Comments on: 8 Employee Engagement Lessons From Barcelona http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/ David Zinger Associates: Powering Results of Employee Engagement For All Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:46:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: David Zinger http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/comment-page-1/#comment-2467 David Zinger Tue, 05 May 2009 22:29:55 +0000 http://www.davidzinger.com/?p=2778#comment-2467 Julie, You really got me thinking differently...engaged or engaging cities. Which ones are they? How do they do it? How would you measure it? How would you foster it? Etc. David Julie,

You really got me thinking differently…engaged or engaging cities. Which ones are they? How do they do it? How would you measure it? How would you foster it? Etc.

David

]]> By: Julie http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/comment-page-1/#comment-2464 Julie Tue, 05 May 2009 15:05:14 +0000 http://www.davidzinger.com/?p=2778#comment-2464 David - Your comments about the conference made me wish I had been there - and there are few cities that are as engaging as Barcelona! I wonder if we can learn from how cities measure engagement and brand attraction. Of course they use growth and retention figures, and yes, surveys. As a recent resident and rabid fan of NYC, I note we pride that we have the highest percentage of residents who report that they would never move to another city. I wonder if that will hold despite the devastation in the financial community? Stay tuned... David –

Your comments about the conference made me wish I had been there – and there are few cities that are as engaging as Barcelona! I wonder if we can learn from how cities measure engagement and brand attraction. Of course they use growth and retention figures, and yes, surveys. As a recent resident and rabid fan of NYC, I note we pride that we have the highest percentage of residents who report that they would never move to another city. I wonder if that will hold despite the devastation in the financial community? Stay tuned…

]]> By: David Zinger http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/comment-page-1/#comment-2461 David Zinger Sat, 02 May 2009 14:09:51 +0000 http://www.davidzinger.com/?p=2778#comment-2461 Kavita: Ah, loyalty to a losing team. Many organization could use that during these very challenging economic times. In Winnipeg, we have loyalty to an NHL hockey team that left us 15 years ago! David Kavita:

Ah, loyalty to a losing team. Many organization could use that during these very challenging economic times. In Winnipeg, we have loyalty to an NHL hockey team that left us 15 years ago!

David

]]> By: David Zinger http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/comment-page-1/#comment-2460 David Zinger Sat, 02 May 2009 14:08:52 +0000 http://www.davidzinger.com/?p=2778#comment-2460 Tim: What a very powerful example: we simply don't know ourselves well enough to answer survey questions with real clarity. Thanks for that gem. David Tim:

What a very powerful example: we simply don’t know ourselves well enough to answer survey questions with real clarity. Thanks for that gem.

David

]]> By: Kavita Khanna http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/comment-page-1/#comment-2458 Kavita Khanna Sat, 02 May 2009 10:15:50 +0000 http://www.davidzinger.com/?p=2778#comment-2458 Hi David I have to say I do completely agree about learning from the sporting arena - about employee engagement - more than anything else, it is how they manage to have fans following teams game after game - even when they are losing...definitely learnings to be had there...though paying for a seat might not be my favourite tactic! Hi David

I have to say I do completely agree about learning from the sporting arena – about employee engagement – more than anything else, it is how they manage to have fans following teams game after game – even when they are losing…definitely learnings to be had there…though paying for a seat might not be my favourite tactic!

]]> By: Tim Houlihan http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/comment-page-1/#comment-2452 Tim Houlihan Fri, 01 May 2009 15:41:49 +0000 http://www.davidzinger.com/?p=2778#comment-2452 Inspiring words, David! Thank you! As much as I would like to wax on about Barcelona and Gaudi's work, I am most struck by your comments and insights on surveys. I am a big believer in data and data collection and while we struggle with collecting good quantitative data sometimes and therefore rely on qualitative data (such as surveys), I wonder what we're missing. You've tee'd up an important question and I want to call attention to Scott Jeffrey's work on incentives as a brilliant example of our (employees) ability to articulate our own wants. Scott did a study that offered cash awards (in one condition) and tangible awards (in another, separate condition). After he'd doled out the tangible awards to the recipients in that part of the study, he asked them if they'd rather have cash. Two-thirds of them reported they would prefer cash in lieu of the tangible rewards. However, the group that earned tangible awards DOUBLED the performance of those receiving cash. Who was more engaged? It appears to be very clear that the tangible awards group was more engaged. Yet in a survey (after they'd earned their awards) they still expressed a preference for cash. We simply don't know ourselves well enough to answer survey questions with real clarity. I'm SO glad you shared that observation from Spain! Thank you! Inspiring words, David! Thank you! As much as I would like to wax on about Barcelona and Gaudi’s work, I am most struck by your comments and insights on surveys. I am a big believer in data and data collection and while we struggle with collecting good quantitative data sometimes and therefore rely on qualitative data (such as surveys), I wonder what we’re missing. You’ve tee’d up an important question and I want to call attention to Scott Jeffrey’s work on incentives as a brilliant example of our (employees) ability to articulate our own wants.

Scott did a study that offered cash awards (in one condition) and tangible awards (in another, separate condition). After he’d doled out the tangible awards to the recipients in that part of the study, he asked them if they’d rather have cash. Two-thirds of them reported they would prefer cash in lieu of the tangible rewards. However, the group that earned tangible awards DOUBLED the performance of those receiving cash.

Who was more engaged? It appears to be very clear that the tangible awards group was more engaged. Yet in a survey (after they’d earned their awards) they still expressed a preference for cash. We simply don’t know ourselves well enough to answer survey questions with real clarity.

I’m SO glad you shared that observation from Spain! Thank you!

]]> By: David Zinger http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/comment-page-1/#comment-2447 David Zinger Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:51:32 +0000 http://www.davidzinger.com/?p=2778#comment-2447 Sally, Gaudi and the city are so inspiring in so many ways. I hope you can be there next year. David Sally,
Gaudi and the city are so inspiring in so many ways. I hope you can be there next year.
David

]]> By: Sally Bibb http://www.davidzinger.com/8-employee-engagement-lessons-from-barcelona-2778/comment-page-1/#comment-2446 Sally Bibb Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:48:10 +0000 http://www.davidzinger.com/?p=2778#comment-2446 Thank you for the summary David. It sounds like an excellent and very stimulating conference. And Barcelona seems to have provided wonderful inspiration too. Gaudi certainly engages me on an intellectual, emotional and spiritual level too. How wonderful to take the time out and spend time reflecting, learning and engaging! I hope to be able to make it next year! Sally Thank you for the summary David. It sounds like an excellent and very stimulating conference. And Barcelona seems to have provided wonderful inspiration too. Gaudi certainly engages me on an intellectual, emotional and spiritual level too. How wonderful to take the time out and spend time reflecting, learning and engaging! I hope to be able to make it next year!
Sally

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