Is Powerful Engagement Vital to a company’s success?

9th July 2019

Of course, the answer to that is yes, powerful engagement is vital to a company’s success. Engaged employees are more motivated and productive. When employees are engaged the workplace becomes full of positivity.  Research suggests that a critical mass of engaged employees outperform their competition.

And this is non more prevalent than within the IRIS FMP group, who have just secured Best Companies accreditation at the first attempt. The group was formed through a private equity backed MBO in November 2016. At launch it set out its stall to achieve Times Top 100 accreditation. The Best Companies accreditation, from the people behind Times Top 100, marks another step towards that goal. Furthermore, in late 2018 the group achieved Investors in People accreditation, again at the first attempt.

Justin Cottrell, IRIS FMP’s CEO commented: ‘One of core values is to develop, attract and retain enthusiastic achievers. Our employees are engaged with the IRIS FMP business, and take pride in what they do. They’re part of the IRIS FMP family, connected to each of their colleagues and to the aims of our business. This faith in each other drives better working relationships and collaboration at every level. This has driven the success of the organisation. Above all, the award recognises that engagement. ’

Gary Webb, IRIS FMP’s Communications Director, led the Best Companies and the Investors in People accreditations and commented: ‘Both awards recognise and celebrate great workplace engagement. The awards demonstrate to our clients, partners, investors and employees that IRIS FMP understands the importance of workplace engagement. It also reinforces that we  genuinely value our people, attracting and retaining top talent’.

What makes powerful engagement? Our Top Five ideas

1. Say Hello! Sounds simple, doesn’t it! Powerful engagement means spending time and getting to know your employees. Learning about their families and backgrounds and personal goals can help make them feel valued and engaged.
2. Give them with the tools for success. In IRIS FMP we’ve really targeted training, and coaching to give employees the confidence to reach their own (and our) goals. And please don’t set them up to fail – too many companies drop someone into a promotion and the let go!
3. Let them know how the company is doing. It’s amazing how secretive organisations can. But actually, all employees have a vested interest in the business. After all no business = no job! Employees are better engaged if they are briefed on successes (and failures).
4. Allow the pitch. You’ve got skilled employees who with whom you saw potential. Let them grow. Allow a pitch for a new idea. Loosen the grip. Don’t micro-manage.  Let them develop other concepts. Offer encouragement. Not rejection. Always say thank you, even if they fail.
5. Recognise hard work. Celebrating success and good work is critical in employee engagement. At IRIS FMP we have a peer to peer nomination system where not just managers recognise good work. And make sure you recognise the small and the large things. A manager recognising and acknowledging a job well done is an essential motivator when developing employee engagement best practices.

Got that. Here’s Five more ways to engage employees

1. Develop an infectious feeling in your teams. Once you’ve got a strong team of employees gives them a sense of greater purpose. We’ve set our sights on being a Times Top 100 Employer and pulling towards a big company goal can be incredibly satisfying and generate new ideas.
2. Care about the customer. Research shows that engaged employees are likely to provide exceptional customer service.
3. Listen. No company is perfect, and no management team has all the answers. IRIS FMP has informal discussions all the time with staff but every year we’ve had an all staff survey. Being able to voice concerns and genuinely feel they are acted upon helps to maintain a high level of engagement with employees.
4. No fear. Allow your employees to make choices without having to run everything up to the chain of command. It will create great moments within their career.
5. Motivate, inspire and coach your employees. Many individuals throughout history who’ve achieved outstanding success have had a good coach or mentor standing behind them. Be that coach for your employees.

Powerful engagement – IRIS FMP. One to Watch

IRIS FMP achieved Best Companies accreditation in June 2019, achieving ‘Ones to Watch’ status. The ‘Ones to Watch’ accreditation is a special status awarded to organisations where workplace engagement shows promising signs for the future.

Achieving Ones to Watch accreditation takes a BCI score of at least 600 and reflects organisations with ‘good’ levels of workplace engagement.

Over the last three years IRIS FMP has achieved a raft of accreditations and awards. The company firmly believe powerful engagement with employees has been the key to that success.