September
2006
Your most engaged employees, that's who. They're the ones most likely to improve your business with "outside-the-box" thinking. In fact, according to a national Gallup Management Journal survey, employee engagement has a significant effect on team-level innovation and customer-service delivery.
Fully engaged customers deliver a 23% premium over average customers in share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth. That's exactly why so many call centers survey customers to determine their level of engagement. But what happens in between measurements? Specifically, how can a team leader keep customer engagement from feeling like an isolated event, rather than a way of doing business?
In this German plant, the responsibility for fixing a major manufacturing problem fell to manager Klaus Welte. He needed to assemble his team in the same way as the product -- each employee had to fit in his role and work flawlessly together with the rest. The failure of any one component, or any team member, would cause the product and the entire group to fall short of their goals. Here's how Welte and his team overcame a high-pressure challenge.
It has turned into a hot political issue this year, but what effect does illegal immigration have on the U.S. economy? And is its impact negative or positive on businesses and consumers? Gallup's chief economist tackles these and other questions, as he tries to get past political rhetoric and look at the hard economic facts. You'll find many of his conclusions surprising.
Some companies do very little, if anything at all, to welcome or assist newcomers. They're more likely to leave them stranded or alienated. Tom Rath, author of Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without, tells you how to make sure that doesn't happen in your organization.