The Employee Engagement Network, hosted by David Zinger, just released a new e-book titled: "Employee Engagement- Powerful Sentences of Advice for Managers". Over 100 experts on employee engagement, including yours truly, contributed the one most importance sentence of advice they have for managers who want to improve the engagement of their employees.

While one sentence of advice can hardly cover the complexities of the topic, I found it an interesting challenge. Here's what I wrote: "Engagement is about capturing the hearts and minds of your team, open your heart and show you believe in them and truly care about them as people and they will move mountains."

Let's face it, most managers have little control of the over-arching factors that have a significant effect on employee engagement. They typically have little influence in shaping the vision and values of the company, the behavior and communication practices of the top leaders, or employee benefits and development budgets within their organization. Yet great leaders can thrive in almost any circumstance, and great supervisors or managers can inspire employee engagement and loyalty, often notwithstanding what is going on in the larger organizational culture.

Have you ever been lucky enough to work for a manager whose belief in you and in the co-workers on your team was absolute and unshakable, who consistently and open-heartedly demonstrated their concern for each you as unique and valuable individuals? Unfortunately, it is rare. Too rare. While I have had some great bosses over my career, I can't honestly say that I have ever experienced that level of leadership excellence.

I have seen examples of it though. I remember seeing a speech by the great coach Jimmy Valvano, head coach at North Carolina when his underdog team upset a vastly more talented Houston team for the NCAA championship in 1983. When asked about the secret to motivating a team to succeed despite insurmountable odds, he would point to the magic of really believing in his people. He often believed in his people more than they believed in themselves, and that unshakable belief is what made his team overcome the odds. Coach Valvano was a man who lived with an open-heart, someone who loved and cared deeply for the people in his work life as well as his family life.

Most of us save our love for family and a few close friends. Maybe that's why it is so unusual to find managers who care deeply about their people as people. The old adage "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." has been attributed to many authors and has been used in many professions. If you are a mid-level or front-line manager in a larger organization, it is the single most effective way to improve employee engagement on your team. It also happens to be the most rewarding and way to live your life.

Visit http://www.jimmyv.org/ for more open-hearted inspiration. Then download a no cost copy of the e-book for 100 more great one sentence ideas to improve employee engagement.
http://www.davidzinger.com/wp-content/uploads/Employee-Engagement-Manager-Free-Ebook.pdf

As I contemplate resolutions for the coming year, I can think of nothing better than to commit to the over-riding goal of making 2010 a year of appreciative inquiry. I resolve to look for moments in which I am performing at my best, and to cultivate more of those moments.

This is top of mind since we recently completed an employee engagement project for a client where they identified this same focus as the obvious next step in developing self-directed collaborative teams. The power of this approach is apparent in it's contrast to the traditional problem-focused gap analysis perspective so common in traditional management philosophy.

The shift is simple, but not easy. Individuals and organizations have been steeped in approaching problem-solving from a "what's missing" perspective for so long that our natural inclination is to try to "fix" what's wrong rather than build on what's right.

If you are interested in making 2010 a year to focus and build upon what's right, I recommend that you consider adopting the appreciative inquiry approach. An excellent introduction to Apprecitive Inquiry can be found in Sue Annis Hammond's Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, (2nd edition). We often recommend it as a great way to introduce leaders and managers to a new way of approaching organizational change and problem solving.

I am so looking forward to finding the best in 2010! Won't you join me?
Happy New Year!
Tom Rausch
Leadership Beyond Limits

Right Management, a ManPower Company. surveyed more than 900 workers in North America and asked: Do you plan to pursue new job opportunities as the economy improves in 2010? The results were shocking:
--60% - Yes, I intend to leave
--21% - Maybe, so I'm networking
--6% - Not likely, but I've updated my resume
--13% - No, I intend to stay

It is obvious that too many employers neglected employee needs in dealing with the economic downturn. However, there are 5 areas employers can address to mitigate this negative impact on employee engagement:

#1: While the future might look grim in the eyes of some employers, employees
at other companies are working hand-in-hand with their supervisors to create a
positive future for the company.

#2: While some employers are hiding bad news from their employees, other
companies are keeping their employees informed and updated, even if the
news isn’t always good.

#3: While some employers are cutting jobs or scaling back on promotions, other
employers are helping their associates see opportunity in the midst of the crisis
for their own growth and development.

#4: While some employers may be instituting hiring freezes and cutting back on
perks, others will continue to find ways to reward those who are taking care of
customers and keep them coming back.

#5: While some employers are scaling back employee benefits, others are
committed to helping maintain the health and vitality of those who work for
them.

For details on how some employers are actually beating the odds and holding the line or increasing employee engagement see: http://www.leadershipbeyondlimits.com/2009/01/how-to-gain-ground-in-economic-downturn.html

Labels: Best Places To Work, employee engagement, workplace culture

I recently read a book called The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly. The book is based on a fictional tale of the leadership of a janitorial services company reviving the organization. The secret to their success was engaging their employees by investing in the employee's personal dreams.

The Dream Manager concept suggests that employees should be encouraged to identify their dreams, which might fall in any of 12 categories: physical, emotional, material, intellectual, spiritual, psychological, professional, finanical, creative, adventure, character and legacy. A Dream Manger will coach an employee through the attainment of his/her dreams.

