Employees are Like a Box of Chocolates

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we decided to take a look at all the things and people we love at 15Five: our customers, our employees, and our mission — to help all people love their work and achieve their true potential.

A wise man’s mama once said, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”

Just like the variety in that red heart-shaped box you buy for your special someone, employees are unique — each one made up of different ingredients. Every person in your organization brings their own flavor to the business.

Head, heart, and hands

At 15Five, we describe employee engagement as an employee’s intellectual (head) and emotional (heart) connection with an employer, demonstrated by motivation and commitment (hands) to positively impact the company vision and goals. While this definition of engagement is universal, the formula for how each individual achieves it varies.

The challenge for business leaders is figuring out what gets your unique employees to put their head, heart, and hands into their work. And that strategy can’t be one-size-fits-all — different approaches to engagement work better for different groups of people.

When you’re making critical decisions for your organization, you need to know how those decisions impact different employee groups (e.g., product engineers in the Dallas office, millennial women in sales, frontline customer service agents). That information helps you better understand the different dynamics at play in your business and allows mid-level managers to make more informed decisions for their teams.

Fill your heart-shaped box with a variety of flavors.

I think we can all agree that salted caramels are delicious… but have too many of them and you may end up with a toothache. Likewise, if you fill your workforce with all the same types of people, you put the organization at a major disadvantage.

For example, an executive team made up entirely of male Harvard MBAs is surely a smart bunch, but they can also suffer the effects of “group think.” Workforces that are more diverse (both in terms of demographics and diversity of thought) are more innovative and creative. In fact, a 2018 McKinsey report found that executive teams in the top quartile for gender diversity were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability.

Teams comprised of unique individuals with different backgrounds and experiences means more variety in your company culture and fresh new ideas in your business… making the whole package that much sweeter.

We love our customers and they love the deep insights and coaching we provide. But this big lovefest only happens because we work with business leaders who care deeply about their people and culture and want their teams performing at the highest level possible.

Just like a chocolatier measures the perfect amount of sugar to put in his confections, leaders must measure employee engagement data and put the right ingredients in place in their organization, making it possible for employees to bring their full heart and mind to work every day.

15Five can help you perfect the engagement recipe. Learn more —>