Creating a Culture of Employee Effectiveness and Engagement
23 Apr 2013

There’s no doubt that a good culture of effectiveness and engagement matters a lot in the workplace. Of course it’s not something to be achieved overnight, but every organisation should not overlook its importance. To facilitate organisations in creating a culture that is conducive to a higher level of employee effectiveness and engagement, a seminar organised by A-Performers.com was successfully held on 23 April 2013 at Regus, Wanchai, with a large audience of HR professionals and executives attended.

Engage in Difficult Times

The first guest speaker of the day was Mr. Nelson Yip, CEO of EP Power Co. Limited, EP Venture Co. Limited and Appetizup Co. Limited, who shared his insights into building employee engagement and high performance in times of difficulties.

Mr. Yip is a passionate equestrian who was the official representative for Hong Kong of Paralympics Equestrian Event, Beijing Olympics 2008, he believed that there is much similarity between sports and business.

"Atheletes all want to win the game. It’s no different from the business world where companies all want to win as well. Whether in the sports world or the business world, we need to know about how good we are and how good we want to be in order to be the champion.”

Mr. Yip highlighted goal setting and said, “We should set up goals to help us move forward. ‘Performance goals’ state the specific achievement goals in performance; ‘Process goals’ state the specific actions needed to achieve performance goals; while ‘outcome goal’ means to win honourably and in conjunction with others. It’s important that we get hold of the whole process.”

Sharing his own experience in business, it is Mr. Yip’s belief that the trust issue is the top difficulty in the workplace. “It’s about corporate culture. A company should create a culture that people know well and can share widely, while developing a trusting and winning team, which is the soul behind a company’s success.”

To develop a trusting and winning team, Mr. Yip suggested that leaders should believe that the team’s potential is limited, and facilitate the team to learn to use the mind in a way to create success. “Clear out the doubts, focus on the goals, overcome obstacles or distraction, see the goals attained, and have a boundary of what we are going to do,” he advised.

Managing Diversity

Mr. Gary W. Stainton, Berlitz English Instructor, Berlitz Language Centre (Hong Kong), the second speaker of the seminar, delivered his insights into managing diversity with a view to cultural sensitivity.

Mr. Stainton began his presentation with the saying by an academic – “A distinctive culture doesn’t happen by accident, it starts with great people.” He believes that a company’s culture is highly connected with its people, it is therefore important to manage diversity in the workplace. “Don’t only use people’s technical skills to get work done. Provide an open and friendly workplace to improve productivity.”

He explained there are two dimensions of culture: society culture and organisation culture. The challenge is: how to more closely align the two cultures? The two key components are leadership and mutually beneficial communication, as suggested by Mr. Stainton.

"Leadership is a ‘process’, which can be learned and practiced. It is not necessarily about hierarchy or rank. At Berlitz, we believe that global leadership training comprises three key areas: communication, leadership and culture. It would be helpful if we are able to analyse personal cultural profiles and prepare employees to do business in the market, while developing a comprehensive grasp of individual and organisational behaviours and adapting management practices to local demands,” Mr. Stainton said.

HR Issues: What Is Now?

The next was Mr. Neil Logan, Director of International Business, Henley Business School who illustrated critical HR issues in the changing economy. Mr. Logan said that today’s HR practitioners have to be more global and let people understand their roles are different now. Certainly, HR people are facing a number of challenges in fulfilling their roles.

Mr. Logan said, “Today’s HR must present an integrated and prioritised organisational offer by developing strategies that span the whole company. They need to make tangible difference and deliver measurable impact in much shorter timescales.”

As HR are expected to provide more for less, they need a more commercial, externalized and pragmatic approach. “Now, HR need to move from process driven to impact driven. They are more active at board level and start to influence organisational strategies,” he added.

So, what next for HR? Mr. Logan said, “HR will evolve, develop and redefine its role in the organisation. They have to develop skills beyond ‘traditional’ HR competencies, which were once exception but now are normal, so they need to invest in its own development.”

As Mr. Logan suggested, the HR must-haves include:

- Speed

- Pragmatism

- Tangibility

- Commercialism

- Impact

"It’s important that HR not to be seen as a department of a company. Not only should they be able to deliver strategies, but also understand the environment and create values,” Mr. Logan remarked.

Workplace English Benchmarks

English is the major language used in business communications in Hong Kong. Therefore, employees with good English proficiency will be able to communicate more effectively for higher productivity. To help HR know more about the current workplace English benchmarks, three speakers from HKQF and HKVEP were invited to share about the benchmarks and English programmes available for working adults.

Mr. Steve Lai, Senior Manager of Qualifications Framework Secretariat introduced the Qualifications Framework: “Launched in 2008, it aims to help Hong Kong people set clear goals and directions for continuous learning to obtain quality-assured qualifications. It is a seven-level hierarchy of qualifications covering the academic, vocational and continuing education sectors.”

Mr. Chris Chong, Head of Hong Kong Vocational English Programme introduced the LCCI qualifications to the audience. He said, “The qualifications benefit employers by cost-effective solution to maximise ROI on staff English language training as they focus on the English language skills that can be directly transformed to job performance and thus can enhance employees’ work performance. Clear and focused objectives for learning also make it an easy way to demonstrate progress in English learning.”

Ms. Florence Chong, Head of Vocational Language Programme Office introduced the Vocational English Enhancement Programme (VEEP): “VEEP aims to enhance learners’ English skills for effective communication in the workplace. It is recognised under the HKQF and benchmarked by LCCI, with HK$1,800 course fee funded by the Language Fund. The vocational English courses cover reading, writing, listening and speaking skills that help working adults improve their English proficiency.”

An Inspiring Book for Everyone

As many business leaders and HR professional should have heard of the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey, the last speaker of the day, Mr. Stephen Smith, Senior Consultant of Right Management Hong Kong Limited talked about how the book could help create employee effectiveness, performance and engagement in the workplace.

Mr. Smith said that clear goals and immediate feedback are essential elements in employee engagement. “According to statistics, in the Asia Pacific region, only 6 out of 10 employees understand the company’s goals. To prevent employees from quitting, we have to create an environment where people see the reasons to engage.”

Before going further into the 7 habits, Mr. Smith first shared the concept of paradigm shift – the way we see the world, which helps readers prepare for a change in mindset. He then illustrated the 7 habits. “These are the principles, the rules for the way the world works – self-evident natural laws that are universal, timeless, and objective, and at work whether or not we understand or value them. The 7 habits move from dependence to independence to interdependence. Developing these 7 habits, we will be able to gain self-mastery, work effectively with others, and synergise to create something that could not be done alone,” he said.