Page 196 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

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Consideration

turnover and absenteeism. Loyal employees “show up” literally
and figuratively at work, on time and engaged. Such reliability
is particularly important in difficult economic climates when
organizations need engaged employees to keep rowing instead
of jumping ship or having one foot out of the boat. Loyalty is also
the buffer against your most productive, well-trained staff being
enticed away by your competition.
Like sports fans supporting their favorite team, loyal employ-
ees take pride in their organization. This pride shows up in the
quality of their work and overall positive attitude toward the
organization. In contrast, we have probably all experienced
employees or friends admitting that they think so little of their
company’s products or services that they use those of a com-
petitor. Obviously, such statements do considerable harm to the
reputation of your organization and what it has to offer. By con-
trast, employees treated with consideration will treat your cus-
tomers considerately. Employees who feel cared about also treat
their team members and supervisors with consideration and
respect. Not only does this lead to enhanced team functioning
and effectiveness, but it also communicates professionalism to
your customers.
Supervisors and organizations show consideration when they
ask employees for their input before making big decisions that
affect their jobs. Obviously, the impact is much greater when
the employees’ ideas are actually implemented. Moreover, such
decisions are often wiser, as the employees are closest to the
work. Of course, involving employees in the decision-making
process also leads to a greater sense of ownership and facilitates
adoption and implementation of the decisions by the employees.
Therefore, up-front consideration has the significant added ben-
efit of greatly decreasing resistance to change.
Any change initiative will be more successful when employ-
ees are shown consideration. A classic example is working on an