Page 27 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

14B RE-ENGAGE

the upshot is that employers who hire more naturally motivated em-
ployees usually must become even more adept at leading them.
What does a motivated employee stuck in a poor work environ-
ment sound like? Here are the words of an employee who works at
a company that scored in the bottom quartile of Best-Places-to-Work
survey results:

I have no mentor-person to be in contact with when I have problems.
When I do discuss difficulties I am having with coworkers and ask
for possible solutions, I have not had much success. No feedback, either
positive or negative, has been given upon request. I have asked for
help from my superiors, but have received marginal help at best. I
really love working with the customers and I believe I am helping
them, but I feel like I do not fit in with the department.

It appears that this employee wants to perform, wants to take care
of the company’s customers, and exhibits the internal motivation to
improve and do well in the job. Clearly, this individual has not re-
ceived the coaching and feedback needed to be fully effective.
This respondent either is already disengaged or is on the slippery
slope. It is always disappointing when managers don’t work to help in-
dividuals who want to be successful in serving their customers and, in
turn, find genuine satisfaction in what they do. Our studies reveal that
managers are generally more engaged than frontline workers, but in
this case, the root of the problem may well be a disengaged manager’s
indifference to an employee’s needs.
In short, the employee needs to be re-engaged. Our fervent belief
is that with a different management approach, that can be achieved.

Can Disengaged Workers Be Re-Engaged?
The following story provides insight into this question:

Charlene, a new call center manager, had noticed that one of her
direct reports, Jason, a call center analyst, was obviously not engaged