Become an Employee Engagement Handy-man!

Are you HANDY with Employee Engagement?

by David Zinger

Charles Handy has done a wonderful job the past two decades writing about management. I appreciated “The E Factor” chapter in his book, 21 Ideas for Managers: practical Wisdom for Managing Your Company and Yourself.

His wife asked him what the E factor was and he responded:

They are all the things that trigger energy, excitement, enthusiasm, effort, effervescence, even expenditure.

I imagine he would add the word engagement if he was to write this chapter today.

Charles Handy goes on to add:

The messages, for me, are clear. Everyone is full of “E,” in all its forms. The trick is to release that “E” — the excitement as well as the effort, the enthusiasm as well as the energy. Everyone has a shopping list of what they want from work and life, even if they have not written it down. the more organizations can match these shopping lists, the more they can expect from people. Bread-and-butter offerings will inspire bread-and-butter work. Listen to what people really want and give it to them. No one will be disappointed; organizations that bubble with every type of “E” are fun to be in.

Here are a few questions Handy recommends that you asking working groups to release the “E” Factor:

1. What would you like more of in the organization?
2. What would you like to see less of in the organization?
3. What would you like to see change?

Go ahead if you are a manager or leader and transform yourself into an Employee Engagement “Handy-man.”