Here is a best practice definition:

Best Practice is an idea that asserts that there is a technique, method, process, activity, incentive or reward that is more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. The idea is that with proper processes, checks, and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems and unforeseen complications. Best practices can also be defined as the most efficient (least amount of effort) and effective (best results) way of accomplishing a task, based on repeatable procedures that have proven themselves over time for large numbers of people. ~ Wikipedia definition

Click here to read a post on best practices that I wrote at my other site (Slacker Manager) and let me know what you have seen or experienced in regards to best practices and employee engagement?

Were the practices actually the best or was the term best practice used to give a good idea more credibility than it may actually deserve?

Have you taken a strength inventory? Quick, what were your strengths?

Chances are you have not even taken this baby step in workplace strength development. And if you did, chances are that you got a list that is sitting in some binder or book rather than being integrated into what you do everyday at work.

Is your work strength based? I am not talking about lifting weights and bulging muscles. Rather, do you know what you are best at and do you bring your best to work everyday in a variety of ways?

Do you work at ensuring that all employees are using their strengths? How do you determine strengths? How do you go beyond listing strengths to living strengths and using them in the service of results, others and the organization?

Strength based leadership is a core foundation of this website. As we move into spring 2008, I will rekindle the strengths approach to encourage you to refresh your strengths development. When leadership is strength based and employees are operating from their strengths you will experience high levels of engagement and results.

I want to re-introduce the strength-based focus to work by offering some nuggets from earlier posts. I will do this over the next few weeks and then bring a fresh focus to strength based work. If you are intrigued by the nugget, I encourage you to click on the title as this will take you to the original article.

On Peter Drucker (November 11, 2005)

This was the very first post on strength based work, written on the day Peter Drucker died. Peter Drucker, one of the foremost management experts and writers, wrote a very important article on Managing Oneself. in the Harvard Business Review March-April. 1999: 65-70. The essence of managing oneself was to know our strengths and to fully develop a strength-based leadership approach. Here is a short strength burst from the article.

Drucker challenged each of us to ask ourselves: What are my strengths? How do I perform? What are my values? Where do I belong? What should my contribution be?

Don’t try to change yourself, Drucker cautioned. Instead, concentrate on improving the skills you have and accepting assignments that are tailored to your individual way of working. If you do that, you can transform yourself from an ordinary worker into an outstanding performer.

Chess not Checkers (December 2005)

Marcus Buckingham said the right move for leaders is to see their talent management as chess not checkers. Don’t treat everyone the same and limit their work and career moves. Recognize the differences and strengths of each individual and maximize the contribution of each person’s strengths to the purposes of the organization.

Here is a quote from the Wharton business article about Buckingham: How to tell a good manager from a bad manager? According to Buckingham, it’s simple: Bad managers play checkers. Good managers play chess. The good manager knows that not all employees work the same way. They know if they are to achieve success, they must put their employees in a position where they will be able to use their strengths.

The Free & Powerful VIA Signature Strenght Inventory (March 2006)

The foundation of Strength Based Leadership is the identification and application of strengths. There are numerous pathways to strength identification but one of my favorite tools is the VIA Signature Strength Inventory at http://www.authentichappiness.org/. There is no charge to complete the inventory and receive your results. I appreciate the solid psychological research behind the inventory and the sharp focus on your top 5 signature strengths out of a possible 24 strengths.

Here are a few statements about signature strengths from Martin Seligman’s classic book, Authentic Happiness.

Our life task is to deploy our signature strengths and virtues in the major realms of living: work, love, parenting, and finding purpose. Personal meaning is the attachment of your signature strengths to something larger than yourself.

At work, Seligman believed that re-crafting your job to deploy your strengths every day can change your career into a calling. Your work can be more satisfying than it is now by using your signature strengths at work more often.

Watch for future posts on achieving strength based approaches in the workplace.

Photo credit: 2005 Mar-Austin Type Tour-032 - Hyde Park Gym Muscle by http://flickr.com/photos/mrflip/8916916/

by David Zinger

The authors present 95 theses about the changes in business. I encourage you to view the slide-show of the 95 theses and think about them in relationship to employee engagement and internal communication and marketing within the organization.

