September 1, 2009
A little knowing makes it easier to make a stand. Demonstrating your company’s firm stand for engaging its employees requires knowing.
It requires the company’s top executives’ knowing the employees. And the leaders’ knowing the employees. And the managers and supervisors knowing the employees.
And not necessarily knowing the same things or in the same ways.
Executives want to exemplify engagement for an entire organization. An executive begins this by knowing others members of the executive team. Every member of that team has her own goals and objectives. She also faces her own challenges. The more and better all executives know one another, the more they can engage in and produce team success. When was the last time your executive team “retreated” for a day for just such a purpose?
Leaders want to know specifically how well and how much employees understand the company’s purpose and mission, its goals and objectives. The operative word is understand, meaning more than simply “can recite.” Leaders use this knowledge — which should be gathered with regular frequency — to build processes and procedures that better convey these culture components to all employees. How often do your leaders meet specifically to examine the visibility and viability of your company’s business culture?
Managers and supervisors need to know what engagement does exist among individual employees. As well, they need to know engagement gaps and their causes. Certainly, this knowledge comes from ongoing communication between managers and their people. This communication happens in a wide array of formats: formal, informal, spoken, digital, one-on-one and between manager and teams. Does your company give managers time to learn and develop specific ways to bridge management style with your engagement culture?
Making a successful stand for powerful engagement takes more than just a little knowledge. It takes knowing.
Check out the Culture of Engagement Retreats.
Tags: Employee Engagement, Executive, Leadership, Management
