Page 350 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Becoming a More Engaged Workplace C337

Has there ever been a time when having an engaged workforce
was more important than it is right now? Having a largely disengaged
workforce is clearly unacceptable, and yet in so many organizations,
we have simply gotten used to it, developed a tolerance for it, and now
accept it as the status quo.
Whether you believe employee engagement is a leading indica-
tor of business success, as serious studies have shown, or you simply
believe keeping employees engaged is your moral and professional re-
sponsibility as a manager, your motivation is secondary. The primary
issue is the strength of your determination to do everything you can
to bring out the best in those who report to you. If you and your col-
leagues can do that, you will achieve new heights of business success.
But before you can do it, the leaders in your organization will probably
need to begin doing things differently.
One of the most important things you can do is to have “check-in”
discussions with individual employees, which we often refer to as “stay
interviews” or “re-engagement conversations.” As Figure 11.1 indi-
cates, disengagement is a “slippery staircase.” At any given moment,

Figure 11.1