engagement

key-96233_640 It’s been widely shown that a strong correlation exists between employee engagement and performance. Engaged employees work harder, producing higher volume and better quality than their disengaged counterparts. Furthermore, organizations with high levels of employee engagement realize higher profitability (through increased revenue and decreased cost) as well as positive growth in both customer satisfaction and retention. Simply put, a motivated workforce is a significant competitive advantage.

While I’m often asked by managers to help them figure out ways to motivate their team, I rarely feel as if they appreciate my answer. That’s because motivation is a loaded word. It’s an external action intended to cause an internal reaction. Managers often look for some kind of silver bullet – some nifty little checklist they can complete that will magically result in engaged employees. But motivation simply doesn’t work that way.

What motivates any given individual at any particular moment in time is difficult to pinpoint from the outside. The factors driving someone to engage and perform at a high level are as unique to them as fingerprints. Sometimes even they cannot verbalize what they’re feeling at any given moment and why their level of engagement fluctuates. People want to feel motivated, but for some reason they often don’t. Since they can’t read minds, managers are left to guess at which motivational tactics work best, hence the frequency of questions hitting my inbox.[Tweet “The factors driving someone to engage & perform at a high level are as unique to them as fingerprints.”]

When it comes to motivating others, the best don’t rely on shotgun approaches or expensive tangible rewards. Top managers work create an environment in which a person’s natural desire to engage can flourish. According to David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, we do this by focusing our efforts in a few specific areas. In 2008, they embarked on a study of organizations that had seen dramatic improvements in employee engagement. After hundreds of interviews, they discovered a common theme they call the Four Enablers of Engagement.

STRATEGIC NARRATIVE
“Visible, empowering leadership providing a strong strategic narrative about the organization, where it’s come from and where it’s going.”

We all love a good story. We want to work for an organization that has a compelling story to tell and, beyond that, want to be part of the story going forward. Organizations that have a great story to tell and invite employees to become part of it enable engagement.

ENGAGING MANAGERS
Leaders “who focus their people and give them scope, treat their people as individuals, and coach and stretch their people.”

We desire leadership. We seek structure, advice, support, and guidance from someone we trust. Managers who abandon their teams to figure things out on their own, or govern from afar using policies, excuses, and intimidation will struggle with engagement and turnover. Those who take an interest in the well-being of the team and get personally involved enable engagement.

EMPLOYEE VOICE
Employees are heard “throughout the organization, for reinforcing and challenging views, between functions and externally. Employees are not seen as the problem, rather as central to the solution, to be involved, listened to, and invited to contribute their experience, expertise, and ideas.”

We need to have a voice. Everyone seeks to exert some level of influence over the work they do; it’s what makes us human. Without some degree of influence and a sense of contribution, we fail to realize our full potential and feel less than we are destined to be. When the individual and collective minds of employees are tapped into, engagement is enabled.

INTEGRITY
“The values on the wall are reflected in day to day behaviors. There is no ‘say-do’ gap. Promises made are promises kept, or there is an explanation as to why not.”

We were meant to be part of something bigger than ourselves. It’s important to feel that we share the same values as those around us and at the helm of the ship. When employees connect with the belief system of the organization (as evidenced by the actions of those in charge), they align themselves with the strategic plan and engagement is enabled.

It’s important to note that these enablers do not inherently suggest specific action steps for leaders to take. Tactics for pursuing strategic narrative, engaging mangers, employee voice, and integrity must be customized depending on the unique circumstances of the organization. There is no silver bullet. There is no magic pill. The pursuit of motivation is hard work. But there’s no doubt that, for those who see employee engagement as key competitive differentiator, the rewards are great.

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In the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays disengaged television meteorologist Phil Connors. Phil is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual groundhog ceremony whereby the famous rodent predicts the weather. Obviously frustrated by the menial assignment, Phil comes across as rude, condescending, and genuinely uninterested in both his coworkers and the townspeople around him. He arrives late for the live television feed and fakes his way through it; going through the motions in an obvious attempt to get things over with so he can get back home.

The people Phil comes in contact with make repeated attempts to connect with him. The mayor, his cameraman, and his producer all eventually get fed up with his brusque demeanor. Phil rushes the team back on the road, but a freak blizzard forces them to turn around and spend the night in Punxsutawney. He awakens the next morning to find he is trapped in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again.

I don’t know about you, but I run into a lot of people who resemble Phil Connors. They isolate themselves from others and basically sleepwalk their way through the day. Any attempt to connect with them or collaborate is met with outright resistance or, at best, reluctant participation. They seem to exert the least possible amount of effort, performing just well enough to get through the day; but not really impacting anything or anyone. They’re miserable and it shows. And this goes on day after day after day.

In other words, they are unengaged.

A 2014 Gallup poll revealed that almost 70% of employees in the U.S. are unengaged. That means millions of people go to work every day uninvolved, unenthusiastic, and uncommitted. Employees classified as managers, executives, or officers apparently check out just as frequently. Sixty-two percent of that group said they are unengaged as well.

You don’t need a research study to figure out the implications of this. Unengaged employees obviously cost an organization in terms of sales, service, and innovation. Organizations with high levels of unengaged employees also have high turnover, incurring extra costs associated with hiring and training. The problem is real and, according to the research, widespread.

So what are we to do to combat the engagement dilemma? Well, the same Gallup survey identified a handful of organizations that seem to have cracked the code. And the number one reason for their higher-than-average levels of engagement? Involved leadership. Here’s a quote from an article detailing the findings:

“Leaders’ own attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors have powerful trickle-down effects on their organizations’ cultures. Leaders of great workplaces don’t just talk about what they want to see in the management ranks — they model it and keep practicing to get better at it every day with their own teams.”

The key to highly engaged employees is highly engaged leadership – involved leadership. Engagement doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It requires action. It requires participation. It requires getting up from the desk and interacting with people. That’s the only way you get to know them. That’s the only way you get to share with them your vision for the future. That’s the only way you can influence their desire to be a part of that vision.

How well do you know the people around you? How well do you know what’s going on in their lives? How involved are you in their work? How engaged are you?

Phil Connors tries desperately to break out of the repetitive time loop. At first he behaves erratically, thinking altering events around him will make a difference. It doesn’t. He tries running away from the problem by leaving town and even committing suicide. But every day winds up looking the same. It’s only when he decides to get involved in the lives of the people around him that something changes. It’s only when he gets to know them and decides to get engaged himself that the cycle is broken.

We don’t know how long it took Phil to break out of his time loop. The film doesn’t say. Director Harold Ramis suggested it took perhaps 10 years. Analysts of the events depicted in the movie have theorized Phil lived the same day over and over for 40 years or more. Hopefully it doesn’t take the rest of us that long to figure things out.

engagement

The Keys to Employee Engagement

Breaking the Cycle of Unengagement