Here are 26 keys to employee engagement from A to Z.
Acceptance. We must begin with acceptance of the current state of engagement and begin to make changes out of our full acceptance of what is as we move to what can be.
Benefits. If employee engagement is to be sustained over time it must benefit employees, leaders, managers, organizations, and customers.
Connection. Employee engagement is created through caring connections with others in the workplace and connections to our work — stay connected and you will stay engaged!
Disengagement. Although chronic disengagement is a workplace scourge we need to balance engagement and disengagement to maintain productive work over the long term.
Energy. Energy is the raw material of employee engagement and those who master energy management have a huge resource to draw upon for their own engagement and for energizing others.
Flow. The ideal state of work is when we experience flow – we engage so completely in our work that work, time, and self are transformed by the experience.
Gumption. Balancing flow is old fashioned gumption – sometimes we just need to engage in work even when we don’t feel like it, yet this very gumption will act as the primer to experiencing higher levels of emotional engagement.
Human. Employee engagement is human, not human capital or human sigma or human resources, just HUMAN, period.
Integrity. Our work must stem from integrity and our connections with others is strengthened by our integrity fused with their integrity.
Joy. Fully engaging in work can produce joy as work becomes love made visible.
Keys. If we carry too many keys we can feel weighed down – each organization and individual will need to determine the keys or vital behaviors that produce authentic and genuine employee engagement.
Leadership. Leaders need to create vision, direction, and strategy that fosters engagement and also communicate this fully to all employees while also being open to employees helping to co-create the organization’s vision and direction.
Management. In many studies, the single biggest contributor to employee engagement is the relationship people have with the person who manages them so managers must manage their own engagement while connecting fully with their staff to prime employees’ engagement.
Networks. Employee engagement works better together – create a network of best friends at work, create a social media network to communicate with each other at work, or join the free Employee Engagement Network at www.employeeengagement.ning.com.
Oprah. You know how engaged Oprah is in her work, imagine yourself on the Oprah show and she is asking you how you engage in your work, how would you answer her so that her audience would take notice and be inspired by your response?
Purpose. Employee engagement must be directed at achieving a purpose for the organization such as: productivity, profit, recruitment, retention, project success, high functioning teams, quality, customer engagement, etc.
Questions? We are all looking for answers to enhance and improve employee engagement but never overlook the value of a good question, such as: Who is engaged, with what, for how long, and for what reason?
Results and Relationships. Employee engagement works best when results are woven with relationships.
Strengths. Engagement levels increase when we know our strengths, hold strength-based conversations, work with our strengths, work strengthens us, and we move from listing strengths to fully living our strengths in the service of others and our organization.
Today. Employee engagement is about today, don’t wait for some magic measurement or better time – do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.
Understanding. Employee engagement requires comprehensive understanding of the uniqueness of each individual and each culture within each workplace – seek first to understand and demonstrate that understanding before seeking to be understood.
Values. Make employee engagement a value or promise to all employees that their work matters and makes a difference and you will see economic value come out of this value.
We. In the co-created world of work the old line: If it is to be it is up to me must be rewritten to, If it is to be it is up to we.
X-ray. We must get to the bare bones of engagement and avoid using anonymous surveys that at times seem to measure engagement but actually produce disengagement.
You. This alphabet list of employee engagement from A to Z will only become alive if you take the ideas from this article and put them into practice — did you notice the only thing missing from the Corporate Alphabet picture at the start of this article was “u”?
Zen. Zen teaches a person to engage with their breathing, their mind, and their world — as you let yourself become more mindful in daily activities, including work, you will find yourself becoming more and more engaged.
Photo Credit: Corporate Alphabet by http://flickr.com/photos/undercover_surrealist/2314668364/
Contact David Zinger (dzinger@shaw.ca) to engage David for coaching, consulting, or presentations about employee engagement. He can also be reached at (204) 254-2130.
David: I like many of your responses much better than what I could formulate so I offer the following contributions to this intriguing discussion:
Authenticity: Natives of Maine are renowned for their colorful sayings, such as “Won’t say he’s dishonest but if he wants to get his cows to come home, he’s gotta get someone else to call ‘em.” If trust is the “glue” of sustained relationships, it is the result of being authentic.
Balance: The most effective people, the happiest people are not those who balance everything (that’s impossible) but rather, those who balance what is most important to them.
