Global Head of Learning and Talent Development at Morgan McKinley shares how to boost employee engagement and productivity: treating your staff as well as your customers.

1. 6 Steps
to Adapting Your Client
Retention
Strategy to Your Coworkers
& Collaborators

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
01 Are you genuinely interested?
02 Offer a great product experience
03 React to issues quickly
05 Reward positive ambassadors
06 Find meaning in the bigger picture
04 Demonstrate that you appreciate their work,
in a meaningful way

3. Are you genuinely interested?
Start by being genuinely interested in who they are, beyond
what they can do for you.
Customers are not just wallets – and employees are not just an
“asset”,
they’re human beings.
Helen Gallagher, Global Head of HR, Morgan McKinley
Group says,
“It’s been fantastic in terms of having these check-ins and
adding the more personal touch to team meetings or to one-
on-one meetings, having that ‘how are you?’ as well as how
are you doing in terms of productivity and KPIs.
It’s getting in touch with the person, and really re-connecting
with them and understanding what’s going on. The feedback
has been positive and we’ve seen really good levels of
engagement
in terms of team morale. “
Why Mental Health Matters
Helen Gallagher
Global Head of HR
Morgan McKinley Group

4. Offer a great product
experience
Give employees the means to do good work
You make sure your product or service truly solves a pressing
problem for your customers and that it delivers on its promise;
also that it’s easy and intuitive to use, not frustrating. You make
sure customer reps and salespeople or store clerks welcome
customers like the important people they are.
Make the same effort for your employees.
The great product experience you offer a co-worker is the
company itself:
• great company culture
• a great place to work
• the feeling that one can do good work without frustrating
obstacles standing in the way

5. Offer a great product
experience
Give employees the means to do good work
A key element of engagement is doing what you love in a
meaningful context.
If people are spending time learning more about a subject they
enjoy and find ways to apply that in the workplace, it can
dramatically help their views about their job, boosting
engagement and hence retention.
Actively devise a professional development plan with your
employees and support them on this educational journey. From
online e-learning modules to investing in a professional
qualification, education is not just for employees who are new in
their role.

6. React to issues quickly
Employees won’t savage the company on social media in the way
an irate customer might, (although forums like Glassdoor give
them a platform to do so now) but reacting to issues quickly
shows people they are valued.
Listen to them and solve their problems, as you would with
customer complaints.
People want to do excellent work that has meaning, they want to
move the needle and get results for their company: giving them
what they need is a huge win-win.
96%of job seekers say it’s important to work
for a company that embraces
transparency. Glassdoor User Survey,
2014

7. Demonstrate that you appreciate their
work, in a meaningful way
Offer perks and gifts to customers? Do you do the same for co-
workers?
Small gifts, parties, celebrating results and milestones, even
small ones, cement good feelings.
Acknowledge personal events (a birthday, a wedding, etc.) as
well as team events (a big sale, a new client, a completed
project).
According to the Global Wellness Institute, just 9% of the
workforce have access to corporate wellness programs and
sadly, only 25% believe their employer offers workplace wellness
services because it actually cares about their personal wellness.
This means there is immense opportunity to show your
employees you truly care with a genuine wellness programme.

8. Demonstrate that you appreciate their
work, in a meaningful way
Company-wide initiatives like offering healthy food options and
opening a gym or offering exercise classes as a way to release
tension have been proven to boost wellness, morale and
productivity for two reasons:
1. Employees are in better health and less stressed
2. They are grateful because they feel valued

9. Reward positive ambassadors
• Who among your co-workers makes your company a great
place to be? Who is kind?
• Who is lots of fun? Who is the problem solver who will run to
the rescue? Who inspires
• colleagues to higher standards? Who has a positive influence
on the place?
Find out who these people are, look for the ‘positive deviant’, and
give them a position or engineer their existing position so that
their positive influence can be felt far and wide.
Don’t lock them up in the corner office but make them part of a
team working on a strategic project.

10. Find meaning in the bigger picture
Just as customers are increasingly concerned about companies' impact
on the human and natural environment, employees want to make a
positive difference in the world and not just push paper all day.
It is crucial to highlight how their contribution is making the company,
local community and the world better places. In addition, enable them to
bring their personalized value system to work.
• Is there a budget you can give to each employee to donate to a
charity of their choosing?
• Can the company donate a certain number of days of that person’s
time to volunteer?
• Could your staff offer their own sick leave that they may not use to
another staff member who is going through a time of hardship?

11. Find meaning in the bigger picture
Finally, as you take these steps within your company, ensure that the
world knows about it by applying for “Great Place to Work” awards and
the Investors in People Quality Standard, so that you are recognized
internally and externally for your efforts.

12. Created by M3S Total Talent
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