Employee Engagement? Undermining. Is Workplace Frustration. Your Investments in

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1 Is Workplace Frustration Undermining Your Investments in Employee Engagement? Faced with increasing competitive pressures, today s organizations are challenged to optimize returns on all investments. But when it comes to getting the most from efforts to engage employees, many are not realizing desired results. Worse yet, many aren t even aware of the problem. >>

2 Is Workplace Frustration Undermining Your Investments in Employee Engagement Faced with increasing competitive pressures, today s organizations are challenged to optimize returns on all investments. But when it comes to getting the most from efforts to engage employees, many are not realizing desired results. Worse yet, many aren t even aware of the problem. >>

3 Is Workplace Frustration Undermining Your Investments in Employee Engagement? Employee engagement has become a major focus for leaders and managers in many organizations, for a number of good reasons. By drawing out the discretionary efforts of employees, engagement holds out to organizational leaders the prospect of increasing productivity. Employee engagement has become a major focus for leaders and managers in many organizations, for a number of good reasons. By drawing out the discretionary efforts of employees, engagement holds out to organizational leaders the prospect of increasing productivity. Likewise, an engaged workforce that is aligned with goals and objectives is a resource for responding effectively to change and the many unanticipated and ambiguous problem-solving and decision-making situations it brings. Finally, with more and more employees looking for environments where they can be energized at work and feel that they are contributing in a positive way to something larger than themselves, many organizations view creating high engagement workplaces as key to attracting and retaining needed talent. Hay Group has partnered with Fortune magazine since 1997 to identify the World s Most Admired Companies and to identify the business practices that contribute to their strong reputations and performance. In a recent study of executives in eligible companies, the vast majority indicated that employee engagement is an explicit part of their company strategies (86%), is incorporated into management development programs (85%), and is a consistent focus beyond employee survey efforts (86%). Clearly, organizations are investing heavily in creating high levels of employee engagement. And many are having success. Hay Group s global employee opinion norms, comprised of data from over five million employees worldwide, indicate that 66% of employees currently report feeling engaged at work. The problem is that too many engaged employees in today s workplaces are also frustrated employees. From a motivational perspective, managers have these employees where they want them. But when it comes to ensuring that they are as productive as possible, organizations are missing out. Workplace Frustration: The Enemy of Engagement Frustration is a common emotional response to opposition, when the human will seeks a certain fulfillment but cannot get what it wants. We all experience frustration on a daily basis, both in our personal lives and at work (the lack of an available parking space, an uncomfortable chair, or a thermostat never set at the right temperature). But the more important a particular outcome or objective is perceived to be, and the stronger the will to achieve it, the deeper the anxiety when it is not realized. Frustration over the inability to achieve significant individual or organizational goals is more troubling than the annoyances associated with our daily Too many engaged employees in today s workplaces are also frustrated employees. From a motivational perspective, managers have these employees where they want them. But when it comes to ensuring that they are as productive as possible, organizations are missing out.

