Comments

Hi Val:

It is very interesting what you have asked.

I belive this:

A person needs the following to be engaged with the company:

1.-To be respected as a person. A lot of bosses doesn't do this. If a person is not respected NO other thing will work.

2.-To have a clear objective and HOW they can help the company to achieve it. People need to feel they are USEFUL.

Terrible mistakes happen in our days. The companies that have problems and fire people use a stupid way to save resources, instead of see how the people can help them to increase sales and service, and therefore earnings.

Thank you and best regards

Juan Miguel Robles Vargas
COO
DEISA
Guadalajara, Mexico

Posted by Juan Miguel Robles at September 14, 2006 6:18 PM

Innovation comes from a creative soul. The workplace has to grant an open window to the creative team whether in engineering or marketing--creativity abouts in innovative idea-making that is set free.

Ideation within a business stems from such souls actively participating in such a team. Only innovative team conduits can answer hard questions, think up even harder ones to ask themselves, and bring fruitful rewards to the company they work for.

Decent pay helps.

Posted by n.l. belardes at September 14, 2006 6:25 PM

Not to get all Maslow on you, but if you want your team members to take the risk of coming up with an innovative idea, they have to:

*Have the right tools
*Feel that they're secure in their position
*Believe that management is not inept
*Have a clear understanding of how they can contribute
*Understand a compelling vision for the organization

Make people feel like they're being treated fairly, give them a reason to believe in you, and give them a compelling vision.

Hand-waving, favoritism, sheltering low performers, a benefit plan that's perceived to be unfair-- any of these is a hole below the waterline. No one wants to take a risk-- like offer up a challenging idea-- if they feel that the downside is higher than the upside.

At the risk of being absurd, it's not unlike seduction-- if you get people emotionally prepared to commit, they're a lot more likely to commit.

As a veteran of several turnarounds, it can take a lot of coaxing to get team members to believe in management tenough to take a risk. Once burned, several times shy.

Posted by adb at September 14, 2006 9:36 PM

I don't think it's difficult, because people want and need to make a difference. You just have to get out of their way. Hmm, that must be the difficult part.

Posted by Marianne Powers at September 14, 2006 10:50 PM

I think the more engaged the employee is more they are thinking of the problems they face everyday. The more they think of problems they are able to come up with smart and simple solutions to solve the problems.

Now the question is how to foster high level of engagement -- I think,
-- if people understand clearly how they are helping the organization, their customer and other collegues; the more engaged they feel.
-- if people understand what is in it for "them" in whatever they are doing at work; the more engaged they feel.

Posted by kp at September 14, 2006 11:27 PM

yeah, the best stuff we ever did was when the
suits at capital let us bring in our dogs and aquariums and made sure the cafeteria had real cool stuff to put on salads. In fact, we got the ideas for the songs on 'revolver' when the big bosses let us watch marx brothers movies for two days in a row - they were frigging visionaries!

Posted by the beatles at September 15, 2006 1:15 AM

Juan Miguel has it right there when he says that the individual needs to be respected and to have a clear understanding of objectives in order to achieve engagement.

However engagement can only be achieved through a complex mix of good communications, management training and and management accountability.

It is Line Managers who are ultimately responsible for the respect - because Line Managers are the responsible for the individual's 'world'. Line Managers also have to take responsibility of translating the company objectives into local achieveable pieces of work. Unfortunately many of these Managers rely to much on being spoon fed the information from the top instead of taking control and showing a bit of leadership by producing their own vision.

Posted by Helen Ryan at September 15, 2006 4:17 AM

Helen, I agree. I believe that the line managers are one of the most overlooked parts of an organization. They have a powerful resource at their fingertips, people, but are not always taught how to use them. It's like me having all the tools that a carpenter uses in my garage, but I can't build a house.

Many line managers feel there is too much at risk to let people "go". Results are too visible, too quickly, to risk a foul up. Results of Senior Management decisions may not show up for months (or years).

As Dr. Marvin Marshall would say, responsibility can not be taken, if it is not first given.

Posted by Phil at September 15, 2006 7:29 AM

Compensation $$$$$$$ that has me at the independently wealthy stage = EASY to leave for the next NEW fabulous DEAL in a nanosecond.

Posted by sean at September 15, 2006 8:04 AM

Organisation Creativity... is something which I think all organisation should harvest from its staffs. In the past, we just employ to do a job, but things are very diferent nowadays, much much more are expected from employeers. And plus they are getting more educated.

Creative solutions and innovation on the job should no longer be a problem. The issue is really how to harvest all these ideas to really benefit the organisation.

Companies like Apple and 3M, etc... are only a few companies that manage to get it right in this area.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_17/b3981401.htm

Another issue is that there's often a gap in communication between the top and working management, they just never talk to each other enough to make things work.

Posted by Paul at September 15, 2006 8:38 AM

Val asks:

How do we foster high levels of engagement? What keeps you engaged and what makes you disengaged?

The answer to both is to make people feel valued as a person first - everything flows from that.

Posted by Trevor at September 15, 2006 9:19 AM

Honestly, I'm surprised by the Engaged/Highly Engaged percentages. Maybe I'm too cynical or have been in the wrong places but I don't think the level of engagement is that high. Nonetheless, a couple of good points made above. It IS about--purely about--valuing and providing employees with dignity, respect and fairness. Ultimately, you need to put the inmates in charge of the asylum. And that predictably puts the front line managers into a state of panic. Having the guts to stay the course at that point delivers a clear message you ARE deadly serious about acknowledging employees for what they can bring to the table and those managers ready to truly add value quickly transform themselves.

Posted by Ed Di Gangi at September 15, 2006 9:41 AM

For me,
1. A manager that is a coach/mentor - leading me to that next win (project completion).
2. Flexible environment, let me work when and where I want to.
3. No mixed signals. Don't tell me one thing and do another. Saying "Family is important" yet making the staff work those holidays didn't help show that family was important. It showed that work was important!
4. Dangle a carrot. Rewards along the way help, they could be of any monetary value - heck even a day or half day off would be good!
5. Full circle engagement. Let me meet the customers of my product and speak with them - at any point in time.
6. Listen. Listen to me, my counterparts and the many of us who are in the front lines. We know what is going on. Why is talking or getting the attention of a CEO (or most execs) still difficult (and sometimes nearly impossible) in todays era of tech?

Those are my top selections for keeping me egnaged. I know that some I will never get, but I just have to mention them because I'd like to feel I'd be at my most engaged moment with all 6 of these active!

Posted by chuck at September 15, 2006 9:46 AM

I think Juan Miguel summarized it perfectly. Being respected and feeling useful are absolutely essential to engagement. If one feels respected and that they have an idea that will help the company, they are much more likely to bring it up. How much innovation goes on unnoticed because people are afraid to present their ideas to higher-ups for fear of being rebuked? If one feels respected, they are more likely to "fast prototype" without as much fear of failure.

As an example, I will call upon my years in the service industry. Having worked at various positions at various restaurants, I have had a frontline view and direct experience with a multitude of managers. The restaurants that were the most successful were those in which the staff went out of their way to make sure that every customer had a truly remarkable experience. This takes innovation and improvisation at every guest interaction. The management teams that were able to inspire staff to do so were the ones that treated them like people, and not only welcomed, but courted input. When the staff felt important, they were more inclined to have a sense of ownership about the restaurant, and hence were more concerned with how each guest felt. This level of engagement ultimately meant more for the bottom line of not only the business, but the staff as well, as customers were likely to return, and to tip well.

In contrast, managers that treated staff like cogs in the machine lost the respect of their team members, and subsequently caused them to disrespect the restaurant as well. I have seen this go as far as staff actively stealing from the company. Bad news.

Its amazing how such a simple idea as respecting a person and valuing their contributions can make or break a company. I don't think enough can be said about engagement.

Posted by Nick Adams at September 15, 2006 11:01 AM

Innovation my favorite subject.

I have never worked on an innovation project that went according to plan or didn't change in the first few phases of the project. The more you know about the problem or opportunity the wider the options become.

It is also my experience that most employees jump at the chnace to participate in innovation projects. You just need to define the problem or opportunity as best you can.

The first thoughts and ideas on any innovation project are seldom the ones that end up in the market, but you have to have those first thoughts to get to other solutions. I have also found that the answers are seldom in your comfort zone or within the landscape of the existing business nor can consumers/users artciulate the innovative new thing they want. The answers many times come from looking at analogous businesses, other industries and places you never imagined. Every successful innovation project is an iterative process.

The hardest thing for most companies is to take risks, but without intelligent, well researched risk taking, the innovation just won't happen. Great product ideas also usually run the risk of being watered down by corporate bureaucratic cost reduction, supply side, and manufacturing management that looses site of what consumers would like to have. Companies take products to China because the Asian plants don't say no, and don't worry as much about the core competencies, overhead and the like.

Here a few of my favorite quotes:

"Managing and innovation did not always fit comfortably together. That's not surprising. Managers are people who like order. They like forecasts to come out as planned. In fact, managers are often judged on how much order they produce. Innovation, on the other hand, is often a disorderly process. Many times, perhaps most times, innovation does not turn out as planned. As a result, there is tension between managers and innovation."-- Lewis Lehro, about the first years at 3M

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” -  Steve Jobs

Posted by Tom at Proteus at September 15, 2006 11:04 AM

And I assume the other 20% couldn't be bothered answering the question!

Posted by Bob Hail at September 15, 2006 11:12 AM

Creativity and innovation follows good leadership.
I have trained leaders for many years and simplified leadership to one phrase....leadership is enhancing the worth of others so they can make sound decisions. Sound too simple? Try it. You will be surprised. You keep an open, safe and supportive environment...you will get ideas.

Posted by Phil Clark at September 15, 2006 11:38 AM

[20% missing] perhaps smoking thin ones at break and forgot the question!

Posted by sean at September 15, 2006 11:48 AM

Not only do I agree with Marianne Powers, I love that she packaged her response in one sentence. Marianne touches on the first and, I think, most important step. However, if the culture isn't built on self-actuated persons, who are unafraid and don't mind upsetting their bosses with contrary views, and who work in an atmosphere where calculated risk-taking and innovative thinking are encouraged, including with a process to get ideas where they need to be within the business, getting out of the way may not be enough.

Posted by Lewis Green at September 15, 2006 1:24 PM

There are two kinds of things that foster engagement. One kind comes from company policies that set up fair compensation and promotion policies. This is company-level stuff and favored by firms like Sirota.

Then there are the things that affect day to day work life. These include understanding that your job is important what your boss expects, being able to achieve it, getting regular and usable feedback, fairness (consequences match performance), consistency, and the maximum control reasonably possible over basic work decisions. Gallup is strongest on this stuff pointing out that the relationship with your immediate boss is the primary indicator of whether you are likely to be engaged or not.

Posted by Wally Bock at September 15, 2006 1:53 PM

How do you get people engaged? Its easy - but hard. All you need to do is ask front line staff for help and their advice. That's easy. Then you need to listen. Listen to what they say and do something about what they say. That's hard.

Posted by Tim Clague at September 16, 2006 1:13 PM

How do you engage employees? Believe that people who feel important, are treated fairly, and are frequently asked for their opinions will respond with a sincere desire to be involved in the success of the organization. Have a system for determining what is meaningful input. And for making it ok to provide not so meaningful input without risk of any kind.

People support what they help create, so set your standards high and continually make people a part of achieving the goal, purpose, project...

Posted by Dave Sovde at September 18, 2006 12:54 AM

I think that saying "engaged employees are more creative" is putting the cart before the horse. Most people, given the opportunity, can be extremely creative -- but before they'll express their creativity, they need to feel that their suggestions will be listened to, treated with respect, and, if appropriate, acted upon. Nothing fosters engagement as much as seeing YOUR idea put into action, and nothing kills it faster than a company that ignores, deprecates, or squelches any creative idea that conflicts with received wisdom.

I'm with Marianne: pose the problem to your employees, then get out of their way.

Posted by Paula at September 19, 2006 1:13 PM