Where is Your Engagement?

Studies regularly report the benefits of engagement to the organisation  Direct benefits such as increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and turnover are often quoted; as well as indirect and still important benefits such as employer brand, volunteering and being more proactive with personal development. All of the above is very valuable in an increasingly competitive business world, but I get the sense that organisational leaders believe that engagement is something you do to to people - run a survey, roll out initiatives.

 For some reason decorating comes to mind.  Running a survey can be a bit like preparing the wall for the first coat of paint.  Once the wall is prepared its time for the first initiative (sorry coat) - but not before we've applied some masking tape, don't want to paint another area by mistake.  Then it's time for the roller and your chosen hue. But who asked the wall if it wanted to be painted - and in that colour?

In the first of a series of three videos on HRZone, Professor Yannis Georgellis from Kingston Business School explores employee engagement and in the interview makes 2 particularly interesting points. First he explores the locus of engagement.  Individuals are not necessarily engaged with their day to day work.  It could be the people they work with, or even something outside of work altogether. It could even be a unique combination that changes over time. And every individual could have their own unique combination. So a one size fits all approach is never going to work.

 We all know you can't make someone love you and equally you can't make someone engage with your organisation. What you can do is learn and understand what that person cares most about most, recognise them and act on as many as possible.  If you’re not interested in the same things, there’s
a problem.  At work it’s the same, build as many of those ingredients into the (work) environment as possible. Some of those things may be hr policies like flexible working and flexible reward packages.  Other actions that can be taken bring me nicely to Professor Georgellis’ second point.

At the end of the interview the professor touches on matching talents with what individuals care about.That simple statement is for me a cornerstone of engagement.  Using my talents to deliver on something I care about is deeply satisfying and naturally I do the best job possible.

I watched a film last night called Ip Man - about a Win Chun Master who refused to teach so he could devote more time to himself and his art. Eventually he realised he cared more the plight of his family and his compatriots.  Channelling his talent for martial arts through his need to fight for what he cared most about changed the Japanese occupation of China.  It also enabled the emergence of Bruce Lee, probably the worlds best known matial Artist. Ip Man was his Mentor.

Matching talents to interests isn’t necessarily straightforward. Not everyone immediately recognises their strengths and motives, yet alone finding a way to align them with organisational needs.  This is one reason for us developing the ExtraMILE process.  Through clearly defined stages the process uncovers the power within the individual and develops or strengthens the organisational processes to align and utilise that power to exceed expectations.  Oscar winning Director Robert Altman put it well when he said - “The role of the director is to create a space where actors can become more than they ever dreamed of being”

If you’d like to know more about the ExtraMILE process, leave a comment or use the contact form on the Emenex website.