leading for engagement
This article will focus on the leadership and development aspect of engagement while mentioning some of the other factors too. These are reflections rather than research based on a representative sample.
Engagement means that people want to come to work. They want to get out of bed. According to the Gallup Organisation of Princeton, “The engaged employee is someone who is 100% committed to their role. They thrill to the challenge of their work every day. They are in a role that uses their talents, they know the scope of their job, and they are always looking for new and different ways of achieving the outcomes of their role….You can be a satisfied employee without being engaged.” In other words, you could be happy and extremely satisfied without being productive.
According to Hewitt’s we see engagement when people: consistently speak positively about the organization to co-workers, potential employees and most critically, customers (current and potential), have an intense desire to remain within the organization, are committed, exert extra effort and are engaged in work that contributes to business success.
The leader is in the fortunate position to be able to impact on most of the other engagement factors depending on their position in the organization.
According to the ASTD–Dale Carnegie Training–i4cp Learning and Employee Engagement Study ‘Engaged employees are defined as those who are “mentally and emotionally invested in their work and in contributing to their employer’s success”. Engagement evidences itself through employees who are willing to go the extra mile, speak well of their company, and make sure that customers are satisfied.’
Four examples of leaders from four different organisations will be used. All of these organizations had global arrangements with overseas organizations so although they were locally run, they had international links and in some cases, ex-pats working in them or some of their local staff seconded overseas.
This meant that there were constant global learning in both directions through exchanges and benchmarking. These organizations have many similarities and differences, but from the writer’s perspective all employed a high proportion of very engaged employees and examples from these organisations will be used to demonstrate concepts of engagement.
The Beverage Organisation
The organization was a manufacturer of beverages with a global connection. There were several plants supplying directly to the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) consumer. The leader to be discussed led these plants. His leadership style was charismatic and inspiring, but he allowed others to take the lead while quietly asking the key questions in the background.
He seemed to build the profile of his staff more than his own. He supported his staff unconditionally and would defend one to the other and outside the team.
The Packaging Organisation
The organization was a local manufacturer of cardboard, glass, paper and plastic containers with a global connection. There were operations supplying the end user, rather than the consumer, globally. The leader to be discussed headed up several of the divisions of this organization. His leadership style was charismatic and inspiring, but very noisily and with much haphazard and disorganized joviality. He was never serious, but you knew he had deep compassion.
The Pharmaceutical Organization
The organization was a manufacturer and marketer of pharmaceutical products, both over the counter (OTC) and scheduled drugs. There were several marketing and manufacturing agreements with global organizations. The leader to be discussed was the head of one of the divisions of the organization. His leadership style was charismatic and inspiring, but he was very intense, serious and hard to get to know.
The Financial Services Organisation
The organisation was a global supplier of corporate and personal insurance. The leader to be discussed headed up several countries in this organisation. His leadership style was charismatic and inspiring, but he was characterized more by his down to earth, direct approach and exceptional storytelling skills.
ENGAGEMENT FACTORS
According to Hewitt’s, there are seven engagement factors that create employee engagement.
1. CULTURE and PURPOSE –organisation, values and behaviours
In organizations where engagement is high, there is a sense of purpose. Employees enjoy helping others, the market and the organization. They feel that the mission or purpose of the company makes them feel their job is important.”
The Pharmaceutical Organisation
The leader, with the help of external consultants and the Human Resources team used a change process called the Adizes process, which is a lifecycle diagnosis tool, to diagnose the status of the organization on the life cycle of organizational growth. Each part of the organization can be at a different stage of the lifecycle, but one is still able to decide where the organization is on the lifecycle as a whole. Thereafter key areas were highlighted by identifying all the potential improvement points (pips) and coming up with the various treatments for each of these improvement opportunities. The purpose was crystal clear, each team and team player had a specific role, and these were all outlined in workbooks, published books and discs available from the Adizes organization. There was a full time coordinator. It was identified that the organisation needed rejuvenation, as it was more at Bureaucracy than Prime. A consultant trained in the process was contracted by the company.
