Episode Overview

In the first episode of the shorter, solo, "sticky bits" format, Andy Goram summarises his experiences of the first few episodes of the full, Sticky From The Inside Podcast, and looks at the opportunities that businesses have ahead of them to grow employee engagement in the New Year.

Full Transcript

Right, we’re a few episodes into this new podcast and I thought I’d just record my first, shorter “sticky bits” episode, to summarise my thoughts and look ahead to the new year.

Doing this podcast thing has been great fun. I’m learning some new skills and getting to meet and chat to some fine and interesting people.  As we move into the new year the plan is to do more of the same and try to keep offering up some interesting conversations that also provide you with some food for thought and hopefully some practical advice to take back to your place of work and start improving your workplace culture and the levels of engagement across your business. And I’ve got some great guests lined up to do just that.

I really think as we look ahead that building and maintaining morale and engagement is going to be something that more and more businesses are going to have to deal with and face into.  If this podcast can help people do that more effectively then more’s the better.

Over the last few months, businesses and their employees have had to cope with a lot. It doesn’t matter whether business has been booming or been an enormous struggle to stay alive.  The situation may have caused you to act differently than your stated values just to keep going.

Your success may have caused you to put even more pressure on your employees, whilst they continue to try to balance things at work and home.

If you’ve had a boon you may have been so task-focused, to take advantage of the situation that your relationship with your employees may have suffered and you’ve lost some connection with them.

You may have had to lay a lot of people off, and ended up piling even more on the people left behind, and what has that done to their morale and engagement? You may even have had to recruit a whole bunch of new people to cope, but have had no time to induct them properly and show them the important part they will play in the future success of your business. And you may just have seen or spotted things you just don’t like about your company, or things you’d perhaps like to change.

Whatever the issue or reason behind the behaviour has been, we all now have an opportunity to change things for the better as we go into the new year.

One of the best things about this horrible moment in history has been some of the change that’s already been seen in how some people are doing business.  There seems to be more humanity coming through, with a genuine focus on trying to balance making a profit and doing right by people.

There’s been a greater focus on local and helping out in the community. And I’m not trying to sound worthy when i say this, but if we can keep these three things going into the future, i genuinely think it will feel like a better place to work.

If we can take this ethos into the new year, in more places, and combine this attitude with the foundations of strong employee engagement, which remain:

• Having a strong, compelling strategic narrative, told consistently and continually throughout the business
• Developing leaders & managers who understand and are well-equipped to communicate well, manage for trust and can focus and empower their people
• Giving employees a real voice within the business where they feel heard and feel like they can contribute and influence
• And finally having a clear purpose and set of actionable values and behaviours that guide decisions and actions consistently, with no “say-do” gap

Then I think we will finally see consistent growth in employee engagement and improved workplace cultures.

But like all things that are worth having, it’s no easy task and it’s going to take commitment and time to get it in, working and sticking. And that’s why this podcast is here.  The more we talk about it, hear examples of where it’s working and importantly how it’s working, then hopefully we’ll see a lot more of it as we move forward.

So I for one move into the new year with a positive attitude.  I feel more businesses are in a position to start or continue their own engagement journeys, and the need for it has never been greater.  So, the sticky from the inside podcast and i will be here to help as best we can.

I hope you will continue to join me and bring others to join the party.  And I wish you all a happy, engaging, and prosperous new year.

Until the next episode, thanks for listening.