Risk Management Strategy as Part of the Employee Energy and Engagement Work

2021 may become known as the the year of the employee.

2021 is characterized by more employees having more choices about where they will work.  This has led to a barrage of help wanted signs and ads along with the offering of sign-on bonuses in unlikely places. It also leads to firms focusing more on retention strategies to avoid unwanted turnover. 

In addition, leaders in many firms have had to think differently about how their employees work as they have been held up at home, not immediately available to managers or open to on-demand meetings or one-on-one sessions. Dynamics have changed, and using the learning from the last year to continuously improve will be important.  

The lessons learned from the team at eePulse have important implications for ways to change traditional management practices to meet the challenges of 2021 and beyond. We continued to use our pulsing processes to drive change and help both individuals and businesses. Some lessons learned include: 

1)     Using pulse surveys to ask smaller versions of an annual survey is a very simple use case of what's possible. Instead, we find that implementing pulse surveys in a strategic manner  can reduce risk, energize individual employees and engage the workforce so they focus on the right behaviors and work. 

2)      When we created weekly pulse surveys over 20 years ago, we developed a very different approach to pulsing. We learned how to create metrics strategies that supported business strategies; we learned how to implement horizontal metrics strategies (stretching out the questions over the year vs. sending out piles of questions infrequently, or using a vertical question strategy). 

3)     We also learned that the individual employees have to be an active player in any ongoing pulse strategy. Employees need to own their own data, and be part of the action taking strategy. In fact, our experience is that employees being more involved is a key risk management tool and energizing process. 

4)      We developed not only technology but an implementation process and an ambassador program, training teams to support the data- dialogue -action - results methodology. 

We changed how pulse surveys are done by changing the roles of the manager and the employee. This work has led to benefits beyond traditional annual or pulse surveys.  

Our process shows that the role of the employee in any sort of survey, data-driven or pulsing strategy can be changed.  Give employees their own data so they can own their own actions. Give employees the ability to review group data and innovate actions that they then help implement. Change the managers role to being a coach vs. managers perceiving that the data is just one more performance assessment tool. 

Last summer we did an experiment rolling out a daily energy pulsing process. We learned a lot, and we are taking that learning and providing clients with a 3-week daily energy workout process.  Our research shows that it takes 3 weeks to personally learn what's affecting your energy at various levels. The 3-week daily pulse builds on the work we have done since inventing the pulse survey many years ago. 

If you are interested in testing out this unique offering, contact the team at eePulse:  info@eepulse.com or call +1-734-429-4400.