Page 22 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

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Introduction

After the tour, I went back to my desk and completed the
forms. I handed them to Sherry and asked if John had said what
I should do next. He had not. So, I asked TJ if he needed any
help. He smiled and said no. As I walked around the office reit-
erating my offer, I received several bemused looks and no takers.
I returned to my desk and thought: Have I been inserted into a
“Dilbert” cartoon?
Committed to doing something productive, I found the jani-
torial supplies and cleaned my desk and some bookshelves. I
then picked dead leaves off the plants, gave them a good water-
ing, and moved them closer to a sunny window. I looked at my
watch and thought, “How could it only be 10:30 A.M.? What am
I going to do the rest of the day?” I remembered having come
across several boxes of pencils in my desk and took to sharp-
ening them. When finished, I carefully packed the pencils back
into their boxes according to their length and placed them back
in my desk. It was to be one of the most satisfying and produc-
tive experiences of my tenure there.
TJ had been watching me “work” while talking to his girl-
friend on the phone. When he hung up I told him that I was
bored out of my mind. He suggested that I learn to pace myself.
Taking pity on me, he handed me a stack of reports and said,
“You can read these over for typos if you’d like.” He then grabbed
his coat and said that he had to run out. Running sounded like a
good idea.
At noon Sherry came into my office and said that she wanted
to show me something. She walked me to the front door and
pointed to a small magnetic whiteboard with everyone’s name
written down the left side and two columns labeled “In” and
“Out.” My name had been added to the bottom of the list and a
small magnetic circle indicated that I was “In.” Everyone else’s
circles were in the “Out” column. Although I had actually brought
my lunch, there was no way that I was staying “In” and went to