Page 67 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

54B RE-ENGAGE

managers who also care about employees and help them stay
motivated and aligned to where the company is going and to
its current objectives.
: Effective teamwork at all levels. These great companies
know that outstanding work isn’t done in a vacuum. It is
done in a team environment where the individual members
are encouraged and supported to be at their best. And these
winning companies reject “us versus them” in any form.
: Job enrichment and professional growth. Within those ef-
fective work teams, employees are not just allowed but en-
couraged to do jobs they find satisfying and rewarding. They
are also given plenty of opportunities to grow and develop in
their current roles or in future assignments.
: Valuing employee contributions. As employees work to con-
tribute to the organization’s success, the company knows how
to acknowledge, recognize, and reward them in ways that are
most meaningful to the individual and relevant to organiza-
tional goals.
: Concern for employee well-being. Last but not least, great
employers know that the productivity of their associates relies
on their general health and well-being and do everything they
can reasonably do to demonstrate their genuine concern.

One definition of “driver” captures the concept nicely—“a part
that transmits force or motion.” At the winning employers we have
had the privilege of studying, there clearly are forces that propel en-
gagement forward. It is not happenstance. It is not an activity that is
only occasionally considered once “the real business of our business”
is done. Each driver acts as one of six carefully set sails that catch the
wind of human effort to thrust the organization forward.
One leader shared with us his fear that organizational entropy can
set in, when the business, if left to its own devices, will degenerate to
its lowest common denominator of service without an intentional pro-
cess in place to guard against it. To create, and maintain, high levels of
engagement requires significant drive and resolute purpose.