Page 107 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

78 Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work

The less intrinsic motivation the task holds—the less chal-
lenging it is for the employee, the less it is identified as making
a difference, or the less connected to an overall outcome—the
more important it is that the supervisor take the time to explain
why the task is indeed important. When a supervisor communi-
cates the importance of a task, the psychological value of that
task increases. To be clear, I am not suggesting that you pull a
Tom Sawyer and turn your organization’s equivalent of white-
washing a fence into some glamorous opportunity. If it is sim-
ply one of those jobs that needs to be done, don’t make up an
elaborate story. Just be honest. Unfortunately, most supervisors
don’t bother helping employees to understand the importance of
their work and its connection to the big picture. To remain fully
engaged, employees must leave work every day feeling that they
have contributed in a meaningful way to the organization and
its goals. Do your employees feel this way?

Feeling Respected as an Individual
The most important question that predicts an employee’s engage-
ment is, Do you feel respected by those in your organization?
The more employees feel valued, appreciated, and respected,
the greater their level of engagement and discretionary effort.
People want to work for honest organizations that treat them
with consideration, fairness, and respect. Such organizations
are rewarded with loyal and engaged employees. Of course
the opposite is true as well. Organizations that lay people off,
freeze pay, cut health-care benefits, and reduce retirement ben-
efits while simultaneously awarding C-level executives generous
bonuses will be left with a highly disgruntled, disaffected, and
disengaged workforce. Organizations cannot complain about
high turnover rates and lack of employee loyalty when they