KEY POINTS:
What percentage of your workforce's capacity can you expect to be engaged on delivering for the organisation? Research suggests around 40 per cent unless you are actively taking steps to maintain motivation and focus.
In these days of increasing skills shortages, staff engagement helps to draw out hidden talent and build understanding of the full breadth of what is available from the workforce, put the right skills together and focus on and use people's strengths.
The good news is that when we do this we also tap into what switches people on, gives them due respect and makes their day more fulfilling - all of which enhances staff sense of responsibility and ownership for making things work.
Company image, productivity, morale and teamwork are all directly affected by the degree to which we do or do not positively engage our staff.
Employees do more when they:
* Are "switched on".
* Can see what the possibilities are.
* Understand the purpose.
* Feel there is a worthwhile outcome.
Failure comes when employees:
* Are only giving precisely what is required of them.
* Don't understand why they need to do things.
* Mistrust the reasons for decisions.
So why are we falling behind in doing it? Why are we continuing to invest time and money in recruitment without fronting up to the challenges of why our existing staff are either leaving or not giving their best?
Why are our job descriptions and training programmes still predominantly focused on technical tools and processes rather than people development?
We think we are too busy sorting the immediate problems and dramas to take the time out to develop a tactical approach to people management and specifically staff engagement yet live uncomfortably with a workforce where many are pulling in the opposite direction (both unintentionally and intentionally) and we have staff who do not feel part of the organisation and its future and are therefore unmotivated to go the extra mile.
Maybe we think that our company image is reflected in our branding, when in reality we know we judge a company's standing by the calibre of the workforce we encounter, the grapevine messages that emanate from workers about how business is done and how they "feel" about the organisation they work for or have recently left.
Our past and present employees are a core marketing mechanism that we leave untapped at our peril.
This is particularly true of a country such as New Zealand where population size means informal networks are strong.
The course helps participants to understand within their own work context what some of the difficulties/pitfalls might be.
Each organisation has its own particular issues, but sticking to what is easy or comfortable is a common theme.
People issues are generally labelled the "soft stuff" but they are in fact what people find toughest to deal with.
There are no easy formulas; it is about confronting the unpredictable, asking the uncomfortable, listening when we would rather be telling, showing leadership rather than authority, establishing accountability when we would rather hide under the covers and showing respect when we are wanting to be the ones respected.
It requires the kind of confidence that allows others to shine.
The course guides participants to explore these concepts and turn them into practical application.
The first day embeds the principles and value of engagement which the participants take into their own workplaces in the intervening week. They interview their colleagues to see how the reality in their workplace matches up.
This serves a two-fold purpose of validating and enriching the learning for the participant as well as prompting interest and challenges for their own organisation.
Course members come back fired up with information, insight and enthusiasm for the potential within their organisation and a very real sense of how feasible it would be to make improvements within their specific context.
Day two turns this hands-on experience into plans, processes and practical experience through role-plays of situations which course members identify as areas they would like to practise and get feedback on.
Participants head off from the course with a plan of action for themselves and for engaging the wider organisation.
Having already initiated discussion and feedback within their organisation and discussed and trialled some practical approaches, participants have some degree of confidence in getting underway.
Alida Robey
The Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Auckland has introduced a two-day course to give insight and practical tools and planning to get managers equipped and into action. The course is taught by Alida Robey, who has worked as a consultant in organisational change and development and has more than 25 years of experience in Europe and New Zealand. Her focus is on working within the constraints and opportunities of the workplace to develop good practice that is owned and taken forward by the organisation itself.
Her course is focused on helping participants to understand the dynamics of their particular workforce and work context and apply targeted approaches to improve and maintain engagement levels.