The Packaging Organization
The leader wanted to create an organization, which takes into account local environment but benchmarks with global practices. An executive who had enormous trust in him gave him carte blanche. He had great success with the unions and the organization had gained a reputation for forward and progressive thinking. The purpose was crystal clear, change was happening and the organization needed to be spearheading the change, taking risks and helping to make change happen faster. The Human Resources staff and several key change agents in line positions were chosen as champions. Their stories were told and celebrated and change became a part of the culture of the organization. The status quo was constantly checked, revised and streamlined. Continuous improvement became a way of life and “way of doing things around here.” (Schein)
The Beverage Organisation
The leader wanted to create an innovative environment modelled on a top US plant, which was most cost effective in terms of transport, plant size and skills utilization. Each unit had self-sufficiency as a goal, but teamwork was an underlying theme. There was also an opportunity to create a greenfield organization and have everything new and as ideal as possible. Several employees from the shopfloor were flown to the US organisation to experience the leaders’ vision and to assist them in their role as champions, communicators and change agents for the general workforce, on their return.
The Financial services organisation
The leader wanted a fun, relaxed, egalitarian environment with a reputation for excellence in technical skills. He utilized local activities to unify people e.g. two up, horseracing and competitions for different departments to perform skiets or dress up. The most memorable night was when one of the groups performed scenes from a popular movie. This is still spoken about in the corridors. People really got scared by the thorough acting and characterisation and it created a fun atmosphere. This served to create a bond through this electrifying experience. The story became part of the social glue of the organisation and this leader was given the kudos for creating the opportunity for these events.
2. RELATIONSHIPS– co-workers, managers, customers
Highly engaged employees have a best friend in the organisation. In other words, they have someone in the organisation that they relate to, who has similar values to them. They feel that their fellow employees are committed to quality work. They feel that they matter and their manager portrays a sense of caring to that person either directly or through a third party who has a rapport with that person. If they are dealing with customers, they feel that they are making a difference or contribution.
In all four organizations, not only did the leader show caring/demonstrate a moral compass for their people in the organisation, but also beyond the organisation, the community.
All these leaders were skilled at conceptualizing, describing the big picture, inspiring through vision and they were all articulate. All could walk with kings and not loose the common touch. All three were highly regarded and respected by their reports and leaders. Their emphasis on gaining shareholder value and profit motive was obvious, while also illustrating a moral compass. These leaders showed caring and support for diversity. Their themes were:
The Beverage Organisation
The leader of this organisation had the wonderful ability to make you feel cared for. He was able to speak to staff at all levels and make them feel like the only person in the world at that moment. He was an engaging, magnetic maverick.
The Pharmaceutical Organisation
The leader was able to show warmth by wanting the best for you, the organisation and everyone in the organisation. The Pips from the Adizes process were sorted and categorized into major items, which groups called synerteams worked on. These synterteams were made up of members from various different parts of the organisation. The senior team or organizing committee (POC) assisted in selecting the members for each synerteam using the questionnaires as a basis. The questionnaires identified PAEI and each group had members with a dominant style from each of the four styles. It was easy to get P and A in a pharmaceutical environment, but harder to get E and I. Having each style in each synerteam ensured diversity and this was seen as a way of improving the outcome of the work of the group. This ensured that a cross-functional approach would be taken and that people would integrate with other functions thus breaking down the functional silos. The different functions were Production, Finance, Information Technology, Human Resources, Public Relations, Customer Services and Research and Development. There was also a variety of styles in the group. The Adizes methodology allows for four styles – P, A, E and I. Each synterteam was composed of all four styles so that diversity was ensured, not just in functional work but also from an interpersonal perspective.
The Packaging organisation
The leader was very laid back, haphazard and unplanned, but a great visionary and able to sell his vision to all levels and through his unconditional support give you the courage to implement it with him.
The Pharmaceutical Organisation
Due to a large degree of diversity in the organisation, some cultural hotspots (informally called ghettos) were visited and the change stakeholder committee travelled into some of the so-called unsavoury areas. This provided a bridge and an opportunity not often obtained between those who would not normally travel to each other’s areas.