4 routines. And when held back by work environments that hinder performance, frustration is most acutely felt by those who care about individual or organizational goals the most that is, highly engaged and motivated employees. Based on Hay Group research and experience, there are a lot of engaged but frustrated people in today s organizations. Indeed, Hay Group data indicate that frustrated employees make up 20% or more of the workforce of a typical company. That may not sound like a lot. But it means that a in a midsize company of 1,000 employees, fully 200 want to do more than they are able to deliver. At a time when organizations are struggling to get the most out of every available resource, including human capital, that s a tremendous loss of employee productivity. Yet the problem is commonly overlooked. Insofar as employee opinion surveys and other employee feedback programs have traditionally focused on employee satisfaction, commitment, and engagement, they commonly fail to highlight issues related to the supportiveness of work environments. And frustrated employees are often reluctant to voice their concerns in other ways. Highly committed to their employers and their jobs, they may be disinclined to make waves by complaining about their situations and those who do speak up may be unlikely to press the point if work arrangements are seen as unlikely to change. As a result, many suffer in silence. Given the tension involved for employees, frustration is an inherently unstable state. Where strong motivation to succeed is not paired with similar levels of support in the work environment, employees can be expected to respond in one of three ways most often within a time span of 12 to 24 months. It s true that some employees may, through force of effort, find ways to break through the barriers presented by low levels of support and upgrade their work arrangements to match their motivational levels. But other frustrated employees may find equilibrium by reducing their motivation to match their limited opportunities to succeed. Weary of beating their heads against a wall, they may simply decide that giving their best effort is not worth their time and stop trying. Still other frustrated employees, especially high performers or high potentials, can be expected to vote with their feet and leave in search of greener pastures where they stand a better chance of succeeding. What s the message for today s organizations struggling to get the most from their people? The commitment and discretionary effort offered by engaged employees can be squandered if managers are not careful to ensure that roles and work environments allow them to channel their extra efforts productively. In a real sense, workplace frustration is the enemy of engagement. Enabling Employees to Succeed Engaging employees is essential but not alone sufficient to sustain maximum levels of performance over time. To get the most from employees, leaders must also ensure that organizational systems and work environments support personal and organizational effectiveness. In other words, leaders need to motivate employees but also enable them to channel their extra efforts productively. First, leaders must ensure that employees are effectively matched to their roles, such that their skills and abilities are effectively utilized. Secondly, leaders need to focus on creating supportive work environments, providing people with the resources they need (e.g., time, information, tools and equipment) and removing barriers to getting the job done (e.g., non-value-added tasks, procedural restrictions). Fortunately, for organizations willing to tackle the problem of workplace frustration, the solutions are often neither time-consuming nor costly to implement. Indeed, there is much that individual managers can do to position motivated employees to succeed. They can start by asking members of their teams: What are the barriers to your doing your job well? How can the conditions surrounding your job change to help you do it better? If such questions are not posed, engaged employees play it safe and avoid voicing any concerns. But when asked directly, the positive and helpful thing is to offer ideas and potential solutions. Simply by asking, managers can flip the situation 180 degrees. Along with soliciting employee feedback, managers can also take steps to address workplace frustration by examining some familiar aspects of their roles and dynamics within their teams in new ways. Below are a few key recommendations: Performance management. We re all good at handing out work, but we re not so great at helping employees prioritize tasks or at pulling away nonessential work. Fix: Tell pressured employees which tasks are the most critical, have the greatest impact on the organization, should be done first or absolutely must be done. Don t make them struggle to make these decisions on their own.

5 Frustrated employees are often reluctant to voice their concerns in other ways. Highly committed to their employers and their jobs, they may be disinclined to make waves by complaining about their situations and those who do speak up may be unlikely to press the point if work arrangements are seen as unlikely to change. As a result, many suffer in silence. Authority and empowerment. If you think you re empowering your employees by stepping completely out of their way, you could be wrong. The absence of boundaries is not empowering; it s limiting. Employees who don t understand how far their authority reaches will be fearful of overstepping it. Fix: Clarify the scope of employees authority. With specific freedom to act, employees can make decisions without worrying about going too far. Work structure/processes. They re meant to help employees accomplish their routine work as efficiently as possible. But as business conditions change, work processes might not work anymore. Fix: Since efficient execution is only helpful if directed at the right targets, evaluate work processes regularly to ensure that they re aligned with changing work demands. Resources. Managers might believe there s nothing they can do to increase the resources available to their employees. And while their hands might be tied on the size of the budget or the staff, there s plenty of leeway elsewhere. Fix: Fill staff vacancies as soon as possible so you make use of all of allocated positions. Cross-train employees so they can cover for each other to minimize the impact of absences. And, finally, evaluate whether you have the right people on your team and are focusing them on doing the right things. Training. Organizations tend to emphasize training for new hires and those who are changing roles. Too often, they overlook the value of ongoing training for all employees. Without training as organizations are changing and evolving, employees will not have the skills they need to keep up with changing work demands. Fix: Remember that the skills and knowledge that made an employee successful in the past might not be what makes him or her successful today and treat training as a continual process. Collaboration. In interdependent environments, the success of individuals and teams often depends on support from co-workers. Unfortunately, as work routines and processes are evolving amid change, employees may be uncertain where to go for resources, information, or assistance. Fix: Focus on clarifying not only the responsibilities of individuals on their teams but also the key accountabilities of other teams on which employees depend. The need to get the most out of every resource is an organizational reality that is unlikely to change. But after years of looking to motivation for solutions, many organizations are bumping up against the limits of the ability of strong wills to find a way. Armed with an enablement perspective, doing more with less has a new meaning. Instead of emphasizing what employees need to do to help organizations accomplish more with fewer resources, the enablement view shifts the focus to how managers and leaders need to respond. In this context, the focus is on unleashing the full potential of frustrated employees who want to give their best but can t due to organizational barriers and constraints. Organizations can do more with less simply by not leaving so much untapped performance on the table that is, by helping motivated employees work smarter as well as harder. About Hay Group Insight Hay Group Insight, Hay Group s survey research division, is a global leader in employee opinion research. Through customized survey programs focused on organizational objectives, we partner with clients to attract and retain talent, improve operating efficiency, manage change more effectively, and enhance customer loyalty and organizational performance. To read more about employee engagement and enablement, visit our website