Here are 4 sample theses out of the 95 the authors have created:

3. Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.

15. In just a few more years, the current homogenized “voice” of business — the sound of mission statements and brochures — will seem as contrived and artificial as the language of the 18th century French court.

16. Already, companies that speak in the language of the pitch, the dog-and-pony show, are no longer speaking to anyone.

21. Companies need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously. they need to get a sense of humor.

Are you on the cluetrain? Slide into the 95 statements below and determine what you can do to improve employee engagement within your organization.

| View | Upload your own

Crucial Conversations can improve employee engagement. When employees feel safe because of mutual respect and mutual purpose they are more likely to engage in work.

I have been fortunate over the past year to teach numerous Crucial Conversations courses.

Crucial Conversations is a great approach to getting results and building relationships when the stakes are high, there are differing opinions, and there are strong emotions.

The method is not designed specifically for employee engagement but I have seen what a strong tool it can be to reach out to disengaged workers and to work with conflicts that may begin to sow the seeds of disengagement if they are not dealt with candidly and respectfully.

There are many tools to work with employee engagement and I believe Crucial Conversations is an exquisite tool in the tool-belt of managers and leaders who foster high levels of employee engagement while getting results and building relationships.

Here are 4 actions you can take right now to improve your results and relationships:

1. Read the book: Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes Are High.
2. Visit the Vitalsmarts website to learn more about Crucial Conversations and the newest book, The Influencer.
3. Subscribe to the Crucial Skills newsletter. This is one of my top 5 newsletters - I always look forward to it appearing in my inbox.
4. Enroll in a Crucial Conversations workshop to really develop your skills.

Photo Credit: Lattice by http://flickr.com/photos/oddwick/1039909856/

* * * * *

Contact David Zinger to learn about how you can leverage employee engagement to produce results that matter for everyone in your workplace.

Email: dzinger@shaw.ca ~ Phone 204 254 2103 ~ Website: www.davidzinger.com.

There are a plethora of methods and approaches to fostering and enhancing employee engagement. Actions can be launched by individuals, leaders, and organizations. When all 3 are working together we move beyond simple employee engagement to workplace engagement with engagement for all!

Yet, the workplace of today is asking more and more from everyone with less and less time to stop and determine what to do and how to do it. If we are given too many things to do we may give up or avoid them simply because we are overwhelmed and there are too many things to do already. It can be a challenge simply to remember to focus on employee engagement.

I recommend a 2 x 2 x 2 design structure:

1. What are 2 actions organizations can take to enhance employee engagement?
2. What are 2 actions leaders can take to enhance employee engagement?
3. What are 2 actions individuals can take to enhance employee engagement?

When everyone is taking action and working together we move beyond employee engagement to workplace engagement with engagement for all. You also get the multiplier effect as 2 x 2 x 2 = 8. The multiplier effect from a systems perspective means: changes in one field of human activity (subsystem) sometimes act to promote changes in other fields (subsystems) and in turn act on the original subsystem itself. This becomes full workplace engagement when we are seeing actions from leaders, employees, and the organization.

In the next 3 Monday Morning Percolators I will outline the actions of each of these groups. In the interim I encourage you to think about what are the 2 most powerful actions you can perform to create high levels of engagement.

Picture Credit: 2 x 2 x 2 = fun by http://flickr.com/photos/bofh/30900799/

How do you create a breakthrough to achieve fuller employee engagement for yourself and the people you work with? Often we feel stuck or disengaged. We want a breakthrough. But we are not sure how to proceed or even get started.

Lisa Haneberg offers a solution in her book: Two Weeks to a Breakthrough.

Lisa moves beyond simplistic pop psychology or self-management and offers a very practical and explicit method to get fully engaged.

She recommends taking 2 weeks to create the breakthrough and gives you guidance each day on how to proceed. The daily practice is the key to move beyond dreaming of change and breakthroughs to zooming towards your goal.

