Category: Engagement

Facebook Faceoff

I’ve just been reading a piece on HRZone about people making unpleasant remarks about the boss on Facebook and other social networking sites. The article starts:

“Just over one in ten under 35 year-olds have posted derogatory or negative comments about their boss or employer on a social networking site, according to a study.”

This got me thinking. Why are a growing number of people resorting to this rather spiky method of communication?

In my experience very few companies allow or are comfortable with internal two way communications. They tend to prefer broadcast, one way methods in an attempt to keep control of the message. Open dialogue, or one way command and control. Which do you find more engaging, more purposeful?

I know of a few places where blogging in the business is encouraged, and in fewer places still, there are some reasonably senior figures actively involved and pretty much anything goes. So what happens? I see some controversy raging from time to time, and a lot of people appreciate a more open, two way, live feel about the comms. Debate happens, and quite often when a member of staff posts something a bit edgy, it will be other colleagues and peers who may speak up and challenge the point of view. More often than not there is a consensus reached, some useful learning has been…learned, and in the best examples I’ve seen action is taken. Improvement action. On the odd occasion discussion strays into something inappropriate, well just deal with it. Remove the offense, explain briefly why and get on with the next good idea, or discussion.

This open dialogue is an important part of visible or accessible leadership. Here’s a supporting idea for you if you are interested. “Visible Leadership is Great. Can we have some please?” http://bit.ly/azUreQ

Maybe, just maybe, more companies should be open to real dialogue within the business, and the real opportunities it brings. Perhaps that way more people will want to engage with improving the business and fewer people would feel the need to flame the boss on facebook or wherever. What do you think?

What is Engagement all About?

I was recently interviewed by HR matters magazine over in Malaysia, so too was renowned engagement expert David Zinger. The interviews were published as a double act, I’m very humbled, and proud of this. David and I have a lot in common and enough difference to make for some interesting…differences! The good people @ HR matters set the scene:

“Engagement in the workplace is something business owners and managers strive for. Engaged employees are more likely to feel motivated and be bound by close friendships at the workplace and exhibit a higher level of passion for what they do. Employers the world over embrace the virtues of a fully engaged workforce and employ various techniques to put this into action. But really, what is engagement all about?”

HRM : What do you believe engagement is all about?

David Zinger : Engagement is an encompassing term referring to our connection with something. We can have employee engagement, social media engagement, customer engagement, student engagement, etc. Today we are talking about employee engagement which refers to how connected the employee is to their work, their organization, and results. Employee engagement started to be used as a term in the early 1990’s and has grown in use ever since.

At the heart of engagement is a new way of working, managing, and leading. I think engagement will fill the void left by the ineffectiveness and anaemia of trying to use command and control to get work done in this new decade. We need to keep people connected to their work and each other in meaningful ways that produce benefits for all.

Doug Shaw : For me engagement is about co-creating and then delivering great service. It is about employees, customers and community. First and foremost in order to engage we need to listen, sincerely and actively. And be able to show a genuine interest in what we are being told. Listening to different groups of people, in particular the front line of an organisation, and its customers, is a great way to find out what’s working well and what isn’t. The act of listening and being able to clearly communicate what you have heard is a great way to start the engagement process. People like to be listened to and like to know they’ve been heard.

Second, it’s about co-creation. Bringing different groups of people together to discuss what is working and what is not, and how we can work together to make things better, using as much of their language as possible. It’s vital to include the people who deliver service for your organisation, and bold organisations ask the customer to get involved in the process too.

Third, never forget that honesty sells. It’s so important to create an environment where people can be straight with one another. To achieve this is simple, but not always easy. Honesty begins with you. I’ve seen too many great engagement opportunities fail because leaders thought people would do what they say, not what they see. However if you gain a reputation for doing what you say you will and for being straight (and that doesn’t mean insensitive) with people then you can help deliver fantastic results.

Update. September 2015: Sadly, since I wrote this blog post in 2010, the full article which I linked to from here seems to have disappeared into the ether so I’ll just leave you with a question. What is engagement all about for you?

Engaging Times Newspaper – Issue 1

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a newspaper all about engagement. There are loads of great stories on websites, in magazines, and on blogs about trust, co-creation, talent, making your workplace great, and much more. I thought it would be great if we could bring some of the best stories and research together. I said to myself, I’m going to make this happen.

I had heard about this fantastic company called The Newspaper Club so I got in touch and sure enough, they were able to help me out. They will print anything from 5 copies of the newspaper you design. Over a few days I compiled content, and edited like I’ve never edited before.

Finally, I was ready to print. I pushed the button. Nothing happened. Well I guess it wouldn’t, this real old fashioned newsprint idea takes a while you know. Seven days later, whump! 100 copies of Engaging Times hit the doormat, just in time for us to give them away at our Engagement Conference. And I can now add newspaper publisher to my skills list.

You can get your free copy of Engaging Times by clicking the link below. I really hope you enjoy reading it. If you would like to contribute to future issues or make a contribution to the cost of future issues (in return for some prime editorial space) then just let me know. I have a handful of copies of Issue 1 left. If you want a piece of engagement publishing history (steady on) then drop me a line from our contact us page. First come, first served.

Engaging Times Newspaper – Issue 1