The Packaging Organisation
Traditional ceremonies were held and healers invited to bless proceedings to address the high degree of diversity in some of the divisions, some as a way of ensuring that negativity would be eliminated. This plant then recorded extremely high production figures. This provided bridges between those of different backgrounds and affirmed those who felt previously disrepected by the monocultural emphasis.
The Financial Services Organisation
The leader defends their people to the outside world and redirects energies in a direct manner in some instances. This leader also portrays a sense of caring by showing a personal interest in everyone, knowing each person’s personal history, delighting in their successes and taking an interest in their families and sharing information about his own background and family. He is open about his awareness of others’ different backgrounds in a way that makes people appreciate his interest and he frequently gets away with what some would see as politically incorrect behaviour due to people “getting” his intention.
3. JOB TASKS – impact, challenge/interest, status/pride
In an organization where engagement is high people feel positively stretched and challenged and like they are making a difference. They know what is expected of them, have clear guidelines at work and have the materials and equipment to do their work correctly. They also feel proud of their contribution and status in the organization. They feel that they have an opportunity to do what they do best everyday and enjoy regular recognition.
The Beverage Organisation
Skills audits were conducted and gave opportunities for people to up skill for new roles. External consultants ran a Change management and supervisory program. The same UK consultants were used by several parts of the organisation and this served to ensure consistent values; leadership approach and thinking skills were driven and promoted throughout the organisation.
The Pharmaceutical Organization
Competency modelling was trained and behavioural indicators designed by using the methodology of interviewing different levels of people with skills in different jobs and analysing what contributed to average and/or excellent performance. People had opportunities to start thinking of their portfolios of skills as opposed to just thinking about one job. A machine operator had been running a machine for over 30 years and was retrenched and it was very difficult to get this machine operating again. Thereafter, greater care was taken for recording and transfer of skills.
The Packaging Organisation
Supervisory workshops were conducted for team leaders, department managers, senior managers and divisional heads. The same material was used for all levels and a common language developed. Four Models for Management management and communication models were used and in this way, what some would call sophisticated psychology was understood and used throughout the organisation. Globally developed materials were used and the three key principles and problem-solving framework were localised and trained.
The Financial Services Organisation
The leader had a special way of showing recognition – there were competitions between departments using various forms of gambling games like horseracing, tipping and charades. This created a fun atmosphere and sense of belonging and family. Both winners and losers were glorified. Losers displayed their certificates as proudly as winners did. This produced great humour, energy and bonding between teams. It provided a common language cross-functionally. This meant that the brokers were on par with the administrators. Previously the two were very separated and were on different floors of the building. Each floor was very physically separated as the floors were blocked off due to security reasons. One only had access by the lifts, which were notorious for being stuck. Lift stories were also part of the cultural social glue of the organisation! You had arrived if you had a lift story! Stories were told repeatedly of previous events and dressing up causing much laughter and a richer culture. These stories also emphasized some of the values like not taking yourself too seriously and to work hard and play hard. implementation, this served to ground the line managers and get them a little more people orientated. There was much global input, visitors, and conferences.
4. OPPORTUNITIES – growth/development, advancement, interaction
In an organization where engagement is high, employees say that there is someone at work who encourages their development and there has been advancement as in this last year, many confirmed that they had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
They would also respond positively on interaction, having enjoyed working on project teams and continuous improvement teams and felt that at work, there opinions seemed to count.
In all four organizations, there were opportunities to work on cross-functional activities, some work based, and some social.
The Packaging Organisation
There were continuous improvement teams working on strategic and operational outcomes using rational thinking, trouble shooting, collaboration and competencies.
There was an internally developed supervisory development programme with several modules for each stream. This encouraged focus on both technical and behavioural skills and greater integration of these skills.
The Beverage Organization
There was a steering committee, which was multifunctional for the entire change process. All change facilitators were trained on change management.