Each day is configured slightly differently but the practice consists of 3 fundamental components:

1. Share your goal with others
2. Take action that support your goal
3. Make request that will help you move towards your goal

Share-Action-Request makes our breakthrough method public, tangible, and connected. I know one of the first times I tried this method I let the sharing part of the method slip. I thought I could just do it on my own. I now realize how important this was to create what I call an accountability allies - others who will both support and challenge me on my work.

Here is a short outline on the approach if you are a leader striving towards creating more engagement in your workplace:

• You will get specific about what you are trying to achieve.
• You will be talking with many people about your plans and actions to foster fuller employee engagement.
• You will be taking multiple actions to increase engagement.
• You will be requesting help - full employee engagement can not be achieved on your own.
• You can monitor the progress and results.

One thing I love about Two Weeks to a Breakthrough is how short it is. If you did not get the results you hoped for you can start again with a fresh two weeks and use what you learned from the last breakthrough approach to ensure more success.

Fostering high levels of employee engagement will be both a service and a contribution you make to your employees and the organization.

How about it? What are you planning to do for the next 2 weeks? I hope you make a break for full employee engagement.

Get Perking:

1. Read Lisa’s book: Two Weeks to a Breakthrough.
2. Visit and engage in Lisa’s breakthrough blog.
3. Learn from your own experience, apply the method and monitor results.

Are you flying with a six pack of employee engagement?

In this case, I don’t mean half a dozen beers.

The six essential instruments in a light aircraft are often referred to as the six pack:

• airspeed indicator
• attitude indicator
• altimeter
• turn coordinator
• heading indicator
• vertical speed indicator

Do you monitor 6 strong “indications” of your employee engagement to get you successfully to your destination?

1. Airspeed indicator - how fast can you move towards your goal?
2. Attitude indicator - is everyone maintaining a strong and positive attitude and avoiding too much wobble?
3. Altimeter - how high can you climb with fully engaged employees?
4. Turn coordinator - are you responsive to change to turn back to employee engagement if you begin to drift off course? Can you feel exhilarated while making a steep turn?
5. Heading indicator - do you stay vigilant about where you are headed?
6. Vertical speed indicator - how quickly can you climb to new levels of employee engagement?

Grab a coffee, jump into the workplace cockpit, and prepare to take off with these indicators of employee engagement.

Of course, you could also grab a six pack of beer or root beer and have a down-to-earth discussion about employee engagement with the team of people you work with.

We become distinct by avoiding creating distinctions:

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both. ~ James A Michener

Pursue your vision of excellence.

Photo Credit: le Parkour by http://www.flickr.com/photos/baston/34678884/

Do you see relaxation as the opposite of work and effort? Perhaps you believe relaxation is something you do after work? I believe we perform at our best when we relax into work or performance. Our thinking can prohibit engagement or prolong emlpoyee disengagement.

Here is a short paragraph from J. J. Gibbs, Dancing With Your Books: The Zen Way of Studying:

Relaxed Mind, Alert Mind. Relaxation does not mean that the mind goes to sleep. It means to let go to allow the mind to devote its full power to the task at hand. Emptying the mind or letting go is liberation from disquieting thoughts and feelings so our mind’s light can shine directly and exclusively on the present moment, the task at hand. The remaining mid is relaxed by alert. It is taut and ready; poised to deal with whatever present circumstances demand.

The next time you find yourself struggling to stay engaged with your work, take a deep breath, inspire yourself, and relax into your effort.

Picture Credit: Fillmore Snow (11) by http://flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/47910013/

Do you mind?

Are you willing to grow for it or are you fixed - stuck in a mental rut that inhibits learning, risk and effort?

Carol Dweck, a noted social cognitive psychologist, has studied attributions and performance for many years. I recall studying her work during my B.A. at the University of Manitoba in the 1970’s. Her current contribution is a popular book on attributions and understanding of ourselves called: Mindset. Our mindset influences so much in our lives including engagement.

Dr. Dweck distinguished between two main types of Mindsets.

