#######################################
KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF
BUSINESS
Volume
79, October 2007
Publisher: © Key Associates, 2007
ISSN #
1545-8873
http://www.mkkey.com/
#######################################
This Issue: "Employee Engagement"
Contents:
GIVING PEOPLE MEANINGFUL WORK TO DO.
REPLACING "INVITATION" TO
PARTICIPATE
WITH "EXPECTATION."*
PROVIDING SIGNIFICANT RECOGNITION.
IMAGINING BETTER FUTURES AND HIGHER
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE.
***************************************
MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
***************************************
Estimates are that there are over 22 million workers
in the U.S. alone, who are extremely negative or
"actively disengaged." This costs the economy
between $250 and $350 billion per year in lost
productivity. If you add injury, illness, absences,
and fraud, the cost could surpass $1 trillion per
year or 10% of the GDP. And these are only the
"actively disengaged, "-- excluding the "not engaged"
(Rath & Clifton, 2004). What are you doing to encourage
this disconnect?
Gratuitous attempts can be made to raise morale
or curb negativity. But it is only through people's
full engagement with their work that quality,
job satisfaction, and financial success can be achieved.
Read on...
*************************************
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
*************************************
Why should we
worry about engagement?
Gallup data reported in Wagner &
Harder (2006)
and Krueger & Killman (2006) show that engaged
employees are more productive, profitable, and innovative,
miss less work, stay longer with their company, provide
better customer service, steal less from their employers,
and have fewer accidents than less engaged employees.
Highly engaged employees outperform their disengaged
counterparts by a whopping 20 – 28 percentage points
More engaged organizations out-perform the earnings-
per-share of their non-engaged competitors by 18%.
Disengaged employees pull an organization down,
and you, with it. They act out their discontent and sow
the seeds of negativity. They undermine the work of others.
They are not just indifferent; they are destructive.
They scare off customers, they wreck quality, and
they poison other employees. It doesn't take many
bad apples to spoil the barrel.
How do you turn disengaged employees into engaged contributors?
I attended a leadership conference recently (Vermont Oxford Network's
semi-annual meeting in Cambridge Mass., October 12, 2007), where
Tim Porter-O'Grady* captured our minds with a
fresh message:
"Build expectation, not invitation" for empowerment and accountability.
He gave us these thoughts:
* Participation is a prerequisite of membership in the organizational
community.
* Be clear about expectations (if there is an exception or option,
the option is the rule). There is no accountability if there is no
consequence, whether reward or deficit.
* Define the rules of engagement--i.e., this is how we will conduct
ourselves.
* Define what is aggressive vs. assertive.
* Use the transformative nature of energy--negative energy is energy.
* Structure participation. Find something helpful the disengaged
can do,
while you are making positive changes.
This message of expectation continually echoed through the conference,
as a happily discovered insight.
What leader behaviors build engagement and commitment?
Ayers (2006) says that the focus on increasing
engagement
has failed because leaders think engagement can be bought
through bonuses, benefits, and share options. The cure for the
cancer of disengagement is for leaders to look in the mirror
at the leadership they provide.
Employees who are not-engaged
tend to feel that their
contributions are being overlooked, and their potential
is not being tapped. They do the minimum required because
they don't believe anyone cares.
Leaders need to focus on the skills,
talents, and knowledge
required in the job role, and how each person uniquely contributes
to the overall mission. Take time to dialogue about an employee's
strengths and how they can make a difference. Then provide
recognition, acknowledgement, and the freedom to do what
they do well.
The other way that people become connected to an organization is
through relationships. Employees
who feel disconnected emotionally
from their coworkers and supervisor do not feel committed
to their work.
On the whole,
leaders can:- give people meaningful work to do, and provide the resources to do it
- appreciate others, offering meaningful recognition and reward
- listen
- provide worthwhile growth opportunities (make staff employable)
- distribute decision-making and power to the local point-of-service
- lead with vision, value, mission (alignment)
- be clear about expectations of accountability
- provide feedback and guidance
- define the rules of engagement
- encourage team development
- be optimistic and think win-win
- act with integrity, telling the truth
**************************************
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
**************************************
Essential reading on employee engagement, with numerous links
http://www.management-issues.com/2006%2F5%2F25%2Fengagement%2F95950-4687.asp
Expectations, clarification, and measurement
http://www.leadershipadvantage.com/employeeEngagement.shtml
Review of current research on employee engagement
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/documents.asp?rnext=1831
E-zine articles on engagement
http://ezinearticles.com/?Increasing-Employee-Retention-Through-Employee-Engagement&id=10575
Key Associates offers a course on the engagement skills
required of leaders
http://www.mkkey.com/courses2/LeadershipCourse.htm
**************************************
OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES
**************************************
Free download on how to improve employee
engagement
http://www.melcrum.com/offer/ee/landing/?gclid=CPmryaPOto8CFQZcgQod6lgLXA
Employee engagement survey tools
http://www.qmrinc.com/Home/index.html?gclid=CNrYi5rSto8CFUtyOAod_Tw1dQ
http://www.people-metrics.com/home/practices/ee_index.htm?gclid=CLfKr7jSto8CFQwWgQodZgLkWw
12 questions that correlate with job performance
http://www.workforce.com/section/09/article/23/53/40.html
Former Keyzines on related topics:
Volume 15, June 2002
- Motivation
Volume 16, July 2002
- Dealing with Difficult People
Volume 18, September
2002 - Organizational Culture
Volume 31, October
2003 - Optimism
Volume
38, May 2004 - Cynicism
**************************************
ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS
**************************************
Ayers, Keith. Engagement
Is Not Enough.
Advantage Media Group, 2006.
Bardwick, Judith M. One
Foot Out the Door:
How to Combat the Psychological Recession
That's Alienating Employees and Hurting
American Business. AMACOM, 2007.
Heskett, James L., W. Earl Sasser, & Joe Wheeler.
The Science of Delight: How to Build Organizations
That Win Through Customer and Employee Engagement.
Harvard Business School Press, 2008 (not yet released).
Heuerman, Tom. Leadership for Sustainability.
Pamphlet 108, January, 2007. http://www.aMoreNaturalWay.com
Krueger, Jerry & Emily Killman. "Who's Driving
Innovation at Your Company?" Gallup Management Journal,
September 14, 2006. http://gmj.gallup.com
* Malloch, Kathy
& Tim Porter-O'Grady. The
Quantum Leader.
Jones & Bartlett, 2005.
McCoy, Thomas J. Creating
an "Open Book" Organization:
Where Employees Think & Act Like Business Partners. AMACOM,
1996.
* Porter-O'Grady, Tim. Identifying
21st Century Practices for Leadership.
Presentation to the leaders within Vermont Oxford Network's
semi-annual meeting in Cambridge Mass., October 12, 2007.
Rath, Tom & Donald Clifton. How
Full is Your
Bucket? NY: Gallup Press, 2004.
Smye, John. The
CEO Chief Engagement Officer:
Turning Hierarchy Upside Down to Drive Performance.
Gower, 2007.
Swindall, Clint. Engaged
Leadership: Building
a Culture to Overcome Employee Disengagement.
Wiley, 2007.
Townsend, Patricia & Joan E. Gebhardt. The
Executive
Guide to Understanding and Implementing Employee
Engagement Programs: Expand Production Capacity,
Increase Revenue, and Save Jobs. American Society
for Quality, 2007.
Wagner, Rodd & James K. Harter. 12:
The Elements
of Great Managing. Gallup, 2006.
