Incentive - March 2008 - (Page 38)

Where Employee Engagement Happens From Human Sigma by John H. Fleming, Ph.D., and Jim Asplund (Gallup Press, 2007) “Employees: What are they good for?” If we were to ask this question in a Gallup Poll, we would probably get an answer like this: “Companies need employees to get the job done and to meet the demands of the job with excellence.” So it follows that Cultivating Culture without “the job,” there would be no need So how do we manage people for employees. Fair enough. Where there is for success and high levels of an employee, there is a need for some job productivity in the new econofunction that companies cannot have my? Too many organizations performed more efficiently any other way. build management models on When it comes to understanding human the assumption that managers and behavior in the workplace, one of the most leaders have the power in the companotable discoveries occurred in the midny/employee relationship, but that’s no 1990s when we discovered that no longer always the case. The answer is organization—large or small—has a single employee engagement or the ability to culture. Instead, it has as many cultures as capture the heads, hearts, and souls of your it has workgroups, managers, or superviemployees to instill an intrinsic desire and sors. The locus of culture is at the local passion for excellence. Engaged employees level, where five, 10, or more people work want their organization to succeed because together every day. they feel connected emotionally, socially and Although many of you may be nodding even spiritually to its mission, vision, and in agreement at this notion, it was a purpose. dramatic shift in how leaders perceived Just as engaged customers are among a corporate culture and how to manage it. company’s most profitable patrons and Leaders have long understood that they passionate advocates, engaged employees have very little control over the culture that are a company’s most productive and exists at the local level, but this discovery efficient workers. Others have argued made it imperative that they find the best that employees join companies but leave managers and supervisors to build a managers. Employees may choose to work for a company for several high-performing culture—one reasons—the high-minded employee, or one conversation, and the practical. They may at a time. Executives cannot be attracted to its mission legislate culture with mission Jim Asplund is senior performance and purpose and its stature or vision statements or impact consultant for HumanSigma in the marketplace or by a through values clarification; with The Gallup Organization. belief that by working it must also grow organically John H. Fleming, Ph.D., is principal and chief scientist–customer engagement there, they can make a one workgroup at a time. for HumanSigma with The Gallup difference in the world. They Having a high-performing Organization. may also be attracted by the business culture is a competitive promise of a regular income, reaadvantage today. Most companies sonable working hours, and good benefits. expect every employee to be a builder, Whatever their motivation for joining the because every employee, through his or her company, their local work environment actions, either makes the culture stronger or either energizes and nourishes them and weakens it. Employees, in turn, want to be fosters their learning and growth or starves proud of their organizations and local them and frustrates their development. teams. And, in many countries today, the When this happens, they will leave the employer needs the employee more than the company—or even worse—hang around other way around. As the world shifts from doing the minimum needed until it’s time an industrial to a knowledge-based economy—and as employees are increasingly valued for what they know as much as for what they produce— the employer’s power has diminished or evaporated. Authors’ Bios: for retirement. Engaged employees, in contrast, are involved and enthusiastic about what is happening in their local work environment. Among the many variables that discriminate these two types of workplaces is the quality of the local workplace manager and his or her ability to successfully meet a core set of employees’ emotional requirements. Work units that meet these conditions of engagement perform at a much higher level than work units that fail to meet them. Primary within these conditions are emotional elements that reveal our basic human needs: to be recognized as individuals and to contribute. At a local level, managers can influence employees’ most basic needs by setting clear expectations and providing needed resources. More than this, they can energize their employees by showing them that they care—personally and professionally: • Personally, managers can create meaningful relationships within workgroups and position employees so that they can do what they do best. • Professionally, managers can provide challenging work and opportunities to learn, grow, and make significant contributions. Some hard-core [managers] have suggested that all this talk about positivity in the workplace is nothing more than a bunch of fluff with little real application in the cutthroat world of business. Our research strongly suggests otherwise: When human needs are met, the positive emotions that result encourage employees to look beyond the work in front of them and to care about the overall welfare of the business. More importantly, it’s hard to create passionate, engaged customers without passionate, engaged employees. 38 | Incentive | March 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - March 2008

Incentive - March 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Delivering on Diversity In The News Cover Story: Leveraging Diversity in the Workplace Incentive Interview: Paul Levesque on Why Awards Fail Case Study: AEIS’ Max!-imum Incentive Program Mine Employees’ Creativity with Innovation Incentives Incentive Must-Reads The Third Annual Gift Card Roundtable My Turn: Motivation or Bribery? Everybody Get Together In Her Shoes: Why Bosses Should Be Flexible Incentive Primer: Passport Problem-Solving potentials Here and Now Is CES Electronics Heaven? China and Crystal: More Than a Pretty Face Travel News Florida: What’s New on the Beach? Smooth Sailing for Incentive Cruising Come To Hawaii And Take It Fast Last Word: But Enough About You

Incentive - March 2008

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