One organization that I am affiliated with has adopted the Dream Manager concept. They have formed small groups where employees can identify and share their dreams and support each other in bringing them to life. One group member has not only achieved his dream of jumping from an airplane, which his leader did with him; but he has also published two books. He credits the support and inspiration of his employer for his achievements and he is truly engaged.

The three components of employee engagement are 1)stay - employees wouldn't think of leaving the organization 2)say - employees will communicate positive things about your company and 3) strive - employees will go the extra mile for the organization. Whether you go to the extent of becoming a Dream Manager or choose other ways of investing in your employees, one thing is clear; making a personal investment in your employees ensures they will make a personal investment in your organization.

Labels: Dream Manager, employee coaching, employee engagement, Matthew Kelly

Back in January of this year we posted in this blog about the apparent effect of the economic downturn on employee engagement. Our engagement measurement parter, Quantum Workplace, had seen some early warning signs of the negative impact and were some of the first to report on this disturbing trend.

Well, the early warning signs have proven to be worse than anyone would have predicted. After all, for years, employee engagement scores have been slowly trending up. Even with the recent recession, many were predicting only a flattening of engagement- after all people should be thankful they remain employed and stay engaged and hard-working to make sure they don't end up on the employment line.

A recently published study by Watson and Wyatt and WorldatWork show us clearly how bad things have gotten. They have reported the single largest drop in reported employee engagement scores in the short history that these scores have been tracked. In their study, overall employee engagement has dropped 9% year over year. Most alarmingly, top performers showed the most dramatic drops, with scores 20 -40% lower on questions regarding their faith in senior management and their opinion of their employers recent changes to pay and benefits and the effects on productivity and customer service.

For details on the new survey findings, visit: watsonwyatt.com/StrategicRewards2009

For information on the 5 strategies you can adopt now to avoid this alarming trend, visit our January blog post: http://www.leadershipbeyondlimits.com/2009/01/how-to-gain-ground-in-economic-downturn.html Here you will find a link to a webinar and whitepaper that outlines how smart organizations are bucking this negative trend.

I had the privilege of participating in the City of Cleveland's Appreciative Inquiry Summit held August 12-14. The Summit was titled Sustainable Cleveland 2019: Building an Economic Engine to Empower a Green City on a Blue Lake. This title might feel like a stretch, if you noticed that Cleveland was on Forbes Magazine's 2008 list of "The Top 10 Fastest Dying Cities." However, as a participant the dream became very real.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a philosophy and a positive change methodology developed in the early 1980's by Case Western Reserve University PhD candidate David Cooperrider and his advisor Suresh Srivastva. Today Dr. Cooperrider uses the methodology to spread positive change all over the world, including the United Nations.

The Summit was sponsored by the City of Cleveland's Mayor Frank Jackson, who fully participated in the three day event. Summit planners had hoped to attract 500 diverse stakeholders to participate. The end state dream of "A Green City by a Blue Lake" was so compelling that 700 people filled the Cleveland Convention Center to work through the process of making this dream a reality.

A cadre of influential speakers, including Van Jones from the White House, inspired the group. Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, a petroleum based carpet manufacturer, spoke of his company's commitment to "zero carbon footprint by 2020." The promise that Anderson brought was that you can truly "do well by doing good." As of 2008, Interface has reduced its carbon footprint by 60% and has experienced a sales increase of 60%. Anderson suggests that "creativity comes when an organization sets its vision so high it takes people's breath away."

The Green City by Blue Lake dream obviously took Cleveland's breath away, because by the end of the Summit, the Mayor's Office of Sustainability left with 20 action plans to make the dream a reality and volunteers signed up to work on each plan.

It's clear to me that the AI process works for companies, organizations and cities alike - any group with invested stakeholders.

Good luck Cleveland. I'm rooting for you!

Labels: appreciative inquiry, Cleveland, David Cooperrider, sustainability

Esteemed Harvard professor Roasabeth Moss Kanter recently published an article lauding Wal-Mart's newest environmental initiative, saying: "This is one small step for Wal-Mart and one giant leap for Planet Earth." You can read the article here at Bloomberg.com.

This would seem to establish Wal-Mart as a leader in two of the "4 P's" of corporate social responsibility. They have long held a firm grip on "profit" and now seem intent on getting very serious about "planet".

Let's hope this is a signal that they will soon consider leadership in the the other two p's of corporate social responsibility- people and purpose.

You may already know about Wal-Mart Watch (http://walmartwatch.com/), launched in 2005 as a nationwide public education campaign to challenge the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, to become a better employer, neighbor, and corporate citizen.

"People issues" still dog Wal-Mart, particularly in the area of providing quality health care to employees and labor relations in general. "Purpose issues" also linger, with many still questioning the values and integrity of company leadership.

Overall, I am thrilled to see Wal-Mart stepping up their commitment to a sustainable planet, and hope that they will continue to make strides by embracing people and purpose in addition to profit and planet when they measure their bottom line.

Labels: corporate culture, CSR, people planet profits purpose green business, sustainable success corporate social responsibility