Engage 5 with Abhishek Mittal

Engage 5 is a weekly feature of Employee Engagement Zingers. Engage-5 asks leading thinkers, writers, consultants, practitioners, and others involved in employee engagement to complete 5 sentences.

Read Abhishek Mittal’s 5 sentences on engagement:

  1. I define employee engagement as aligning employees to organizational goals, building a sense of emotional attachment with the organization and ensuring that they have opportunities to use their talents to add value to the organization.
  2. Our biggest challenge in employee engagement is planning and execution of post-survey interventions.
  3. A powerful way to create greater employee engagement is to ensure that the leadership team is driving the initiative, there is ownership of the scores and clear accountabilities are set for action-planning.
  4. I am personally most engaged at work when I am I am clear about my role and making maximum use of my talent.
  5. To learn more about employee engagement read books read books from reputed firms like Towers Perrin, Gallup etc. and follow the Employee Engagement network!

To learn more about Abhishek Mittal’s work, click here.

Today At Work – Episode 23

Employee Engagement: About Face

It is time we do an “about face” in employee engagement.

About face is a military command to turn clockwise 180 degrees. It is also defined as a total change of attitude or viewpoint.

I think leaders need to do an about face in how they look at the organization.

First, they need to turn employee engagement around 180 degrees to realized they are part of the employees they are talking about. It is not about “those people”…we are all those people.

Before we ever become concerned about “getting” employees more engagement we must look at our own engagement.

Let’s make a “You-Turn” away from getting others engaged to letting ourselves become fully engaged in our work.  One good leader modelling full and authentic engagement may be worth a million motivational slogans.

Are you ready to engage?

ABOUT FACE!

Employee Engagement: Coasting Into Disengagement

Harvey Mackay wrote a wonderful column on coasting towards apathy – disengagement.

Here is one of the stories in his article:

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life so he and his wife could enjoy their extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he would build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work his employer came to inspect the house. He asked, “Are you satisfied with the house?” When the carpenter said that he was, his employer said, “Good, because the house is yours. “My gift to you!”

The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have made sure it was all first class.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the construction. Are you cutting corners and squandering time, commitment and effort?

Are you building a house of full employee engagement?

Click here to read Harvey’s full column on coasting towards apathy.

Photo credit: old house on Flickr by http://www.flickr.com/photos/sazfar/4746421/

Engage 5 with Frode Heimen

Engage 5 is a weekly feature of Employee Engagement Zingers. Engage-5 asks leading thinkers, writers, consultants, practitioners, and others involved in employee engagement to complete 5 sentences.

Read Frode Heimen 5 sentences on engagement:

  1. I define employee engagement as energy, empowerment and will.
  2. Our biggest challenge in employee engagement is to create highly motivated employees.
  3. A powerful way to create greater employee engagement is to teach the benefits of being engaged.
  4. I am personally most engaged at work when I am motivating others.
  5. To learn more about employee engagement read books and talk to each other

To learn more about Frode’s work, click here.

Today At Work – Episode 22

Employee Engagement Lesson From Alan Watts

Watts Up.

I have always appreciated the philosophical perspectives of Alan Watts. One of my favorite quotations of all times is: If you make where you are going more important than where you are, there may be no point in going.

I encourage you to view this short video on Alan Watts. It is about the music and life of working with animation illustrating a recording of Alan Watts.

Wednesday@Work Poem: Mistakes

Mistakes were made

As they always are

Yet here is where the big mistake

May take place.

What do we do?

Blame.

Hide.

Yell.

Cry.

Laugh.

Learn.

Apologize.

Deny.

Make no mistake.

There will be mistakes.

Let’s just not make two in a row.

Creating an Employee Engagement Movement

The Employee Engagement Network is now over 1400 members! We are a growing force in the field of employee engagement. I believe we are moving from a network to a strong community that will result in a worldwide movement to enhance, foster, and improve employee engagement for the benefit of all.

We have tons of videos, 2 cartoons a week, lots of blog posts, and hundreds of discussion forums on the topic.