1. Fixed Mindset. We believe our qualities are carved in stone. We feel a need to prove our-self over and over. Overall, we see intelligence as static which leads to a desire to look smart and a tendency to avoid challenges, we give up easily, we see effort as a waste of time, we ignore negative feedback and we feel threatened by the success of others.
2. Growth Mindset: We believe our basic qualities are things that can be cultivated through our efforts. We believe we can change and grow through effort, application and experience. Overall intelligence is seen as something that we can develop which leads to embracing challenges, persistence in the face of setbacks, effort as the path to mastery, and willingness to learn from criticism and find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.

In support of the growth mindset, scientists have found that people have tremendous capacity for lifelong learning and brain development. Robert Sternberg stated that expertise is “not some fixed prior ability but purposeful engagement.”

When we engage we grow and as we grow we engage more and more. Employee engagement is influencing not only the attitudes of employees but also their minds. Can we win their hearts and minds? The growth mindset overcomes a sense of entitlement in favour of discretionary effort. My success is more a reflection of my effort and openness and growth as opposed to raw talent, ability, and past history.

Here is an overview by Guy Kawasaki of how the fixed mindset can lead to problems:

Here’s some food for thought: perhaps this explains the inexorable march toward mediocrity of many (temporarily) great companies. Let’s say a start-up is hot. It ships something great, and it achieves success. Thus, it’s able to attract the best, brightest, and most talented. These people have been told they’re the best since childhood. Indeed, being hired by the hot company is “proof” that they are the A and A+ players; in fact, the company is so hot that it can out-recruit Google and Microsoft.

Unfortunately, they develop a fixed mindset that they’re the most talented, and they think that continued success is a right. Problems arise because pure talent only works as long as the going is easy. Furthermore, they don’t take risks because failure would harm their image of being the best, brightest, and most talented. When they do fail, they deny it or attribute it to anything but their shortcomings.

And this is the beginning of the end.

In the race for engagement the start line begins with, “on your mark….get ready….get set….GROW!

Get Perking:

1.  Click here to see a strong one page PDF visual of the two mind-sets created by Nigel Holmes.
2. Listen to Carol 1/2 hour talk about mindsets at: http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail1011.html
3. Read her book: Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

Photo Credit: This is my brain by http://flickr.com/photos/killermonkeys/304439098/

Zen is a practice, psychology, religion, and way of life. I have read Zen books and articles for over 30 years ranging from the poetic and peaceful insights of Thich Nhat Hahn to the raw zen of Chuck Norris.

To practice Zen is to be engaged.

Here is a short excerpt from Thich Nhat Hahn’s, Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. I have reread this book a number of times over the years and it remains a classic on how to live mindfully. When we are more mindful we are more engaged. I loved his statement that there is no way to peace, peace is the way.

Perhaps there is no way to engagement, engagement is the way.

From Peace is Every Step:

Twenty-Four Brand-New Hours

Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others.

Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We don’t have to travel far away to enjoy the blue sky. We don’t have to leave our city or even our neighborhood to enjoy the eyes of a beautiful child. Even the air we breathe can be a source of joy.

We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.

In future percolators I will offer you some more percolated cups of Zengagement.

Perk Ups

1. Wake up with engagement. Can you see your life and your work as a gift?
2. How engaged are you in reading this article or has your mind wandered off to the next task, link, or thought? Spend more moments not just mere moments in being exactly where you are and nowhere else.

Photo Credit: Random Zen-Like Art by http://flickr.com/photos/cameradawktor/222328905/

Technorati Tags : employee engagement, zen, Thich Nhat Hahn, David Zinger

Do you flow into engaged activity? Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has researched flow and outlined how we can achieve flow at work. I have appreciated his ideas on flow for years and I believe flow can be seen as a close synonym for personal engagement.

You experience flow when you are fully immersed in what you are doing. You experience energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.

Here are the ingredients to percolate flow:

1. You set clear goals
2. You concentrate and focus
3. You lessen or lose self-consciousness
4. You have an alterted sense of time while being immersed in the moment
5. You have direct and immediate feedback
6. You create balance between your ability and the external challenge
7. You act out of personal control
8. Your motivation or reward for the activity is intrinsic
9. You are fully absorbed in the task at hand.

