Passionate about Employee Engagement? Check this Out

I've made a new friend over the last few weeks, a talented consultant and speaker out of Texas named Tim Wright.  Tim and I have a lot in common when it comes to our passion for employee engagement, and he recently posted an excellent practical article on creating engagement in organizations.  I loved the article because it explains rather neatly some of the concepts around engagement that I believe strongly in. You can check it out here.  (It's good stuff!)

In talking with leaders about building engagement, I usually outline a few things that I say employees "need" in order to be able to engage with the organization.  These things are:

Permission - Employees who are used to directive and top-down management often need to know they have permission to engage and participate.  When employees have come from an environment of "just do what you're told, thank you," engagement can feel pretty risky.  Engagement requires that employees know they are *really* allowed to participate in the organization's success in tangible ways.

Skills -  Engagement can thrive when employees communicate, manage conflict, and make decisions in a team environment.  If you haven't had teams operating at a high level with these skills in recent years, you may need to do some skill building to make sure that any engagement is productive and positive.  If people can't disagree without arguing, asking them to come together and engage can result in more problems, not less.

Space - Both physical space and time to gather and have the discussions which form the basis of engagement.  People can't engage if they don't have the time or space to do so.

Support - Engagement doesn't mean a lack of leadership.  Engagement requires leaders who can set expectations, facilitate employee participation, and help employees learn from mistakes without fear.  Leaders who can facilitate as well as they direct can be hard to come by, so in order to support engagement well you may wish to do some skill building in this area with your management team.

Patience - Employees don't go from zero to engagement in a heartbeat.  (Although it certainly is contagious!)  Asking employees to engage is about building a high-trust relationship between the organization and employees.  Engagement must be nurtured, not demanded, and thus it may take some time.  Patience is key.

In my discussions with Tim and other "engagement fanatics" around the world, I've learned that there are a small but growing group of us committed to bringing the benefits of engagement to organizations all over the globe.  It's exciting to see the emergence of practical engagement strategies into our workplaces.  We can all do a little each day to turn this concept of "engagement" from an idea into a reality.

Enjoy this beautiful day!  (Cold and beautiful in Seattle - but lovely nonetheless)

Comments

[Tim Wright]

Cheri -

Thank you for the blogsupport. I agree that our appreciations for (and encouragements of!) employee engagement are quite similar.

I enjoy your point about Support above. For sure, engagement means anything but a lack of leadership. My research supports my opinion that the leaders must sow the seeds for the Employee Engagement Culture.

And you're on the mark when you say leaders must set engagement expectations. In addition to that, the leaders must ensure that managers/supervisors continuously communicate those expectations.

Again, Cheri, thanks for the mention!