So beware prejudice governing you and your actions. Even more importantly, ensure prejudice is not stifling your organisation. Make sure all your people have a clear vision of what you are trying to achieve and that they listen and help one another “to be the best they can be.” After all, isn’t that what personal fulfilment really is? And that is the best guarantee of organisational success.
“Greatness is ultimately only extreme success.” Those words from my blog last week have stayed with me, perhaps because they make greatness less abstract and … Read more
Ownership will help your people personalise success and fulfilment within the context or their work lives and thus more likely to optimise their contribution to the organisation. While it might not make them great, it will help them feel part of something worthwhile. You simply need to remember that, “The more fulfilled people you have the more successful they will feel. And the more successful people your organisation has, the more successful your organisation will be.” Perhaps even great!
Employee engagement provides a convenient heading for describing what you need, and some solutions for what can help. But unless you provide a framework that addresses both employees’ immediate and future needs your efforts will be doomed, and you will experience the same lack of strategic success that Harvard and Fortune describe.
This very effectively illustrates the virtuous circle of the formula and the reinforcing aspect of its independent and inter-dependent elements. As people develop themselves they will increase their asset value, inevitably enabling them to make a greater contribution to the organisation and help execute strategy effectively. Note that, per the formula, disciplined execution is the multiplier and this will be boosted by their ownership stake which will make them more naturally inclined to do so.
It is not about relativity; it’s about relationships. When you recognise this more people-centric approach and build your business model around it, you will witness the transformation it creates and bask in the success it brings – success that is sustainable.
Now you can see how closely allied purpose and employee engagement are. The more you can align these three drivers of individual and organisational purpose the more engaged your employees will be, and the better your organisational performance.
At the end of the day employees are people and employee engagement is ultimately about nothing more than how best to deal with your people; by treating them as human beings. After all, as Conant clarified, they are what ultimately determine your success.
When you do that you have engendered the employee engagement which, the data shows, is the foundation for solid teamwork that gives you the organisational integrity to deliver your strategy, transform your results and sustain your success.
Now you can understand why employee engagement is not an airy-fairy, feel-good concept that HR is trying to foist upon you, but an essential part of business and something that you are – or should be – doing as an integral part of leading your organisation. This is where engagement and success come together. Without employee engagement your success will always be limited.