Have you experienced flow at work? Blend the ingredient above to design your work to achieve flow - the psychology of optimal experience.

Marcus Buckingham in his latest book on strengths, Go Put Your Strengths to Work, has defined strengths in a similar way to flow. He outlines 6 powerful steps to achieve outstanding performance. Strengths are defined as an appetite for an activity, strengths strengthen us, we look forward to working on these activities, and we feel high levels of satisfaction after completing activities based on our strengths. Look to experiences that provide flow as keys to unlock your strengths in the workplace.

Like freshly brewed coffee poured into a waiting mug, flow into your strengths to experience higher levels of engagement.

Go with the flow…

Get Engaged:

1. Click here to read a more detailed outline of flow.
2. Read Steve Palvina’s 7 Rules for Maximizing Your Creative Output.

Technorati Tags : employee engagement, flow, percolator, David Zinger

Part 1: Lies, damn lies, and statistics

I’m angry, even a bit ticked off.  If you read my blogs you know that I seldom if ever rant. But I am ticked off at all the measurement of employee engagement where employees tick off measurement boxes in private, an outside company collates all the measurement, and the organization receives general results and recommendations from someone not directly involved in the organization’s engagement.

Don’t get me wrong - I am not against measurement I just don’t believe that anonymous and confidential surveys really address or respond to employee engagement.

Too often the central issues in measuring employee engagement seems research and statistical centered: private, confidential, reliable, valid, and with statistical significance. After much cost, and use of employees’ precious time, impressive numbers are generated and the lofty conclusion: more research is required.

Yet in a recent meta-analysis by the Conference Board - the central conclusion in study after study that involved millions of employees around the world, was that it was the employee’s relationship with their direct leader that was the single biggest driver of employee engagement.

If we know that, why do we persist in these large scale anonymous studies? How does it help to get a measurement of overall organizational engagement without employees talking directly with each other and their leaders?

Couragous Measurement

I advocate a new measurement method in employee engagement: courageous measurement. In courageous measurement leaders and employees work together, the results are transparent, and everyone is accountable for improving engagement - employees, leaders, and the organization.  Employees have the courage to genuinely rate and voice how engaged they are, leaders have the courage to do this for themselves, and leaders are courageous to hear what is said followed by the gumption to make changes to enhance engagement.

Get Engaged:

1. If you are a leader, sit down with employees and discuss their engagement. Keep doing this again and again.
2. When you encounter someone who is disengaged collaborate with them to rekindle their engagement. If engagement can’t be rekindled determine what changes need to occur.

Humantech Inc. has introduced the “30-inch view of business.” As opposed to leaders taking the 30,000-foot view of business Humantech suggests leaders get close to their people and environment.

“The lesson is that people matter and they’re everywhere,” Keith R. Bossey from Humantech said. “We believe that, ‘within 30 inches of your employees sits all of the profit your organization will ever capture.’ Therefore, you need to remove or minimize the friction between people and their work environment. The 30-inch view of people and performance can help companies uncover new found sources of sustainable financial gain.”

Edward Hall, who studied proxemics - the distance between people - stated that less than 30 inches between people fostered more personal interactions and relationships. In today’s workplace we must lessen the space between people and maintain our connections rather than relying on contacting people through text messages and cell phones.

Engagement does not occur by distant decree but by close, personal, and meaningful connections.

Get Engaged:

1. Do you make an effort to get close to the people at work? Make closeness part of your high quality interactions that foster energy and engagement at work.
2. Do people feel touched by your closeness?
3. Read this short article on Wikipedia about proxemics to get a close view on the distance between people.

When you work with bees a football helmet can become a lens or sculpture to see the world in a much richer way.

I had the honor this week of sharing breakfast with Aganetha Dyck. Sometimes referred to as the “bee lady,” Aganetha won Manitoba’s Annual Arts Award of Distinction. I have wanted to talk with Aganetha for quite sometime as I believe her work with bees has clues or responses to foster employee engagement in the workplace.

