are constantly emailing, or using an array of tools to communicate with one another virtually; however, there is always the need for physical and face-to-face interactions. These circumstances should definitely be considered when discussion takes place within organizations regarding methods to improve retention rates.

Rationale

     Organizations who do not take employee engagement seriously run the risk of suffering a myriad of consequences including poor communication, unmotivated employees, and low retention rates. According to Merhar (2016), “Frequent voluntary turnover has a negative impact on employee morale, productivity, and company revenue. Recruiting and training a new employee requires staff time and money.” Employees who do not feel connected to each other or the company’s vision, can contribute to inefficiency while they are still employed, and even after they decide to leave. The cost to hire a new, motivated worker could certainly result in time lost having to complete the rigorous onboarding process. Implementing employee engagement opportunities early on has the potential to save a company time and money.

Therefore, I will be conducting a content textual analysis of the digital Gratitude Board at MUSC’s Center for Telehealth to illustrate a new approach that the organization has taken to address employee engagement. “Content analysis is valuable in organizational research because it allows researchers to recover and examine the nuances of organizational behaviors, stakeholder perceptions, and societal trends” (University of Georgia, 2012). Analyzing the content within the Gratitude Board will allow me uncover the efforts of this organization, and get a better understanding of the aspects of employee engagement they suggest are important through these posts. I will be using the social learning theory to illuminate how this strategy could prove effective in regards to keeping employees engaged with their work, and each other.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK & METHODOLOGY

 

DeSteno, D. (2017). The only way to keep your resolutions [The New York Times Opinion]. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/opinion/sunday/the-only-way-to-keep-your-resolutions.html

Grove, T. (2019). Engagement in a new era of business: An invitation to communicate differently [Forbes CommunityVoice]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/02/01/engagement-in-a-new-era-of-business-an-invitation-to-communicate-differently/#70f4d10f62eb

Merhar, C. (2016). Employee retention – The real cost of losing an employee [PeopleKeep blog]. Retrieved from https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/bid/312123/employee-retention-the-real-cost-of-losing-an-employee

University of Georgia Research & Methodology [Web page]. (2012). Retrieved January 28, 2019 from https://www.terry.uga.edu/management/contentanalysis/research/

Dating back to the eighteenth century, classical management was the approach of choice for most businesses. What comes to mind to best illustrate this concept is Henry Ford’s assembly line. Although this method was adopted in the 1900s, there was still an overarching theme that if processes were established, productivity would increase. In this example, Ford’s Model T could take almost half a day to assemble! With the introduction of dividing labor, and training groups of employees to build specific parts of the car. This way, employees’ focus could remain on their one assigned contribution for each car manufactured. After Ford applied this approach, the time to assemble a Model T was down to just a couple hours!

Classic management does have some benefits with the most apparent being efficiency; however, the approach does not allow for creativity and engagement from employees who are not at a high-up management level. I believe that there must be a back and forth between employees and their leaders to implement some of the most innovative protocols. Who else knows the ins and outs of a process better than the employees who are performing the major tasks daily? Why not give them a chance to voice their opinions on what’s working, and what’s not?

This classic model of management can be seen today in companies that have call centers, such as BlueCross BlueShield. The big-wigs make all of the decisions regarding insurance policies. Their rules are trickled down into these call centers, and employees answering the phones must do what they are being told by upper management. There is a division of labor in that different departments of the call center answer calls from specific callers: members who have insurance through their employers, employers, providers, etc. They are all trained separately on the types of questions that would come in for their specific focus. In this setting, there is no real room for employees to step up and suggest their ideas for improvement. They are stuck doing mindless work (not completely mindless, as insurance is very complex, but in a routine sense).

While I do agree that a division of labor is necessary in terms of various skills and experience, I think that employees should feel empowered to offer input on company strategies and goals. Internal collaboration is a major key for companies to be successful, and retain employees. If individuals feel replaceable, like anyone can be trained to do their job, they will go elsewhere to find a position/organization that is more fulfilling and allow them to contribute in an innovative manner.