"I DON’T BELIEVE": HOW TO DISTINGUISH AN INVOLVED EMPLOYEE FROM ONE WHO SKILLFULLY PLAYS IN INVOLVEMENT

#HRautomation #hrconsulting, #KPI #engagement

The question of the extent of the employee’s involvement in the company’s activities is raised after the employee has been employed. In other words, we call an employee with some experience who is directly interested in the success of the company and contributes to it in every way: operatively in solving issues, highly organized, motivated to the result. Such an employee can be called a team player who actively participates in the life of the organization, maintains a corporate spirit, and focuses on the ultimate goal.

Another criterion of involvement is initiative, of course, its high level. The specialist involved in the company is focused on continuous improvement of business processes. He understands goals and priorities perfectly. He can plan and allocate time. He is ready to learn. He offers and creates the basis for improvements, and he cares.

In addition, as a rule, these are people with a high degree of self-organization, interested in investing in self-development (advanced training, special literature), on their own initiative, of course.

Let’s try to determine why the employer needs involved employees, and not just professionals in their field, with excellent skills.

The answer is really simple. First, the people involved work better. Employees who are passionate about their work, make a better impression on clients, at least because they can charge their passion and it is impossible to remain indifferent. Interested and motivated employees a priori put more effort, with a higher commitment, which naturally leads to increase the efficiency of the process, improve the quality of service, products, increase sales. The best in terms of the level of development of core and corporate competencies are the basis, core of the company, are part of the personnel reserve.

Secondly, the turnover rate has been reduced. Again, the direct interest of the employer is to reduce the cost of selecting, adapting, training, rolling out the HR brand. It’s because the person involved is more likely not to go into a company that offers a little more favorable terms of cooperation now, because at the end of the day, there is stability and confidence on one side, and risk on the other side, possibly unjustified. The case where involvement gives people a sense of self-importance and pleasure in the work process, and this factor can outweigh material benefits.

Third, overworked people are generally easier to work with. And not just because they’re more fun, positive, happy, and because they’re showing us how great it is to be involved.

How do you distinguish an employee who is involved from one who is skilled at playing a part?

The difference between the person involved and the person who plays well is the result. In my practice, I had to observe activity on the part of an employee who imitates involvement, but the effect of his activity was either minimal or not. This is what we call making the work process appear or organizing the process for the sake of the process. The key is the lack of result at a certain point in time. The specialist simulates the activity, while dealing with secondary tasks. In other words, it is important to spot the player and act.

And if the measures are not taken in time? The first to suffer is the level of internal communication - the main tool for increasing the involvement of the team. By the way, in remote mode, when the usual channels of communication fade into the background, this is especially important. Whatever happens next is a consequence. These include the chaotic nature of internal processes, which will inevitably lead to various costs and process violations, and a high turnover rate without the possibility of forming a personnel reserve. The catchphrase ?frames solve everything? in many ways defines. Therefore, it is very important at the initial stage to recognize false involvement and to work on increasing the loyalty level of prospective employees. In any case, the efficiency of the company is largely determined by the share of employees involved. And if there aren’t, you must at least think about it.

How do you keep yourself involved and prevent burnout?

Most often, emotionally involved employees are the first to lose - that’s the second side of the coin. Increasing demands on staff must be accompanied by access to resources, especially before important deadlines and other potentially stressful situations.

Managers can help their staff by reducing the demands on them. First, it is important to ensure that the objectives are realistic, and the plans are achievable. It is also necessary to help restore the balance of skilled and productive employees who are overburdened. People should be given the opportunity to disconnect from work tasks when the day is over: e-mail correspondence only during working hours, no work in the evenings and weekends, regular lunch breaks.

Is it possible to raise the involved from the uncooperative staff?

There is no direct answer, unfortunately. The approach is private, but you can still try using standard and non-standard methods and tools. In general, of course, it is possible and necessary to work on involving employees in the company processes. There are several participatory techniques, such as coaching, gameplay, and microlearning (microlearning or micro-learning is a convenient tool, the essence of which is learning step by step, sometimes even a few minutes a day). But first, we need to determine the scale of the so-called tragedy, at least through a survey. Next, it is decided to carry out measures to increase the loyalty of employees and involvement in the common cause.