Credit unions must put three conditions in place if they want to keep employees engaged and productive, according to one analyst.
Marcus Buckingham, senior consultant with the Gallup Organization, told the CUNA Future Forum that "employees must feel competent about their skills, their talents and their training. They must be focused on what it takes to succeed at the job and they must be confident that leadership knows what it's doing."
Not too many employees feel such a connection, according to Buckingham, who indicated research has found that just 29% of Americans report they are engaged in their jobs. Some 55% are neutral about their jobs, and 16% are "actively disengaged" from their jobs. Another piece of troubling news: the first year on the job is the best year for most employees. After that, it's all downhill.
Buckingham offered three steps to be taken to boost "engagement" by employees in their jobs:
1. Hire talent and train the person to be a competent employee.
2. Hire great managers to boost employee focus.
3. Hire great leaders to boost that confidence.
Talent, said Buckingham, is the key, because talent grows. He noted that skills can be transferred from one person to another but that talent can't be.