Determination: Jack Dempsey was right: “Champions get up when they can’t.” That said, it makes no sense to continue to feed hay to a dead horse. Therefore, determination must be enlightened.
Execution: Thomas Edison was right: “Vision without execution is hallucination.” Only those who are results-driven can achieve their personal objectives. When a member of a successful team, they are usually its MVP.
Frugal: Generally associated with money, the term has a wider and deeper meaning: a contempt for waste.
Grateful: Decades of research involving many millions of employees and customers reveals that “feeling appreciated” is consistently ranked most important. Gratitude unexpressed is appreciation denied.
Humor: Raphael Sabatini tells his reader that Scaramouche “was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world is mad.” It is noteworthy that Scaramouche laughed much more at himself than he did at anyone else.
Inquisitive: One of the dominant characteristics of creative, innovative people is their insatiable curiosity to know why, why not, what if, etc. They delight in learning and understanding for its own sake, to be sure, but they also leverage what they know to achieve an improvement of some kind.
Knowledgeable: True, many people have what Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton characterize as a “knowing-doing gap” but it is also true that know-nothings are invariably do-nothings.
Leadership: Leaders need to create vision, direction, and strategy that foster engagement and also communicate this fully to all employees while always being supportive of others’ efforts to establish engagement at all levels and in all areas of an organization.
Management: In many studies, the single biggest contributor to employee engagement is the relationship people have with the person who manages them so managers must manage their own engagement while connecting fully with their staff to prime employees’ engagement. Employees join companies but leave “bosses.”
Objective: Prior to making a decision or reaching a conclusion, it is imperative to obtain as much information as possible from as many different sources as possible, and rigorously evaluate the information. “Prejudice” means pre-judgment. Challenge all assumptions and premises. Be open-minded. Then take appropriate action. The doing-knowing gap” probably causes as much damage as the “knowing-doing gap.”
Potential: Darrell once said that “potential” means “You ain’t done it yet.” Merely advocating engagement does not achieve it.
Truth: I agree with Voltaire: “Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.” Truth is a journey of discovery, not a final destination.
Uniqueness: No two snowflakes are identical nor are any two human beings, however much we may share in common. Engagement is a shared commitment by individuals, each of whom is not required to become anonymous.
Vision: People need to be inspired by compelling images of what can be accomplished, especially of what they can be a part. Great leaders attract followers who share their dream, yes, but who also are convinced that making the dream come true is in their self-interests.
Well-Mannered: Whatever the circumstances, inappropriate behavior is inexcusable. Those who comport themselves as ladies and gentlemen demonstrate a respect for the dignity of others. Regrettably, so-called “common courtesy” is less common now in the business world than it was previously. The most highly-admired companies are those whose people are well-mannered in relationships between and among themselves but also with everyone else with whom they come in contact. It is no coincidence that most of the most highly-admired companies are also on the annual list of those most profitable.
Youthfulness: What can be learned about engagement from children? These are among the lessons Robert Fulghum learned in kindergarten: clean up your own mess, hold hands and stick together, share everything, and play fair. Pablo Picasso claimed that he spent the last 60 years of his life (he died at age 91) struggling without success to see the world with the innocence of a child.
Zest: Passion’s first cousin, zest combines enthusiasm with faith, energy, and determination, the three pillars of engagement.
David, this is genius! Simple and profound! I love this idea and want to SCAMPER it for Educational Engagement! Imitation is the best form of flattery! Bravo!
Robert,
I love your list. Well done.
Angela,
Feel free to copy away. By the way I’d love to get a copy of the list you create to put on my employee engagement network.
David
David,
I’ve been playing around with this for a couple days and I haven’t been satisfied with my list…until now.
Check it out at my blog.
Terry
Terrence.
I appreciated that you “engaged” in the challenge.
David
OK. I finally did the whole alphabet.
Terry
A Appreciate – Take the time to appreciate each person you have on your team.
B Break Through – Don’t let habits or “the way we have always done it” hold you back.
C Coach – Bring out the best in others by playing to each one’s strengths.
D Develop – Provide opportunities for others to stretch and grow.
E Energize – Get excited and others will catch it.
F Fun – If you aren’t having fun, figure it out.