Aganetha is able to think differently inside the hive, to follow her passion even when others are left wondering about her artistic expression, and she maintains a commitment to lifelong learning.

If you would like to see more pictures of Aganetha’s art you can visit her site by clicking here. I hope you will take the time to look at the sculptures that Aganetha co-created with bees. To demonstrate and confirm her collaboration with the bees, the art is now signed by both the bees and herself.

If you are a leader in the workplace is the work of your team both a signature of yourself and the people you lead?

The first lesson I learned about trying to engage bees in art from Aganetha was how engaged she was by the bees. I believe I may have learned more about the bees in our hour together than I did about her. She loves bees and she loves to learn about them. This includes even learning about the darker sides of their behavior. I did not sense a judgement about some of the bees “darker behavior” rather I sensed a richer and more complete understanding of her artistic partners.

Before we look at fostering employee engagement we must ensure we are engaged with them. Have you learned all you can about the people you work with?

Aganetha uses a variety of methods to engage the bees with her hive-offerings. She is constantly learning. She has experienced a number of successes yet at times the bees have not engaged in a work she offered. I believe in engagement we must look at the work we are asking people to do and must accept at times that the work does not engage them. We may need to change assignments or alter methods.

How do you respond to others who don’t engage in their work? Do you maintain your engagement with them? How flexible are you in helping people engage in work?

Aganetha has been surprised and delighted by some of the work the bees have performed. She thought they might work in a predetermined way yet was able to see the art and contribution of the bees in ways she had not anticipated.

Are you open to being surprised and delighted by the people you work with?

Aganetha is genuinely concerned about the welfare and future of bees. She is developing plans to give back to the bees what they have given her and to have people understand how important bees are to the survival of the planet.

How do you express your gratitude for the people you work with?

Aganetha is so absorbed in her art. She told me about drawing an image of  slightly deformed 3-legged bee that she discovered in a very old book on bees. Not only is she drawn to the image, she draws this image everyday.

Are you able to engage in your passion everyday? Do you have the gumption and tenacity to stick with it?

Unfortunately I can’t resist bad puns, or any puns for that matter. I could drone on and on but what I hope is that you catch the buzz and see your work in employee engagement as more than performance management. Employee engagement can  be the calling forth of artistic expression for yourself and the people you work with.

Get Engaged:

Normally “Get Engaged” offers tips or questions. Today, I encourage you to look at one of my favorite works by Aganetha, Pivot. What do you see? When it comes to employee engagement are you able to think creatively inside the cubicle?

Photo by Peter Dyck.

In employee engagement, some people make their mark while others sign their name. I believe the key is to sign your name.

Engagement thrives when infused with playfulness. In the spirit of playfulness I have created an acronym, based on my last name. The acronym outlines 6 powerful keys I apply to unlock superior performance and achieve full engagement. Because the key is my own name it is easy to remember and I am fully integrated into the process of engagement.

At the end of the article I will encourage you to develop your own signature approach to engagement.

The ZINGER Signature:

Z is for Zest. Zest was the name for a brand of soap that was famous for not leaving a soap film and making you feel squeaky clean. When we work with zest we experience gusto - vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment. With zest in my work I wash away lethargy and disengagement, I clean up on tasks needing my energy and attention, and I don’t leave a soap film!

I is for Interaction. The specific interaction I seek are the high quality interactions profiled by Jane Dutton that both energize and engage. High quality interactions (HQI) are based on positive regard, trust, and active connection. We are present and genuine as the HQI infuses both participants in the interaction with greater vitality, giving them more energy and capacity to work. HQIs can take place in seconds, are powerful in their simplicity, and we have thousands of opportunities each day to engage in them. I monitor and strive to maintain frequent high quality interactions every day.

N is for Nourishment. I am nourished by performances that feed both my personal and professional development. I target projects and opportunities that go beyond putting bread on the table and create an experience of psychological nourishment and genuine satisfaction. My barometer for nourishing performances is when I would perform the work even if no one was paying me.