Here are some of our most frequent discussions:

David Zinger

Forum #6: Employee Engagement Advice in One Sentence 109 Replies

In one sentence only, write the best employee engagement advice you would give to an organization.

Started by David Zinger in Weekly Forum. Last reply by David Zinger Aug 6.

Vijay Kumar Shrotryia

What makes an organization happy??? 68 Replies

hi friends I just would like to initiate a discussion on the constituents of making an organisation a happy org. In my view EE is one such effort which could enhance employee satisfaction, so Emplo…

Tagged: satisfaction, engagment, organizations, happiness

Started by Vijay Kumar Shrotryia in Major Forums. Last reply by Vijay Kumar Shrotryia May 20.

Lois Kelly

How to inspire trust after major layoffs? 35 Replies

A CEO friend has layed off more than half the employees in his company over four different RIFs over 6 months. Now he wonders what is the best way to re-engage his management team and inspire trust…

Tagged: trust, re-engagement, recession

Started by Lois Kelly in Major Forums. Last reply by Jack Kennedy May 5.

David Neilly

How to measure employee engagement 33 Replies

I have been reviewing the literature on employee engagement and have not found any information about how the researchers…Towers Perrin, Gallup, Blessing White…actually measure and analyze engag…

Started by David Neilly in Requesting Assistance. Last reply by Stephen J. Gill Jan 6.

David Zinger

Defining Engagement? 32 Replies

How do we define employee engagement and make sense of this sometimes very elusive construct?

Started by David Zinger in Current Developments. Last reply by Eric Lobser Mar 30.

Robert Morris

Why do people become engaged at work? 30 Replies

I just read a book, The Talent Powered Organization, in which the authors (Peter Cheese, Robert Thomas, and Elizabeth Craig) identify drivers of engagement that (for “catchiness”) they refer to as …

Started by Robert Morris in Major Forums. Last reply by Jesse Domingo Sep. 18, 2008.

Carol Cole-Lewis

Beyond Passion – What REALLY motivates? 27 Replies

The discussion Rocky started about passion got me thinking. What motivates people to accomplish anything? In my own life, I drove myself to achieve some status as a competitive bodybuilder because…

Tagged: vision, passion, pain, goals, motivation

Started by Carol Cole-Lewis in Major Forums. Last reply by Jesse Domingo Oct. 17, 2008.

Jennifer Schulte

Can engagement and cost control co-exist? 24 Replies

Like many of you, I’m in an organization where cost pressure is the current focus of the day. I see many leaders who avoid sharing information until they know the whole answer (which is generally b…

Tagged: change, employee, engagement

Started by Jennifer Schulte in Major Forums. Last reply by Susan Robinson Dec. 16, 2008.

Stephen Lynch

Use of The Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement tool. Permissions and legalities of doing so? 23 Replies

We obtained the 12 statements from Gallup’s published books (which are in the public domain). We recommend our clients read these books, and we always reference the Gallup organization and attribut…

Tagged: survey, Q12, Gallup

Started by Stephen Lynch in Major Forums. Last reply by Craig Althof Aug 8.

Judy McLeish

Social Media and Impact on Employee Engagement 22 Replies

I would love to hear your opinion on whether you believe that social media can be a key tool in promoting employee engagement.

Started by Judy McLeish in Weekly Forum. Last reply by Polly Pearson May 20.

Michael Gibbs

Keeping Employees Engaged in Spite of Repitition 20 Replies

I feel like I am facing a lot of challenges regarding employee engagement and I would love to get some feedback from some of you regarding what I might be able to do. Here are some of the challenge…

Started by Michael Gibbs in Requesting Assistance. Last reply by Jay Forte Mar 21.

Michael Kanazawa

Corporate Attention Deficit Disorder 19 Replies

Are you seeing a trend in what may be best described as “Corporate A.D.D.”? This looks like constantly resetting direction, not staying with anything long enough to see it through, not setting prio…

Started by Michael Kanazawa in Current Developments. Last reply by Steve Roesler Apr. 16, 2008.

