Page 27 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

xxvi Introduction

to handing in my resignation. I had lost respect for the leaders of
the organization and felt completely disrespected by their treat-
ment of me and my work. I then began to think about all the jobs
that I had held and realized that the more I felt respected and
respected the organization, its leaders, my team members, and
the work that I did, the more motivated I was. It was clear to me
that respect was the lynchpin of employee motivation.
During this time, a friend introduced me to the concept of
employee engagement. As I began to read about engagement, it
became clear to me that successful organizations did not moti-
vate employees; they engaged them. Traditional reward and rec-
ognition programs failed to increase productivity not because
they failed to motivate people but because motivating people
wasn’t what mattered! What mattered was having committed
employees who exhibited high levels of discretionary effort in
support of the mission and vision of the organization. Theories
of motivation were helpful in explaining bursts of energy in pur-
suit of a “carrot” but could not explain employee engagement.
Motivating employees and engaging them were very distinct
concepts.
I also realized that it was not so much that I had become
unmotivated in my story but that I had become disengaged. I
had gone from caring greatly to not caring at all, and I realized
that it was still all about respect. In my life when I had been most
dedicated to my work it was because I respected the work, the
organization, and its people and felt respected in return. When I
felt disrespected or lost respect for the organization and people,
I disengaged, not only in my professional life but also in my per-
sonal life. The more I respected someone, the more I was drawn
to him or her; the less I respected someone, the further removed
I became physically and psychologically. The RESPECT Model
was born.