It was a moment right out of the movie I Robot: the logic was irrefutable.
Brad, the two-hundred-employee firm’s president, had just spelled out the newly revised process—created by a small hand-picked team of three people—for manufacturing the company’s flagship product.
No process detail had been omitted.
Every possible process contingency had been evaluated and factored in. The work flow sequencing was precise, scientific and measurable in every aspect.
The logic was impeccable.
Irrefutable. Unemotional. Detached. Impersonal.
And in such stark contrast to the organization’s stated objective to improve employee engagement.
The project team hadn’t sought suggestions or feedback at any step in the revision process. The reason for the change wasn’t given. There were no advance communications of the impending change. Impacts on changed job skills, pay rates and performance requirements weren’t considered.
Brad’s rollout meeting was a one-way monologue with no question-and-answer period at the end.
Driving real employee engagement requires both touching hearts and filling minds. It’s messy. It’s imprecise. It’s emotional — just what captures employee’s commitment and loyalty.
Is your firm creating work process after work process, hoping for engagement yet not seeing it happen?
If so, then it’s time for a little messiness, don’t you think?
Thoughts about engagement
Accept the fact that we have to treat almost anybody as a volunteer. ~Peter Drucker
Create caring and robust connections between every employee and their work, customers, leaders, managers, and the organization to achieve results that matter to everyone in this sentence. ~David Zinger
Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability. ~Anne Mulcahy
The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. ~Sybil F. Stershic
Employees engage with employers and brands when they’re treated as humans worthy of respect. ~Meghan Biro
