Vision Qwest Solutions

The definition of employee engagement continues to elude us.  As a matter of fact, it is overwhelming to see the data and the different perspectives of what employee engagement means.  It is also interesting to see what this term means across various industries and business disciplines.  I am waiting for the drum rolls and the parade to start, because in someone’s mind, they have found the answer.

As an HR professional, I have personally seen a lot of trends come and go.  We have all wanted to put on a happy face, sit with the executive team and lay the groundwork for engaging employees and to ensure that our employees are happy little campers; akin to being puppets at our disposal.  Not realistic, nor a desired outcome; especially when there is a negative interpretation from the employees that you support.  More importantly, this is definitely not my perspective of what employee engagement means.

We think we have the answers, but the employees that we support have a totally different perspective.  After all, it is the employee’s perspective that matters most in defining employee engagement.  And speaking of perspectives, here is a very appropriate post that I found on www.danpontefrat.com.  In a recent post entitled “Employee Engagement is not about Buzz Words”, he states that:

“Organizations that sound the trumpet of annual, quarterly, or weekly engagement gimmicks are somewhere between draft and imbecilic.  You may trick me with cotton candy once, but I’m eventually going to figure out it’s only made of sugar and fancy food coloring.”  Read More

I like this post because it is a poignant statement about the state of affairs of employee engagement in today’s workplace and a true wake up call for HR practitioners and executives to understand that gimmicks do not work.  Ever since the introduction of this nebulous phrase, businesses have been hopping from one band wagon to another to find the perfect formula to ensure that employees “help to sustain the mission, vision, and business goals of the organization”.  What does not work is a sugary sweet approach to managing people.  Be mindful that I did not use the words “managing employees”.   There have been major strides made in terms of how we manage processes, how we utilize technology, how we implement best practices, and how we engage external customers; yet we are still worlds away from garnering the collective forces of the “people” that support organizations in these key initiatives.

Oftentimes, it is hard for organizations to separate the employee from that of being a person.  I contend that we are working with one in the same – a person who works everyday, a person that has supported an organization faithfully for years awaiting a gold watch; a person who has to manage work life and family in today’s economic climate; a person who does have personal aspirations; a person who wants to give back to the organization that they support; and last but not least, a person who wants to be appreciated for what they give day-to-day.

It is the understanding of this perspective that will create the “cultural” and engagement initiatives that are necessary to affect bottom line effectiveness.  It is my premise that organizations need to embrace, on an individual level, the mind-think of the “person” – an employee, and figure out how to truly embrace them in the day-to-day activities of work.

This is not conjecture.  And yet, within the realm of employee engagement, there are so many variables that will need to be addressed one post at a time.  These include:

• The culture of the organization
• The organizations’ true relationship with their employees
• The management and communication styles of department leaders and of the senior management team
• The consistency and meaningfulness of communication that is disseminated
• Whether there is a thorough understanding of the workforce and what their collective and individual needs are
• How an organization manages generational differences in the work environment or even see this as an issue
• Retention and why employees leave the organization
• How flexible the organization is to developing and mentoring employees
• Embracing;  good, bad, and indifferent, varying opinions of what is really happening within an organizations’ dynamics
• Respect for various roles and positions
• The culture of the organization, how rigid the organization is to embracing change
• Technology and how it has altered “connectivity in the workplace
• An understanding from each employee of how they “fit” within an organization

There are other issues, but this seems to be a good starting point.

What are your thoughts on embracing the employees’ perspective of employee engagement?

Create Twiim

As in our personal lives, we pour so much of ourselves into "our" world of work. And once we are cracked open, we have to fend for ourselves. We have to know where we are going in order to survive. And survival is ours to master, as long as we take measures to understand that person that we call “self”.

Along the way, there are paths defined, paths yet be defined, and paths unknown."
Celestine McMullen Allen

I chose this zen theme for my blog for a reason; such that at some point in our lives, we have to totally connect with ourselves individually and then embrace our chosen professions. This is the first step to total career fulfillment; this is zen. To connect individually means that we understand that we have chosen the correct career path. To connect individually means that we have know what lateral and professional moves we need to make to complement our journey. We may or may not know what our passions are. We are painstakingly focused on achieving some goal. Without addressing this aspect, it does not matter what type of work environment you are in, you will still be out of sorts with yourself; akin to fitting a square peg in a round hole if you do not take the necessary steps to truly understand what your needs are within a professional environment.

Years ago, I found this quote that says that "we are all suited for a certain type of work, and when we find that niche - the roles we are "professionally" suited for - then hard work is not hard work at all." This is the first step to ensuring that you are not subjected to the ails of trying to make your mark professionally and not succeeding. The journey begins with what you bring to "the table" and how you use these skills in your chosen profession. Secondarily, it is a matter of understanding the motivations of your employer, the culture of the organization, your ability to make an impact on their success, and what you want to accomplish as you move forward in the progression of your career. If the two mesh, this is what "zen" is about.

This "zen" experience applies whether you are just starting out in your career, whether you have to re-define you career goals due to economic circumstances, or whether you finally figure out that you need to make a career change after years of being "unprofessionally fulfilled" in your current job. After all, we spend 75% of our time thinking about work, doing the work, decompressing after work, and getting ready for the next day for work experiences to be miserable.

Are you professionally fulfilled in your current job? Do you agree that there is a link to fulfilling ones true career aspirations and being engaged in the workplace?

Celestine McMullen Allen, President
Vision Qwest Solutions

Create Twiim