Editor's note: Welcome to "Ask the Expert" where each week, a member of the SSON Global Advisory Board answers a common question in the shared services/GBS space. If you have a question you'd like to ask the advisory board, let us know by emailing info@ssonetwork.com.
Keeping employees engaged is a key priority for any GBS Leadership team. It helps drive performance metrics, innovation, collaboration, and retention in the teams. So, how should we approach this? There are effective initiatives and key points to keep in mind…
1. Culture and Purpose
Employee expectations have changed since the pandemic. People are looking for more value from their jobs, more growth, deeper connections, and relationships that form a strong sense of community. Today’s employees are looking for an enriching work life, so creating a shared purpose and sense of belonging generates happier, healthier, more productive teams overall. You need to define your culture and generate excitement to ignite your people. It is particularly important that your local leaders and managers are enthusiastic about driving this. It cannot all come from the top down, from Head Office. Make sure clear communications are frequent and consistent to reinforce key messages and keep people informed of change. Effective communications help them understand the purpose of their work, and to stay connected within and outside of the GBS organization. Empathy goes a long way, employees who feel cared for feel invested in the company. Most importantly, to elevate engagement, the employee experience must be at the heart of GBS.
2. End-to-end Employee Experience
From onboarding to offboarding, it is important to put the employee first and think of everyone as ambassadors of the company and the GBS organization. When your leaders and managers put people first, it boosts morale and performance which creates a sense of ownership and pride in the success of the team. People who know they are valued recognize that they matter to the organization and that what they do contributes to business outcomes. By holding regular touchpoints and having feedback mechanisms like employee satisfaction surveys, skip level interactions etc., you keep two-way communications open and everyone aligned. One effective approach is to adopt peer-to-peer recognition for team spirit, teamwork, leadership, and trust which personalizes the experience for everyone and keeps leaders aware of high performers.
3. Career Development
It is critical to offer employees opportunities with the tools and runway needed to succeed to maximize their engagement. This ultimately drives business results and strengthens your team. By investing in people, a GBS organization can raise productivity, engagement, and innovation. Encouraging cross-training and ensuring leaders are trained in people management skills, especially soft skills, really helps people connect with team members and creates spaces for open dialogue. Companies should take every opportunity to promote from within and look to retain and develop high-potential talent by engaging them in continuous improvement solutions that make a difference in their roles. You can use these special assignments as the foundation to create career paths for future growth.