Leaders Energize and
Engage the Workforce
Gregory P. Smith
A. W. "Bill" Dahlberg, the former CEO of Southern Company believes in
having fun. At company gatherings, he has impersonated soul singer James
Brown….dressed as General George Patton… and arrived decked out as a
fortune teller complete with crystal ball.
Employees at PeopleSoft, Inc. remember the day that CEO David Duffield
danced the Macarena in front of 500 happy co-workers.
Over at Odetics, Inc., they’re still talking about the time the chief
technology officer took over duty on the cafeteria cash register on St.
Patrick’s Day…dressed as a leprechaun!
And then there’s John Briggs, director of production at Yahoo! In early
1997, Briggs promised salespeople that he would have the Web directory’s
logo tattooed on his posterior when the stock passed $50 a share. To show
he had kept his promise, he modeled the new tattoo in front of everyone in
the company.
Finally, there’s something called "Bowling with Turkeys." Hotel
tradition calls for employees at the Hyatt Regency (Lexington, Kentucky)
to wrap a 12-pound frozen turkey with electrical tape, then roll it 50
feet down the loading dock and try to turn over as many wine bottle
"bowling pins" as possible. Winners get a pumpkin pie.
After a professional lifetime identifying what it takes to create transform
ordinary organizations into extraordinary organizations, I know work can
be awfully boring—unless someone at the top shakes everything up!
The leaders and organizations I just mentioned know it is important to
engage, energize and involve people about their work. You need to lighten
up and have some fun every now and then.
It isn’t hard to dress up as a leprechaun, sponsor a company contest,
ask people for their ideas and maybe even throw a party. And the payoff
for an energized work environment is enormous: improved retention and
productivity and reduced turnover.
We can’t merely employ someone’s hands and tell them to leave their
hearts, minds and spirits at home. Today’s workers are looking for many
things in an employment relationship. They want a meaningful partnership
with their workplaces. Workplaces that provide meaning and purpose and
are fun, engaging, and energizing will enjoy greater retention, higher
productivity and lower turnover.
Remember Abraham Maslow? His well-known hierarchy of needs theory said
all people strive for self-actualization, which is the need for innovation
and creativity. When people can reach this higher level on the job they
gain greater personal fulfillment, which improves job satisfaction. Yes,
you still have to pay well, but an organization can create an energized,
"higher calling" environment will have higher retention and greater
productivity.
Jobs and work environments using high-involvement activities provide
people with
autonomy, learning opportunities, meaning, purpose, and a way
to grow and get ahead—not to mention a host of benefits to the company as
well. High-involvement activities include, but are not limited to, the use
of self-managing teams, information sharing, shared goal setting,
suggestion programs, brainstorming sessions, Kaizen,
idea campaigns and
motivational meetings.
A survey conducted by Development Dimensions International (DDI), asked
232 organizations around the world including 81 from Hong Kong, Thailand,
Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia to answer the question, "Do
high-performance practices improve business performance and which
practices have the greatest impact?"
The findings from the survey showed significant improvements in all
areas.
Most noteworthy were the improvements in the areas of customer service
and quality of the products and services. Furthermore, I would be so bold
as to estimate that the biggest changes were not measured directly, but
more implicitly. Although the survey did not measure the improvement of
attitudes, retention rates, and feelings of the workforce, I’m sure they
improved as well. As Abraham Maslow indicated in his theory of motivation,
the more ability and freedom people have to use their thinking ability the
more satisfaction they receive on the job, and the higher they move up the
pyramid of needs. People do not respond favorably to overly restrictive
work environments. High-involvement activities help people reach higher
levels. These places engage and energize their workforce.
This article was transcribed from the book,
Here Today, Here Tomorrow.
Free newsletter: If you would like more tips, advice and a free
subscription to the Navigator newsletter please send an e-mail message to
navigator@chartcourse.com.
Gregory P. Smith shows businesses how to build productive and
profitable work environments that attract, keep and motivate their
workforce. He is the author of the book, Here Today Here Tomorrow:
Transforming Your Workforce from High-Turnover to High-Retention. He
speaks at conferences, conducts management training and is the President
of a management consulting firm called Chart Your Course International
located in Conyers, Georgia. Phone him at 770-860-9464. More articles
available: http://www.chartcourse.com
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