Engaging Employees Through a Culture of Learning

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The Washington D.C. Metropolitan area represents one of the most competitive employment markets in the nation. Helios HR has evaluated firms who work collaboratively with their employees to make employee development not just a priority, but also an essential part of their culture. In doing so, these firms often enjoy higher productivity, profitability, and performance than their competitors.

The Challenge

The prevalence of technology, globalization and increased competition dramatically impacts traditional forms of competitive advantages. Leveraging differentiation through alliances, cost advantages, availability of raw materials and diversification may no longer sustain a true competitive advantage in the 21st century. Human Capital has been – and continues to be – a critical competitive advantage in most industries.

The right people are a company’s most important organizational asset. They define its character, affect its capacity to perform and combined with the sum total of their knowledge, skills, and experience, represent its human capital. Effective strategic human capital management strategies serve to increase the value of this asset and enable an organization to achieve strategic goals and objectives while remaining competitive. One of these practices, employee development, profoundly affects the realization of these goals.

A 2007 global workforce survey conducted by Towers Perrin showed that companies with the largest percentage of engaged employees had an increased operating income of 19% and earnings per share of 28% year-to-year. Those companies with the lowest percentage of engaged employees showed year-to-year declines of 33% in operating income and 11% in earnings per share. In a related study over a longer time horizon (three years), the firms with the highest levels of employee engagement achieved a 3.7% increase in operating margins, while those with the lowest levels of engagement suffered a drop of 2%.

Five Key Elements

The most successful human capital management models have five key elements. When implemented properly and measured frequently, models with these elements enable companies to thrive through the engagement of their employees. These elements include:

1. Leadership Commitment,
2. Human Capital Planning,
3. Attracting, Developing, and Retaining Employees,
4. Communications Strategy, and
5. Impact Metrics.

In Summary

The Helios HR Apollo Awards™ recognize organizations in the Washington Metropolitan Area that promote employee development and as such view the investment as an integral part of their success. Organizations recognized as leading the field in the area of employee development have formal development programs, individual development plans for each employee, measure the impact of their initiatives, and implement new and creative ideas in the area of employee development. The awards program includes a rigorous examination of these human capital management strategies.

Our statistical data for the 2008 Awards is compiled from organizations of all sizes in the greater Washington Metropolitan Area. The size of the firms evaluated range from 7 employees to 5,758 employees with the average size of the companies being 423 employees.

These firms utilize human capital management strategies, within one of the tightest labor markets in the nation to ensure they have the people, skills, and knowledge necessary to execute their mission and serve their customers. Those who execute these models attract more of the right type of employee within shorter recruiting timeframes. They also retain these employees for longer periods of time, reducing future recruiting expenses. This decreases the cost of their services or goods sold. In short, employee development creates the opportunity for organizations to operate more efficiently than most of their competitors. And, this represents a true competitive advantage that sustains growth.

To learn more about the five key elements of successful human capital management models and for specific employee development approaches engaged by top employers, download your free full copy of Creating a Competitive Advantage (PDF). Take this opportunity to learn how your organization can effectively maximize your most important asset, your workforce.