Page 260 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

The Never-Ending Source of Engagement C247

new circumstances and experiences with the second of his offspring
led him to change the dissertation content to “Ten Decent Good Ideas
for Successful Parenting.”
And what happened to the dissertation after he had his third child?
He threw it away.
We know how each child is valued can be as different as the num-
ber in the flock. The same is true for our employees. Each employee
with whom we work also has very different needs, goals, and a “defi-
nition of success” unlike any other.
We’ve gotten used to the old industrial model of management, one
that came out of the manufacturing plants of titans like Henry Ford
and Alfred Sloan. In this model of factory production it was impor-
tant that each employee worked as a cog in the wheel of industry. Al-
though that model of management worked well in the Industrial Age,
this cookie-cutter approach should end up on the scrap heap with the
Atari Computer and leisure suits.
Medical science is furiously working toward the development of
drugs and therapies that would be unique to each person—custom-
ized, if you will—to each person’s particular immune response. Can-
cer vaccines, for example, are being developed that use part of the
patient’s own cells to create a therapy designed just for that person—a
targeted versus a shotgun approach. We need to take the same atti-
tude to valuing employees. Each person we have the privilege to lead
has different interests, desires, talents, and needs. Once we truly at-
tempt to understand individual employees, we can be in a much better
position to create the environment that is conducive to each person’s
success.
Call it “designer engagement.”