Amy

Creating a Culture of Recognition 19 Replies

I’m leading a team of folks who’s charge it is to guide a division of a large company’s effort to increase employee engagement. One of our focus areas is to identify factors necessary to create and…

Tagged: recognition

Started by Amy in Major Forums. Last reply by Brian J. Carlsen Apr 2.

Judy McLeish

Is the traditional approach to engagement all wrong? 19 Replies

Maybe our approach is all wrong. Maybe we are too focused on the drivers of engaging the entire employee population and are not focused on where engagement starts. I would love to hear your thought…

Started by Judy McLeish in Major Forums. Last reply by Bob Gately Mar 18.

Rob Fox

What is boredom? 19 Replies

Hi, For some research we are doing for a client, I’d love to read your responses to this question…. What is boredom? Thanks. Rob www.engagingideas.co.uk

Started by Rob Fox in Major Forums. Last reply by Rob Fox Nov. 28, 2008.

Jean Douglas, CMC

“Click five to survive” 18 Replies

These four words say it so well. Background – This is how a colleague explained what they think is happening in their organization’s engagement survey. The pressure is on at the executive level to…

Tagged: analysis, bias, survey, surveys, engagement

Started by Jean Douglas, CMC in Major Forums. Last reply by Jean Douglas, CMC May 3.

Terrence Seamon

Project Engagement 17 Replies

David, You asked: “I would really appreciate some network perspective, ideas, and suggestions. We are focused on employee engagement but many employees are now working on projects or in projects. …

Tagged: project, projects, teams, leaders

Started by Terrence Seamon in Major Forums. Last reply by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin Nov. 4, 2008.

Mike Healy

Disengagement – Higher priority than engagement? 17 Replies

Getting full engagement is clearly a worthwhile goal. Using a standard bell shaped curve of the organisation ( and in line with normal distribution in an organisation) I suggest that 20% of employe…

Started by Mike Healy in Major Forums. Last reply by Bob Gately Mar 18.

Hugh Flouch

UK HR Twitter network? 17 Replies

Trying to integrate my HR life into my other life online and establish if I’m the ONLY UK HR person using Twitter.

Tagged: web 2.0, social media, UK, twitter

Started by Hugh Flouch in Major Forums. Last reply by Doug Shaw May 4.

MinhNH

How to make survey result practically effective 17 Replies

Which actions should we do when having results from an employee engagement survey? It has been happening in my workplace that we conduct a survey, get result, show it to employees. Then, no one me…

Started by MinhNH in Major Forums. Last reply by John Kmiec Apr 9.

Join us by clicking here.

Engage 5 with Annette Butler

Engage 5 is a weekly feature of Employee Engagement Zingers. Engage-5 asks leading thinkers, writers, consultants, practitioners, and others involved in employee engagement to complete 5 sentences.

Read Annette Butler 5 sentences on engagement:

  1. I define employee engagement as a heightened connection between employees and their work, their organization, or the people they work for or with.
  2. Our biggest challenge in employee engagement is not treating this as a ‘trend’ but continue this method of communication as part of performance management with the attention it deserves.
  3. A powerful way to create greater employee engagement is to establish a clear line of sight from the employee to the larger work unit.
  4. I am personally most engaged at work when I know how my specific tasks/responsibilities fit into the organization’s goals and mission – “the big picture.”
  5. To learn more about employee engagement Read MSPB’s report “The Power of Federal Employee Engagement” found on the “Studies” page of www.mspb.gov

To learn more about Annette’s work, click here.

The Employee Engagement Movement

I was honored to read Dan Oestreich’s interview with me about being the founder and host of the employee engagement network.

I was very honored to read Dan’s start to the interview:

To me, one of the greatest success stories on the web these days is David Zinger, who started the Employee Engagement Network. I had a chance to ask David a few questions about his experiences the other day. Here’s what he told me about discovering that he now finds himself leading a “movement.”

Click here to read the full interview. While you are there I recommend your read some of the exceptional leadership writing that Dan offers his readers…you will be enriched by the time you spend there.

Today At Work – Episode 21