We recently came across an article on forbes.com titled, "I Should Never Have Responded To The 'Confidential' Employee Survey". In this article Ernesto shares his concern that his 'confidential' survey results were shared with his manager. Hear what Evolve Performance Group CEO Jeff Tobaben says about employee survey confidentiality and the importance of a well deployed employee engagement program.

Two years ago, I joined the crusade to help business owners, CEOs, CFOs, and CHROs (i.e., CXOs) discover the business strategy of “engagement” and the science of behavioral economics as a way to improve business performance. If you are buying or selling a dealership, or are simply looking for ways to improve profitability and performance, engagement can give you a way to validate value and give you a competitive edge.

As a former program manager of a community leadership program I often asked our guest speakers to define leadership. I usually received some warm and fluffy textbook remarks about skills, traits and styles – followed by some cold stares. There was always something missing and everyone was seeking the same answer – including the speaker. Why is it so difficult to define and quantify leadership? What are the missing links?

Companies with high employee engagement level tend to have better stock performance, but not every CEO sees the connection. We suspect the disconnect at the CEO level stems from a lack of awareness, belief in the science of behavioral economics and the perception that the money being left on the table from disengagement must be Monopoly money.

An excellent article by Claudia Williams about leadership and engagement. I would like to provide an added “How to” perspective and put her Leadershift into the next gear. Consider implementing an integrated performance-based employee engagement survey and manager/leadership training program. A program of this nature would ensure the execution of Claudia’s suggestions – the need to gain trust, loyalty, and respect, facilitate communication, and build workplace friendships. The employee engag...

I believe that employee engagement surveys needs to be viewed in a different light. An Employee Engagement Survey is a leadership tool that empowers leaders by providing them with insightful data and the opportunity for healthy dialog. Data that will generate conversations that improve employee engagement. Otherwise, leaders are mostly reacting to, and are talking about, employee disengagement.

Many of us have seen the LifeLock commercials depicting different scenarios of “monitoring” of an activity.  For instance, the Bank Security Guard that takes no action during a bank robbery and says that he is simply a “Security Monitor.”  Or the dentist in a LifeLock commercial that finds a cavity and says that he’s just the “Dental Monitor.”  In either case, the “monitor” takes no action.

Margie Warrell does a great job defining a strategic path towards improving employee engagement. Engage — Connect Authentically. Inspire — Enlarge the Context. Embolden – Cultivate a ‘Culture of Courage’

For years, we’ve been chasing Customer Satisfaction in the automotive industry. Here’s my question – Why are we aiming so low? Satisfaction is meeting the most basic of customer expectations. Is the new car full of gas? Is it cleaned and ready for delivery on time? Was the vehicle fixed right the first time? These are things that customers expect of us.

Excellent article by Michelle Burke about the impact of employee engagement on business performance and what leadership and managers should do to improve culture. I would like to share some of our research and perspectives for leadership and managers and provide the “how to” improve employee engagement, which also improves culture. If you are looking for employee engagement strategies, ideas or activities -- consider conducting an employee engagement survey as the foundation of a program.