The following is a guest blog from colleague Sybil Stershic. For more info on her work, see her bio at the end of the post.
“In your experience, what are the key challenges to creating and maintaining an engaged workplace?”
It’s the question I get most often since my first book on increasing employee engagement with internal marketing was published eight years ago. Speaking with thousands of business and nonprofit professionals, I’ve found employee engagement via internal marketing has become an accepted international business strategy.
Here’s what I find to be employee engagement’s top three challenges:
- Engaging employees and customers with internal marketing is intuitive, but not intentional enough. Overwhelmed with daily work pressures, managers admit they overlook the basics of connecting-the-dots by not reinforcing where employees fit within the organization’s scope and what’s expected of them.
- Too many initiatives and directives, political in-fighting, and ineffective communications contribute to a lack of strategic focus that results in a culture of frustrated and disengaged employees.
- Organizational silos continue to impede employee collaboration and cohesiveness.
The good news is these employee engagement challenges are not insurmountable. It helps when I remind managers that internal marketing is not an across-the-board-or-nothing application. They can make a difference using internal marketing within their respective department or business unit, even if they don’t have the authority to improve employee engagement across the organization.
Employees want and need to feel their work matters. Together with customers, they want to know that they are respected and valued. How do your employees know this?
Next Steps
If you’re ready to take care of the people who matter most to your company’s or nonprofit’s success, it’s time to put internal marketing tools of engagement to work for you. Start with Quality Service Marketing’s business blog where you can find practical ideas, insightful interviews, and best practices on how to engage employees with internal marketing.
If you prefer to work with a more compact guide complete with worksheets and Action Plan Starter Notes that you can use to develop a customized internal marketing plan, you can get a print copy of Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care. Nonprofit managers can order a print or e-version of Share of Mind, Share of Heart: Marketing Tools of Engagement for Nonprofits.
Note: If you’re in need of 20 or more books for management development, just let me know and I’ll work on getting you a special volume discount.
About the author:
Sybil F. Stershic is a marketing and organizational advisor with Quality Service Marketing. A respected thought leader on engaging employees and volunteers with internal marketing, she is the author of several business books and the long-running Quality Service Marketing Blog.
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Motivational Keynote Speaker & Business Growth Expert, Meridith Elliott Powell works with clients to help them instill ownership at every level to ensure profits at every turn. Meridith is the author of several books, including her latest, Winning In The Trust & Value Economy: a professional’s guide to business and sales success. When not keynoting and leading workshops, she looks for inspiration cycling, golfing or hiking her favorite trail. https://meridithelliottpowell.com
