The story of the janitor at NASA
President John F. Kennedy visited NASA space center back in 1962, a year after his famous “To put the man on the moon” speech.
During his visit, Kennedy interrupted his tour and walked over to a man, mopping the floor, and introduced himself: “Hi I’m Jack Kennedy, what are you doing?”
“Well Mr. President, I’m helping put a man on the moon,” said the janitor, before rushing back to his work.
The janitor was not just cleaning but was a man who felt he was part of something bigger, making history.
Engaged employees go the extra mile
When employees see the big picture, believe it and understand their role in it, engagement happens, as the janitor in the story showed us.
Engaged employees are committed, enthusiastic about their work and tend to go the extra mile.
Going extra mile means increased productivity for the entire organization, that will lead to better bottom line results while outperforming the competition.
What do engaged organizations look like?
Organizations that have higher engagement and employee satisfaction have 21% higher profitability.
“Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.” – Kevin Kurse, Author
Effective internal communications along with different Data Insight Teams convey a clear description of “What is going on with our business right now”.
Why does data build engagement?
To build employee engagement employees need frequent recognition, praise and constructive criticism.
The use of data does not replace good leadership and personal relationships, but can support well in building engagement.
“The real time and transparent KPIs guide our operation into a positive direction.
The biggest benefit for us in these visualized indicators has been that the company key targets are made visible to everyone.”
Jatta Pakkanen, Communication Officer
Data is honest
“Data is the Oxygen of the Age of Context” states Robert Scoble and Shel Israel in their book called Age of Context.
To exaggerate a bit, data can provide recognition when a task or a milestone is reached and data can provide constructive feedback in displaying the performance gap at any given time. Of course the context needs to be in place, with the right data along with well placed objectives.
Tähän hyvä kuva, jossa data in selkeä infonäytöllä – vaikka neste EHS tai joku.
Data builds trust
It is better to have a few metrics visible that are clear and guide us to the right direction than trying to understand every variable there is available.
“…It is not the huge amount of data that really matters… Give the little spoonfuls that everyday individuals want and need. Give attention to the small amounts of data that make us smarter and enable us to keep up with and make sense of, an accelerating world.”, continues Scoble and Israel.
Winning organizations are transparent and use data to build engagement
A recent study by Gallup found that only 15% of employees are engaged at their jobs. It’s the openness that can create new opportunities for winning organizations.
Today’s leaders turn to transparency and data in building transparency, as 92% of the employees say transparent goals improved performance.
With transparent goal setting, data and metrics in place employees can get a better understanding of how their work contributes to the company plans and performance.
Further Reading
Cover image by skeeze from Pixabay
