Measuring to Drive Change, Not Just Results

Are you stuck in a measurement loop, measuring for measurement’s sake with no real action or benefit tied to what you learn?

A few weeks ago, I posted about the difference between awareness and enforcement and what this means to actually changing behavior.

David Zinger, an authority on all things employee engagement, recently chaired the Second Annual Employee Engagement Conference in Barcelona. One of his eight lessons gleaned from the conference is on this concept of the value of measurement:

“Question questions. Do we believe the answer to employee engagement is asking another question or a better question or should we call surveys into question? Yes, I know the importance of data and research but I see far too many surveys that result in bell curves and depleted precious resources that could heighten rather than just measure engagement.”

That gets to the heart of why I believe we are all pursuing employee recognition and engagement initiatives – to change the culture of our companies into one of appreciation in which all employees are focused on the strategic objectives and working to achieve them by performing their jobs in a way that demonstrates and reflects the company values.

So how do you achieve positive behavior and culture change in your organization? I will be addressing this topic in more detail in my next two posts, first describing our unique approach, then sharing the experience of several of our clients who have followed our method to achieve the desired culture change.