Taking Employee Engagement to the Next Level with Shawn Premer
\u201cHow we treat employees relates to how they become brand ambassadors.\u201d Your employees \u2014 your people \u2014 are one of your biggest brand assets. However, they can only do this if they\u2019re engaged. As the Chief Human Resources Officer at an award-winning financial institution, Shawn Premer knows how organizations can harness their people power. We discussed employee engagement and culture on this week\u2019s episode of the On Brand podcast presented by\xa0Twenty20.\nAbout Shawn Premer\nConsumers Credit Union has 300 employees, over $900 million in assets and is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan.\xa0Shawn Premer\xa0is responsible for providing leadership in establishing and implementing strategic human resource strategies. Shawn\u2019s primary focus is on employee and member engagement. Consumers is proud of its 98% member satisfaction rate, it\u2019s over 11 years of recognition as one of West Michigan\u2019s 101 Best & Brightest Companies and 4 years of being recognized Nationally as a 101 Best & Brightest Company! In addition, Consumers has been honored as a 101 Best & Brightest in Wellness Employer in Michigan and a Healthiest 100 Employer Nationally.\nShawn holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in Business Management from Northwood University and an MBA with a focus in Global Business Studies from Cornerstone University. Shawn also holds SPHR, SHRM-SCP, and Certified Corporate Wellness Specialist (CCWS) certifications.\nA wife of 24 years and a mother of three, Shawn is also an avid runner and yogi. In 2016 she was honored as Michigan\u2019s Top HR Professional by the Michigan Council of SHRM. She also serves on the executive council for Michigan Chapter of Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the board of Southwest Michigan First, the board of Senior Services of Southwest Michigan where she chairs the Human Resource Executive Committee.\nIn addition to the organizations listed above Shawn also founded and chairs the Kalamazoo Area Wellness Networking group, which includes 20 area organizations who come together to share wellness best practices.\nEpisode Highlights\nEmployee engagement is great but \u2026\xa0aren\u2019t people scary? Won\u2019t they say or do something on behalf of our brand that we won\u2019t like? Sure, \u201cyou\u2019re going to have some bad employee interactions but you have to make sure that you have more good than bad.\u201d That\u2019s why consumers is focused on wellness and creating a family environment at work. What does that mean?\nNo negative water cooler talk.\xa0One policy Shawn has put into place at Consumers is banning negative conversations about other people. Instead, employees are encouraged to talk through challenging issues. \u201cThis same philosophy applies to interacting with members.\u201d\nHow can an organization currently doing nothing get started with employee engagement?\xa0\u201cListen,\u201d Shawn reminds us is the first step. From there, she encourages organizations to ask three questions: (1) What makes you excited to get out of bed every morning and come here to work? (2) Conversely, what makes you want to hit the snooze button in the morning? (3) What would keep you here forever?\nThe worst thing you can do?\xa0\u201cThe worst thing you can do is to ask these questions (above) and do nothing. Be ready to act.\u201d Form a small, cross-functional team to analyze and take action.\nWhat brand has made Shawn smile recently?\xa0Proctor and Gamble\u2019s recent \u201cmoms ad\u201d at the Winter Olympics made Shawn smile by connecting with her emotionally.\xa0\nTo learn more,\xa0connect with Shawn on\xa0LinkedIn\xa0and\xa0Twitter. You can also visit the\xa0Consumers Credit Union website.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices