Employee Engagement: History repeating itself
How often have you heard these words?
Those who fail to understand history are destined to repeat it.
Did you think that that observation was just about world politics or the economy? The fact is that it’s just as true for businesses as it is for nations. And the current debate about employee engagement proves it.
60 years ago Hertzberg - 30 years ago KPIs
Herzberg taught us nearly 60 years ago that people were the most important component in any organization. He identified those activities that motivated higher employee performance, and those that, if withdrawn, actually made matters worse. Thirty years later, the same issues were raised again; this time under the banner of KPIs and High Performance Indicators. And the findings were similar.
No matter how much organisations wished it were otherwise, it was the integration of those things that were important to people that improved performance. Managers couldn’t simply cherry-pick the ones they liked and ignore the others.
And now, here we are again
We’re revisiting the same problem. Managers have latched onto this erroneous idea that the way to succeed in business is to ignore all the touchy-feely stuff about employee engagement, EQ and emotional intelligence; even SQ and spiritual intellignce.
Doesn’t anyone read management history?
While there’s disagreement as to what the term employee engagement actually means, it simply doesn’t matter. In fact, changing the terminology merely adds to the confusion. It makes us think that we’ve discovered something new; something that will give us an insight into how to achieve greater performance without being interested in people. But to think that is to put one’s whole body into the sand; not just the head.
This issue has been raised time and time again because organisations do not like the answers they’ve been given; and so they keep asking. It’s a sort of referendum on performance. They feel that if they ask enough times that they’ll finally get the results that they wanted all along. They live in hope that the time will come when someone tells them which indicators point to high performance.
Studies have shown repeatedly...
... that such things cannot be sliced and diced like vegetables on a cutting board. Collectively, they make a satisfying meal; separately, they’re just wilted lettuce. The truth is that if you take care of your people, then they will take care of you. Not only are they your greatest resource, they also are the only ones that matter. You ignore them at your peril.
There’s an inextricable link between happy employees and productive ones. And when managers attempt to dismantle the things that matter most to them, the company not only loses money, but it stands to lose the ones that can help them to survive. Loyalty is earned; and loyal employees want to see their companies succeed. They want to do their best because it gives them a sense of personal pride to have made a difference.
Some employees perform exceptionally because of intrinsic motivation.
But no matter how talented, self-driven, or self-actualised they are, if they feel sufficiently under-appreciated for long enough or if they feel that it no longer matters if they’re there or not, then they’ll leave. Engagement cuts both ways. It’s not just about organisations engaging with employees. It also means that employees engagement with their employers.
The bottom line is simply this
- Are you going to work together or not?
- Will you respect your employees are not?
If you decide to blame everyone else or fail to respect the needs, ambitions, and opinions of others, then it won’t matter what you call it. You’ll still fail...
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