It was identified that our client needed to increase employee engagement levels in an effort to tighten his margins and avoid having to lay off staff. The client wanted to achieve results consistently above the NZ Best Places to Work average. Results of research both qualitative and quantitative concluded that there were three key areas in which the company was not achieving the results they wanted, performance & feedback, common purpose and staff development. The research also uncovered a positive result regarding employee’s relationships with their foremen and team members. Kissing Frogs discovered the organisation was spending on average $10,000 per year on birthdays & Christmas celebrations for their staff.

Kissing Frogs assisted with the dissemination of the results and produced internal communications to inform staff of the next steps in the project. Staff work groups were established to tackle the areas of performance & feedback and staff development and the senior management team were given responsibility for addressing the issues raised with the company’s common purpose. The staff groups and senior management team attended a series of facilitated workshops. The workshops included ideas generation, research into possible solutions, cost/benefit analysis and the development of an implementation plan. The solutions and analysis were ratified by the CEO and were included in the Employee Engagement Strategy formulated by Kissing Frogs.

Kissing Frogs included a 100-day action plan in the clients Employee Engagement Strategy document. This contained details on communications to all staff, external service provider’s information and the internal champions’ role and expectations. Kissing Frogs supported the internal champions and senior managers through the initial implementation process, conducted the post implementation measures and maintained contact with the organisation throughout the following months.

As a result of the research and initatives implemented employees gained a greater understanding of the businesses intentions and goals. The company was able to reduce wastage in the plant, improve staff productivity, retained all staff and they will be conducting their next employee engagement survey in 3 months time. Gains to date to the bottom line have been significant.

Our client was a multidepartment agency with a number of professional employees that had high levels of training. They believed they had good levels of employee engagement but still had moderate employee turnover in an industry where recruitment is often difficult. The client wanted to be amongst the best places to work in New Zealand. Results of the research both quantitative and qualitative found the organisation did have very high levels of engagement. More specifically employees found the physical working environment, staff development programs and flexibility within the organisation as positives. The areas for improvement were lowering stress levels amongst employees and improving support within teams. Kissing Frogs found that the organisation was spending significant money developing individual employee’s skills but rarely offered whole team training or building opportunities.

Kissing Frogs assisted the CEO in disseminating the results of the research. An internal communication was designed showing the organisations results in comparison to other similar organisations in New Zealand. The large number of positive results were clearly communicated to all employees and celebrated. Sessions were held with cross-functional groups to further discuss the high levels of stress felt by employees. It was uncovered that the stress often originated from confusion over timelines and workflows. The group believed an employee exchange program would assist in creating better inter-departmental understanding. A workshop was also held with Senior Management and the Human Resource team to discuss internal marketing ideas. The ideas generated from both sessions along with other external marketing strategies were incorporated in the Employee Engagement Strategy formulated by Kissing Frogs.

Kissing Frogs included a 100-day action plan in the clients Employee Engagement Strategy document. This contained information on how to communicate the new initiatives to all staff and the initial workings for the internal marketing campaign. Kissing Frogs developed and trained an internal champion on the details of the employee exchange program. Kissing Frogs asssisted senior managers through the initial implementation processes and continued supporting the organisation throughout the following months.

The organisation has had four employees complete the half day exchange program (one per month) and has another six on the waiting list. The internal marketing campaign has seen a 25% reduction in employee turnover and line managers are incorporating team training sessions in the next years training budget. The organisation intends to enter the New Zealand Best Places to Work competition in 2010.