Here are 6 questions about employee engagement for 2009.
I would love to read your responses as I ponder my own responses to these questions.
- Given the current economic mayhem, what will the challenges for employee engagement be in 2009?
- Do you think employee engagement will trend upwards or downwards in 2009?
- What will organizations need to do to foster higher levels of engagement in 2009?
- What will individuals need to do enhance their own engagement?
- Leaders and managers will have increasing demands on their time in 2009…how can they find time to ensure that employee engagement gets both the energy and attention it will require in 2009?
- What do you personally plan to do during 2009 to improve your personal level of engagement for work?
1. Here’s my list of things I’m expecting
– Issues from layoffs of friends/coworkers. “Survivor” guilt, added work, etc.
– Low or no pay raises.
– Staffs ability to adapt to change as the company changes strategy, drops products, etc.
– Anxiety over other things in their lives, the state of the US/world economy, etc.
2. I’m hoping that with help from groups like this – mine will trend up! :^) But I think the fact is that without extra emphasis it will trend down.
3. I plan to do a few things.
– Try to give people more say in decisions.
– Delegate interesting problems to groups and get them to work together to figure out and implement the solutions.
– Ramp up the feedback even more – especially positive public comments.
4. Here’s my thoughts.
– Not worry about things they cannot change.
– Keep a good work/life balance
– Step up/speak up/get involved instead of just griping about issues
– Do what is important not urgent
– Decide what is really important to them
5. I’ve started blocking out time in my schedule every week to specifically do certain things like plan for one-on-ones, review previous week, long term plan issues, etc. This should also be on the list. I may not get to it every week but it brings it to my mind.
6.Apply all the things I said above to me too! :^)
Julia:
Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
I have had some other comments on other sites and I will do a follow up post in the near future.
I like the: step up speak up and get involved point.
David