G is for Gratitude. Engagement is anemic at work when we feel a sense of entitlement. Gratitude connects us with others. A sense of gratitude has been shown by researchers Robert Emmons and Mike McCullough to greatly increase joy, happiness, and life satisfaction. I often think about who I am so thankful for to be able to do the work I perform. I frequently dedicate a day of work or a specific task to someone who helped me be who I am today. My gratitude ranges from my parents and family to teachers, mentors, coaches, and clients.

E is for Energy. Energy is the raw matter for engagement. Physical energy provides the fuel for a large quantity of engaging tasks, mental energy gives focus to work, emotional energy provides the experience of quality in engagement, while spiritual energy gives engagement force and purpose beyond us. I work at balancing and leveraging my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energy in the service of full engagement for the benefit of others, the organization, and myself.

R is for Resources. Our ability to transform our personal resources into work is the mainstay of engagement. Many people I work with fail to see or apply their vast resources - from strengths, skills, ability, and knowledge to experiences, competencies and relationships. I keep focused on my resources and I challenge myself to continually leverage these resources in my work.

ZINGER stands for the unique keys of engagement achieved through Zest, Involvement, Nourishment, Gratitude, Energy, and Resourcefulness. My name acts as a personal search engine as I accelerate these drivers of engagement at work.

Get Engaged:

1. Use your last name to create a unique personal engagement acronym.
2. If you work with someone who is disengaged, use their last name to develop an action plan to facilitate their engagement.
3. Perhaps you have a short last name and need just a bit more to be fully engaged. In that case - buy a vowel. I suggest buying an “I” to foster initiative and industry as you take personal ownership of your own engagement.

Who said there is no I in engagement?

Technorati Tags : employee engagement, play, Zinger

Jennifer Rice defines co-creation as: “an open, ongoing collaboration between employees and customers to define and create products, services, experiences, ideas and information.”

Co-creation is often a collaboration between employees and customers. Co-creation is a pathway to fuller employee engagement where the organization, management, and employees work (and play) together to create a full engagement picture on the canvas of work?

James Cherkoff and Johnnie Moore  completed a manifesto on co-creation rules this December at Change This. The “Change This” site is producing extraordinary manifestos on a wide range of very helpful topics.

Apply these 17 rules for co-creation and engagement:

1. Yes, and
2. Make an offer
3. Set the scene
4. Make your customers look good
5. Create opportunity
6. Play
7. Understand the environment
8. Work at it
9. Love the 1%ers
10. Get vernacular
11. Make mistakes
12. Lower barriers
13. Let the mess show
14. Share your secrets
15. Be changed
16. Show the humanity
17. There are no rules

Get engaged:

1. Click here to read more about Cherkoff and Moore’s co-creation rules. Determine how you can apply these rules to employee engagement.

2. Select the top 5 rules that have the most leverage to engage everyone in working at creating a co-engaged workplace.

Technorati Tags : co-creation, Zinger, employee engagement

This site is devoted to the principles, practices, lessons, ideas, news, and tips involving engagement in the workplace and personal engagement. It will be the first site you will visit if you are interested in engagement. The site will help you assess engagement in the workplace, examine what organizations can do to build full work engagement, learn the role leaders play in enhancing engagement, and learn valuable lessons in becoming more fully engaged.

Today’s key point is from Patricia Madson’s book, Improv Wisdom. I love this short book packed full of wisdom and tips to transfer wisdom from improvisational theatre into everyday living. Patricia’s fourth maxim is: start anywhere.

To be honest, I was searching for the perfect way to begin this site. I thought about outlining Gallup’s contribution to engagement. I considered a lengthy discussion of how to define engagement. I thought of outlining the costs of disengagement. I thought perhaps I should begin with the metrics of engagement. Or I could start with a discussion of the differences and similarities between engagement and motivation. I became so reflective on how to start the site that I did not start it. Patricia begins her fourth maxim with this powerful quotation from the diary of Anne Frank:

How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment; we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway…And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!

Get Engaged

• How would you define engagement?

• How engaged are you?

• What can you start right now to strengthen engagement for yourself and others?

• What would you like to learn from this site?