Living In The Current

Have you ever gone rafting? If you have, then you know that planning ahead and carefully directing the raft as a team is essential to get through the variety of challenging rapids that may be in your path. Imagine, though, if you simply stopped paddling and let the current take you along as it will. What do you think would happen? It’s easy to imagine that terrible things might occur if you simply let nature have its way with you and your raft. (Just watch the movie The River Wild to get a sense of the potential dangers.)

You may see where this is going. If we compare a rafting trip down a river to the life of an organization, then we can easily identify the obvious advice that strong leadership, effective teamwork and clear goals and strategies lead to the success of both a rafting crew and a business. While this statement is completely true, it is not the focus of this paper. What is being explored here is the mindset of the individual rafters (i.e., you and your employees).

According to The Gallup Organization’s research, employees fall within one of these three categories:

a) Engaged employees are those who are passionate about the work they are doing and the mission of the organization. They join committees, volunteer to take on leadership roles, and are innovative in their efforts to make changes to improve the company. These are the rafters who are paddling hard and listening carefully to the leader in the back of the raft. They look for rocks for the leader and will shout out suggestions to help the leader navigate efficiently and effectively. These are employees willing to work hard to steer the raft against the current (if need be) in order to optimize success and get through the rapids quickly and without incident.

b) Not Engaged / Disengaged employees are those who are sleepwalking through their days. Usually something has happened to them in the workplace - something negative - and they simply don’t care anymore. They are showing up, doing the work and collecting a paycheck, but the energy and commitment is lacking. These are the rafters who have stopped paddling and are simply along for the ride, making it harder for all those who are engaged to steer the boat. If enough of the employees stop paddling, then the raft may succumb to the rocks or the white water, even with the best efforts of those still working hard.

c) Actively Disengaged employees are the people who are not only disengaged, but they are so unhappy they are acting out and maybe even seeking revenge against the organization. They intentionally demonstrate disrespect to their supervisor and coworkers. They might even sabotage the work of colleagues in an effort to bring down the company. These are the rafters who are willing to do what it takes to actually flip over the raft or steer into rocks, sometimes even risking their own safety in the process.

There is typically a mix of these types of employees in every organization. In fact, Gallup has found that, on average, 70% of employees rate themselves as Actively Disengaged or Disengaged. This leaves only 30% of your crew helping to steer the raft. Assuming that the leader is Engaged, he/she can and should take steps to ensure that his/her fellow rafters are the right ones to have on board:

1. Identify which employees are paddling, which are not, and which might actually be working against the team.  
2. Transition those who are Actively Disengaged out of the organization. If they have reached this level, it is usually too late to fix or change anything that might have turned him/her back into an Engaged employee.  
3. Find out from the Disengaged employees why they are so disconnected. What happened to them? Is it fixable, or can you at least help them work through the issue to come back around to being Engaged?
4. Recognize and reward the Engaged employees for the work they are doing. Don’t take them for granted or they may become Disengaged, too.

Of course, these steps are easier said than done, especially when you are living in the sometimes wild currents of an organization’s life. Usually, the leader must keep his/her eye on the rocks and rapids up ahead. If there are some employees not paddling, it is quicker and less complicated just to tell the ones who are paddling to paddle harder, longer, or to shift positions in the raft midstream to balance the necessary efforts.  While this might be the natural impulse, it is important to note that everyone gets tired, even the Engaged.  

Hopefully this analogy of a rafting trip – although beaten to a pulp - is a comparison that will stick with you as you look at your employees in a new way. Don’t just see the paddling or lack thereof. Look deeper into their attitudes and frames of mind because that’s where you can truly influence and lead.

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