Great corporate culture includes engagement. In stressful situations and when implementing change, engagement becomes even more crucial. One great way to help your ERP implementation succeed is to take actionable steps to create employee engagement.
What does employee engagement FEEL like? Let’s compare it to ways customers engage with your brand through social media. They like your Facebook posts, retweet your Twitter posts, share your images and links and follow your accounts. This engagement leads to purchases because customers buy products from brands they feel connected to. Employee engagement feels similar, helping people feel connected to the company where they work. This leads to better job performance and commitment, similar to how engagement leads to purchases for customers.
How do you create a culture that fosters these feelings? Focus on these three areas:
Share company news
Involve employees every step of the way, whether they’re on the implementation team or not, by broadcasting news. Share it on posters, in emails, on the company intranet and in meetings. Share more than big milestones. One way Agile Software Project Management helps IT projects succeed is through transparency, specifically by using daily standups and regularly scheduled demos. Plan something similar that’s on a regular schedule so employees know when to expect updates. They’ll look forward to it.
Don’t share your messages in lengthy paragraphs, though. Harold D. Kerzner, of the International Institute for Learning, said, “If it has a staple through it, or a paperclip around it, they won’t read it.” Craft your updates to be visual, succinct and timely. Perhaps you could get your graphics team involved to post it as an infographic or create a clever character to deliver each update. You could even have a naming contest and let employees offer up names for the character.
Translate the news into how it affects individual employees
Help departments and individuals understand what the project means for them by explaining a few things: why the changes are necessary, how they will benefit the company and how they will assist employees’ day-to-day activities. Begin implementing certain business process changes as you move through the project to help employees feel and experience the change a little at a time.
Be clear about expectations
Change is a big deal and may even feel a bit terrifying for some employees. Clearly communicate the training plan and invest time into working with all departments, so they are aware of what’s expected of them both during and after the change. Create a unique way for employees to offer suggestions, submit questions or provide feedback, so they feel like their concerns are heard.
Adding stress to individuals’ jobs by implementing big changes can feel daunting and turn a happy, productive corporate environment into something stormy. Make sure you include employee engagement as part of your game plan with your ERP implementation. When everyone feels that their impact will help the project succeed and that the new system will provide a great productivity boost for their work, you can roll out the new software with smashing success. We’ve worked with many businesses as we’ve implemented ERPs over the years. Premier Computing has more ideas to help you out if you need them. Stop by our site; check out our information today, and then send an email along!
