We live in an era that values immediate satisfaction. Modern technology has made everything from food to entertainment available within seconds. Yet, even today, certain things are better when they take a little more time. Employee engagement is one of those items. A long-term, outcome-based approach is useful for improving employee engagement. By examining the experience of one company, Coca-Cola Hellenic, you can see the benefits of doing multiple waves of employee engagement research.
To explore how companies are improving employee engagement around the globe, let’s take a look at Coca-Cola Hellenic, a company that has done multiple waves of employee engagement research. Coca-Cola Hellenic is an international bottler of non-alcoholic beverages that operates in 28 countries. Their business is people-intensive and executives at Coca-Cola Hellenic have recognized that employee engagement is key to meeting their goal of being the undisputed leader in all of their markets.
In an initial wave of research, Coca-Cola Hellenic employees were surveyed to establish baseline engagement and to identify key drivers of engagement. The analysis identified a clear set of suggested actions to improve engagement.
Eighteen months later, a second wave of engagement research was administered to determine the efficacy of the suggested actions, and to measure shifts in employee perceptions. In this second wave of research, Coca-Cola Hellenic saw significant improvement in employee engagement.
To coordinate employee engagement across their organization and provide managers with actions to improve engagement, Coca-Cola Hellenic implemented PeopleMetrics’ Employee Engagement Management (EEM) tool. EEM allows managers to see how their area of focus is performing compared to other divisions or the company as a whole, provides an easy action planning process to create and track progress overtime, and houses best practice actions and tips for improving employee engagement.
Since the baseline wave, employee engagement at Coca-Cola Hellenic has risen steadily. Additionally, analysis of Coca-Cola Hellenics’ business outcome performance metrics found that higher levels of employee engagement are linked to higher productivity levels, lower turnover rate, and fewer accidents on site.
Given how many traditional business incomes are tied to employee engagement, it’s no surprise that forward-thinking organizations are tracking engagement as diligently as they track other important indicators. Ongoing assessment and management of employee engagement sends the message to employees that their work is valued. When management consistently asks how it can help employees feel enthusiastic and happy at work, employees feel supported and respected. The message at Coca-Cola Hellenic is that management is dedicated to employee engagement for the long haul. This dynamic is what will distinguish the most successful firms of the future.
~Kate Feather, Executive Vice President
Additional Resources
Thoughts on How Customers See Your Employees
Employee Recognition: Engagement Fuel
How to Build Employee Resilience, Even in a Recession
Tags: employee engagement, Employee Engagement Management (EEM), inter-office communication, multiple waves of research