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The ups and downs of engagement

Why is engagement going down in the UK and up in the USA?

There is an interesting report in HR Magazine this week that engagement in the UK is going down. What I find even more interesting is that in the USA it is going up and globally, it is staying the same. A rise in the USA seems at odds with the growing “99 percent” and “Occupy Wall Street” movements.

And what is happening in the UK? What specific things are people doing or not doing here that are leading to the problems?

I don’t know, but I think it is worth trying to find out. That’s why I’m helping with the Stop Doing Dumb Things Unconference. The Unconference is part of a journey to explore opportunities for collaboration and engagement, with better service as a goal.

Genuinely engaging business involves employees, customers, suppliers, communities and other groups too. That’s important and it goes far beyond good business too. It touches deep needs for sense of connectedness and purpose: intrinsic motivations.

If you would like to be part of a growing group of interesting people coming together in London on November 23rd to learn, share and challenge for better ways of working, simply grab a ticket. We’ll then send you details of some useful ways to engage and we look forward to meeting you and to sharing a useful and enjoyable day together.

Heroes – Julie Knight

I was travelling to London from Birmingham on a London Midland train last Friday afternoon when I came face to face with a thief. As I relaxed on the way home from a brain bustingly motivating meeting with Richard Baker, I became aware that my bag and I were parting company. I stood and turned as the guy sitting behind me on the train released my bag and sat back down in his seat. I didn’t know what to do, it really unnerved me. I just glowered at him and he got up and left the carriage. I sat down, my bag now tightly clasped, and shook. I felt nervous.

The train guard came through shortly after and asked to see my ticket. I blurted out ‘another passenger has just tried to steal my bag!’ The train guard introduced herself as Julie Knight and asked me to explain what happened. I told her and Julie calmly reassured me that the cctv cameras would have picked up the attempted theft. Was the thief still on the train we wondered? I described him and Julie went to make sure he was still aboard the train. He was.

Julie returned and we talked some more when the thief reappeared. He skulked around and Julie smartly turned the conversation to other things. He must have figured something was up because no sooner had the thief left the carriage, he reappeared and sat down right behind me. Julie asked what he was doing. ‘I just want to sit here in first class’ the thief replied. ‘Have you got a first class ticket? Julie asked. It turned out that he had no ticket of any kind.

Julie managed to phone ahead and arranged for the train to be met by security at Northampton. She explained to me that this was her stop too, she was due to board another train heading back north. After we pulled in the doors remained locked and after a bit of Keystone Kops to-ing and fro-ing, Julie and a colleague handed the thief over to the security team at the station. Julie ran back up the platform and hopped back on the train just to double check I was OK, and then ran off, keen to ensure the next train she was working on was not delayed.

The rest of my journey home unfolded uneventfully.

As I reflected on what happened, several things struck me about Julie:

She told me her name – straight away that reassured me

She took the matter seriously – and stayed very calm and relaxed throughout

She was courteous to the thief, to a fault, doing her level best not to arouse any suspicion or adverse reaction in him

She was determined to help apprehend the guy

She came back to see me, to say thanks and goodbye before dashing off to give good service to the passengers on the next train

Julie probably thinks she was just ‘doing my job’, and she would be right. And what a good job that is. It must be tough working on the railways. When things go to plan, i.e. when the trains run to time, well that’s just what we as customers expect. It’s hard to exceed expectations, it’s not like the train can arrive early is it? I imagine it’s a pretty thankless task. Thanks Julie.

I hope the good people at London Midland pick up on this heroic tale.

Heroes – Fyodor Dostoevsky

This is the third in our Heroes series of posts. Our guest author today is Neil Usher, his Twitter bio describes him as part property professional, part performance poet, part parent. What do I think about him? I think Neil is a cutting edge thinker on now and future workplace (he is chairing the afternoon session at Workplace Trends 2011 and participating in Stop Doing Dumb Things 2011), and a great lyricist, for it is he who wrote the words to the chart topping classic tune Human Resource. Take it away Neil:

My hero – Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The ultimate flawed genius who battled through an addiction to gambling, a relentless torment over the existence – or otherwise – of God, a mock execution commuted at the final moment to a stay in a Siberia prison (immortalised in his Memoirs from the House of the Dead), to create some of the most incredible literature of all time including The Brothers Karamazov, The Devils, The Idiot, The Gambler, and Crime and Punishment.

A master of plot, suspense and character, he lived for a time during his most desperate spells of poverty on coffee, writing with pencil stubs by candlelight. He made repeated personal sacrifices in his relentless pursuit of his art, and submitted on many occasions to his own frailty and vulnerability. It was his second wife Anna who rescued him from the eternal cycle of despair into which he could never help falling, and in managing his affairs gave him comparative comfort in his later years.

When he died, his coffin was followed by forty thousand. He has been imitated by many including artists as diverse as Woody Allen whose final scene in Love & Death is comprised of Dostoevsky’s novel titles, and Magazine, whose Song From Under the Floorboards is a lyrical version of the incredible Notes From Underground. The final word – for me – goes to the mischievous cat Behemoth in Bulgakov’s magnificent Master and Margarita who when calling at the Russian ministry of arts and culture announces himself as Dostoevsky. “But Dostoevsky is dead” says the doorman – “I beg to differ” says the cat “Dostoevsky is immortal”.