I don't often get on my horse, but...
Jim Constable
Performance coach and author at J1Coaching. Coaching leaders, individuals and teams across all industries and sectors to be better at what they do.
I got on my high horse the other day about employee engagement. The team leaders I was with are being paid, in part, on how staff answer questions in an annual engagement survey.
Where's does the responsibility for engagement lie? I think it's got skewed.
Imagine interview conversation:
Recruiter: We’d like to offer you the job.
Applicant: Great. Can I ask one question?
R: Of course.
A: When I start, who will motivate and engage me?
R: That’s ok, don’t worry, your team leader will do that for you.
A: Great.
R: We pay them to do that so you don’t have to provide motivation or engagement of your own. We measure how engaged you feel. If your aren’t engaged enough we punish ourselves and think about ways to engage you.
A: That’s really clear. So I just wait for people to engage me and if I don’t feel engaged I tell them. And it’s their responsibility to sort it out.
What if my motivation and engagement are high to start but tail off over time? Will I need to do anything then?
R: No. We’ve given that responsibility to your team leader too.
The conversation I had with team leaders really helped them focus on what their roles and responsibilities are, and what they’re not! Rule #7 applies! https://www.planetk2.com/the-rules/
As the employee engagement industry grows, more and more people are looking to their organisation to engagement them. I’d say engage yourself or move on