Page 346 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Becoming a More Engaged Workplace C333

executives and line managers, that employees accept the challenge to
take more responsibility for their own engagement, and that senior
leaders make workforce engagement a priority.
In a conversation with three Best-Places winners in Omaha a
couple of years ago, there was agreement among the senior leaders
from winning companies in all three size categories that as their
businesses were growing, they each had experienced a gut-check
moment. They each told their separate stories about reaching a
pivotal point when they knew they could have gone on achieving
financial success without continued attention and focus on some
of the key leadership values that had elevated them to financial
success.
One of the executives recalled that his company had started out
with the foundational value of taking care of family and putting fam-
ily needs in line with business needs. He recalled an incident when
an employee asked for some time off in the middle of the company’s
busy season to attend a sporting event in which her child was playing.
The executive thought about rebuking the employee. But he recalled
how important it was to spend time with his own children when they
were growing up and how he had taken time off work in the past
for similar events. He knew this was one of those make-or-break
moments. Was he willing to acknowledge the needs of an employee
related to that key value—or not? He decided to let the employee
take the time off. Not surprisingly, the employee got the work done
on time anyway and was grateful that the company had “walked the
talk.”
All three leaders agreed they could probably sacrifice some people
values and still be successful. But all agreed that deviating from their
chosen path would have probably prevented them from achieving the
same level of success. Further, all three agreed that if they gave up on
those values, they not only would be selling out but also just wouldn’t
have as much fun.
So the question arises, are you succeeding because of your com-
mitment to engaging your workforce or in spite of hedging on that
commitment? Another way to pose the question—how much more