The Pharmaceutical Organisation
The PIP (potential improvement points) teams worked on cross-functional issues such as performance management.
The Beverage Organisation
Employees were flown overseas to a best practice plant and shown what the vision could look like. They saw a plant structured similarly to some of the ideas for the new structure. They spoke to the employees there and checked out how they were dealing with the changes and if it had resulted in improvements for them.
The Financial Services Organisation
The leader encouraged all underwriting and claims employees to attend technical skills, presentation, performance management and negotiation skill training. .
5. TOTAL COMPENSATION – pay/financial recognition/financial benefits
In organizations where engagement is high there is a link between performance management timing and employees will say that in the last 6 months, someone at work has talked to them about their progress.
The Beverage Organisation
Skills based pay was introduced and this provided a new dimension to the approach to total compensation. This was a groundbreaking move and although well orchestrated in this environment, copied not so well in others. Insufficient audits were completed and additional pay given without strict adherence to criteria.
The Packaging Organisation
A highly developed performance management system was well entrenched and supported by the leader under discussion. There was a high degree of participation. At the senior levels, bonuses were allocated using the system. This gave the system much gravitas and senior attention.
The Pharmaceutical Organisation
Performance management was a key PIP, which the teams worked on. A representative team with several functions present developed a cutting edge customer based system.
The Financial Services Organisation
Performance management training was compulsory for all employees. The performance management training included seven leadership competencies. The competencies were broken down into behaviours and all employees received copies. They were encouraged to have regular performance discussions from both employee and manager perspectives. All attended mandatory training in performance management. This was a worldwide initiative.
6. QUALITY OF LIFE – physical environment, work life circumstance
The leader offers opportunities for the employees to have balance, health, fitness and sometimes childcare.
All four leaders were flexible and caring towards family circumstances and were very accommodating when there were family commitments. In all these companies, there were females in senior positions such as Technical Director, factory manager, Organisational Development manager, Human Resources Director, Underwriting manager and Claims manager.
All were comfortable, safe working environments.
7. LEADERSHIP – credibility, trust
In organizations with high engagement, there is high credibility for the leader and the employees trust them. The leader walks the talk. The leader makes decisions based on what is best for the organisation rather than what is best for them or the politics.
The Pharmaceutical Organisation
The leader, who was also the CEO expressed passion for being the best, having a balanced life, family and caring for staff.
The Beverage Organisation
The leader showed no judgement or prejudice. The modus operandi was to move forward. There was little time to dwell on mistakes or negatives; the theme was more one of “What is our next move? What is the solution?”
There was tremendous opportunity for input and opinion. You were always asked your opinion and the majority of the time was able to run with what you thought. Thoughtful “devil’s advocate” type questions would be asked which made you think of other angles. The leader played a bonding and integrating role, fostering bonds and offering up opportunities for social gatherings, which were fun, relaxed and gave people an opportunity to make fun of him, which was well received by all. The leader was able to laugh at himself and could understand the value of team humour. He had subtle ways of letting people know the boundaries of acceptable humour. He did not enjoy humour at someone else’s expense, but encouraged “fair” humour.
The Packaging Organisation
The leader let us know that there were to be no surprises. This encouraged a culture of communication. He also defended you no matter what, but he had a lovely way of letting you know if you had done wrong. He would joke about it, but without offending you. You always knew where you stood, but there was unconditional regard.
The Financial Services Organisation
The leader outlasted many in the rigorous grilling process from the global visitors. People respected him for this. He showed tremendous grit, resilience and staying power. One was expected to know all the figures and global trends from memory. He also introduced the global visitors to all things local and evoked some interest in homegrown sports. He took them to local pubs and they loved the concept of cooking their own steaks on the barbeque.
In conclusion, there are interesting themes all four leaders used in creating social glue to bind teams or organisations:
References:
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-364058/Hewitt-Associates-Study-Shows-More.html
http://web.mit.edu/scheine/www/home.html
http://www.dalecarnegie.com/corp_sol/corp\
http://www.modelsformanagement.com/about-mfm/history/achieving-leader-resea