G Genius – Each person is gifted in some way. (Thanks to Dick Richards, author of Is Your Genius At Work?)
H Help – Be of some help every day.
I Improve – Everything. Without ceasing. (Thanks to Edwards Deming)
J Joy – This is something all too frequently missing from the workplace. (Thanks to Kenny Moore)
K Keep your commitments.
L Learn – Constantly. Look outside your field. Listen.
M Meaning – It’s up to you to create it. Invite others to join in.
N New Ideas – Seek them constantly.
O Open Up – Open the books. Open your door. Open your mind.
P Participate – Invite others to join in.
Q Quit – Complaining. Pointing the finger. Blaming.
R Recognize each person as an individual with wishes, hopes, and dreams. (Thanks to Matthew Kelly, author of The Dream Manager)
S Strengths – Capitalize on them. (Thanks to Marcus Buckingham)
T Teach – Remember that everything you do (or don’t do) teaches. (Thanks to Father Douglas Haefner, pastor of my church)
U Unleash – Take the leash off of employees. Trust. Turn them loose!
V Vacation – Take one every year and insist that others do so too.
W Wisdom – Every person on your team has some piece of the wisdom that your team needs. (Thanks to Sister Mary Benet McKinney, author of Sharing Wisdom)
X eXercise – Stay in shape.
Y You are the CEO of your success.
Z Zoopfiddle – Make up words. It’s fun. It can energize your team meetings. It can help unleash the inner poet or artist and lead to creative breakthroughs.
Good Man Mr Seamon – particularly loved the Zoopfiddle (do I have your permisiion to borrow that one?).
OK – here’s a contribution from Olde England:
A – “Anarchy in the UK”. The Sex Pistols taught us a lesson about engagement and control that’s worth remembering as we become part of the establishment ourselves.
B – “BS Bingo”! A great way to pass the time at the next leadership conference.
C – chief engagement officers are the new CEOs
D – Engagement – enough planning already – just DO It!
E – encourage your line managers to be the great communicators their people already know them to be.
F – Facebook is the organisation’s friend. Social media isn’t a fad, embrace it.
G – “it’s great after being out late, walking my baby back home”. Now that’s engagement!
H – Hire people who are in tune with the values of your organisation.
I – However well crafted communication should start and end with and “I” – “I see what’s in it for me”
J – Jack Johnson. He’s on message with several generations! What can we learn?
K – “knock, knock”. It’s an economic downturn. Can the leaders come out please?
L – Leaders look in the mirror when things are going wrong.
M – Managers are an endangered species we’re not campaigning to save.
N – “Naked” (and other “power” words)
O – Ordinary is good. Take back ordinary. Let’s make authentic communication ordinary, the norm!
P – Planning is our friend. But rather like doughnuts, too much planning really slows you down.
Q – “The Queen is dead. Long Live the Queen”. Whatever you may think of them Hero Leaders come and go. Line managers last a lot longer.
R – “With great power comes great responsibility”
S – supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. You remembered it. Geddit?
T – Taste, sight, sound, smell, touch – engagement’s about appealing to the lot.
U – U2!?. More than a legendary rock band but a reminder that we’ve a great network out there and we’ve all got something to share and learn.
V – Veal! A controversial topic and a great reminder that great engagement relies on communication that is fit for audience purpose.
W – Wales. I wonder what lessons we can learn from the Welsh about post-colonial centralised communication functions?
X – The generation who are responsible for much of the engagement activity.
Y – The generation who are responsible for translating much of the engagement activity.
Z – Zoo! Whatever formal engagement strategies there may be it’s always going to be a fantastic, colourful jungle out there with grapevines aplenty so open those cages and connect with the people.
Hi David – I enjoyed participating in the A-Z effort. I’ve posted my alphabet here:
http://ravenyoung.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!17376F4C11A91E0E!4320.entry
It’s awesome to see the network grow and I can’t wait to read the other thoughts on employee engagement A-Z!
take care!
Hi David – love your list. I would like to add one:
K for Kindness in the work place – to your employees, your colleagues and to yourself. I think this is an essential but often missing engagement ingredient – linking to your H for Human, period, there should be no embarassment in being and being seen to be a kind person in the workplace but my experience is that it can be a scarce ingredient in some environments.
I posted your site to your abc’s. Thank you for sharing