01/19 2012
Posted in: Coaching, Leadership
I’m working on developing my course materials for the CS Week college course that I am facilitating on April 30 in Dallas. The course is focused to employee engagement and this has actually been a topic that has come up quite a bit for me this week, so I thought I would jot a few thoughts to get your mind going in the direction of employee engagement. So what exactly is employee engagement? Does it mean having employees who volunteer all the time? Does it mean employees who whole-heartedly agree with you or does it mean those employees who always have an opinion on something? Are those the employees who we would classify as being “engaged”? In the back of our minds, I’ll bet those are the employees who you would say are the most engaged.
My purpose with this post is to challenge all of us to look at engagement through a different lens. Here’s an exercise that I would like to recommend that we do. Approach your “least engaged” employee… You know the one I mean- the one who never has anything to say in meetings, just comes in at the beginning of his shift and sits down at his desk and doesn’t say anything to anyone. He’s the one that “keeps to himself” and “doesn’t really have anything to say”. Really? Is he really keeping to himself? Does he really have nothing to say?
I have found out some very interesting things by not assuming that I had the answers and by engaging with the other person to find out what he/she really thought about things. Engagement is a perception and your definition of engagement could be very different than mine or someone else’s definition.
So now that you have identified that “least engaged” employee, strike up a dialogue with that person. Or when you see him in the cafeteria, sit down and just enjoy some social time together. Take informal opportunities to ask a very simple question, “What do you think?”
Employee engagement starts with us as leaders. Are we engaging with our employees to find out their opinions or ideas? And when we do find out their opinions, are we quick to convince them of why their opinions are wrong? Employee engagement begins with leadership engagement. Reach out to others and include them in your thought circles. Watch your organization change because you took the lead to reach out and touch someone else’s thoughts and heart.
It’s exciting for me to think about the power of one- one encounter, one question, one smile. Look for the little ways to spark engagement and watch the rippling effect of your connections.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Who can I engage with today? Who can I extend myself to that is outside of my typical circle?
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