Show Caring, by addressing the disconnect between what employees care about, and what the Company cares about.
Let's be open and clear about it: Employees, at all levels of the hierarchy, and just as Companies do, care ultimately about their own (often deeply private) self-interest and goals. This, in fact, is one reason behind senior leaders’ willingness to leave great jobs for even greater ones.
To increase engagement, get leaders to view the Company as a vehicle for the employee’s attainment of personal and professional goals, rather than to view the Employee as a vehicle for the attainment of company goals.
This does not mean to let the foot off the pedal…
…but to Shift the Perspective
Hire and promote in alignment with fit on culture, mission and talent needs, but Shift the Perspective:
Viewing the company as a vehicle for employee growth challenges leaders to stimulate and channel the employee’s drive for attainment of his/her own objectives in line with company goals, and promotes creativity guided by the company’s mission. It recognizes the richness and humanity of each employee and aligns each person’s work efforts with the pursuit of what matters most to him/her. It creates a space and culture of growth and genuine caring for the individual, enabling and fueling their engagement and strengths in the pursuit of their personal and professional goals.
In contrast, viewing the employee as a vehicle for company growth can often translate into treating employees as one more company asset type (a human resource, in this case), to be utilized or discarded as best fits the balance sheet. This perspective of the employee as “one line towards the rollup of bottom line results” often results in short term thinking that looks to maximize resource utilization, causing burnout, and stifling creativity, development, and -ultimately- engagement.
Engagement depends directly on the desire of employees to be involved in their work. The more personally meaningful the work, the more an employee will want to be engaged.
The idea of implementing this shift may seem naive, but it's clear that the nature of work is shifting and knowledge-based workers have increasing opportunities to contribute effectively to a diversity of projects in ways that meet their personal and professional ambitions and which may not require their permanent affiliation with your company.
It takes courage to start tough conversations.
That’s what leaders do.
Net Net: To increase employee engagement, leaders need to view the company as a vehicle for employee growth (through the execution of the company mission), rather than view employees as means to an end. Align employees’ strengths and personal goals (this includes professional goals) with company objectives, so that the employees' desire to attain will be greatest.
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