How to improve engagement

 

I googled how to improve engagement …..

Meaning.  People want to be a part of something useful, valuable, and bigger than themselves.  Help people see how what they do makes a difference for others, for the community, the world or whatever.  Make sure people can see the mission of the organization and how they can fit in to it.  Even more importantly, help them see why this mission is important.

Have we done this recently? MC Forum?

Expectations.  People want to know what is expected of them and what behaviours are valued.  When people know what is really expected, they work with less stress and higher confidence and productivity. Do your team members know what you expect of them?  Do they really know? Have you taken time (lately) to discuss and clarify the expectations and needs of the work?

What behaviours do we specifically want from our residents?

Targets. People are naturally competitive (if only with themselves), so help them compete by giving them (or helping them create) goals. Whether the work is highly creative or more mundane and repetitive, goals drive satisfaction and fun.  Do your people have clear targets to shoot for?

GOAL setting for the community centres. What is our baseline expectation? 10 hours? Is this enough? Do we communicate this forcefully enough?

Relationships. Human beings want to feel connected to other people, and work is a logical place to have that need met – after all we spend more waking hours at work than in any other activity. Does the working environment allow for and promote the development of strong working relationships? Do people feel a personal connection to you?

Input. The people who do the work have a valuable perspective. They have ideas, and they’d like to share them. You don’t need to implement every idea, or accept every solution suggested; but if you openly ask for and value those ideas, some will make a difference.  And the process of asking will engage people in powerful ways. Are you making it easy (and expected) for people to share their ideas?

How do we regularly ask for and reward ideas?

Belief. People want to be around people who believe in them.  We will do our best work when we know that those around us want the best for us and believe we can achieve the best.   Do you believe in the capacity and potential of your people?  If so, do they know?  If not, why not?

I think we do quite well on the feel good/ thank you factor.

Freedom.  We are talking about human beings here, not robots – and people don’t want to be robots.  Even in the most regulated and procedure-driven job, there is room for freedom and personal choices.  Are you giving people the chance to express themselves and make adjustments, while still reaching the quality and quantity targets a job requires?

They do have autonomy. Do we allow too much?

EVENTS

The aim is to encourage local leadership, facilitate relationships and draw out and prioritise the best of ideas

Charter event – prize for the most involved resident

Nine Ways to Engage Staff and Please the Customer (I have deleted the ones already covered).

By customer care coach Joanna Brandi

Let go of any negative opinions you may have about your employees. Approach each of them as a source of unique knowledge with something valuable to contribute to the company.

Make sure employees have everything they need to do their jobs. Just as marketplace and customer needs change often, so do your employees’ needs.

Make sure they are trained and retrained in problem solving and conflict resolution skills. These critical skills will help them interact better with you, their co-workers, customers and suppliers.

Constantly ask how you are doing in your employees’ eyes. It can be difficult for managers to request employee feedback, and it can be equally if not more challenging for an employee to give the person who evaluates them an honest response. To become stronger at this, managers should begin dialogues with employees using conversation starters such as “It’s one of my goals to constantly improve myself as a manager. What would you like to see me do differently?” and “What could I be doing to make your job easier?”. Be sure to accept feedback graciously and to express appreciation.

Pay attention to company stories and rituals. Are people laughing at each other or with each other? Do they repeat stories of success of stories of shame? Stay away from participating in discussions that are destructive to people or the organization, and keep the success stories alive.

Reward and recognise employees in ways that are meaningful to them (which is half the reason why getting to know them is so important). Remember to celebrate both accomplishments and efforts to give employees working on long-term goals more of a boost.

Be consistent in the long term. If you start an engagement initiative and then drop it your efforts will backfire, creating employee estrangement. There’s a definite connection between an employee’s commitment to an initiative and a manager’s commitment to supporting it. A manager’s ongoing commitment to keeping people engaged, involved in and excited about the work they do and the challenges they face must be a daily priority.

CREDIBILITY

Always make sure that the receiver’s credibility is maintained or enhanced whenever you are communicating with him.

1. Explain why it’s a GOOD idea. Enlightened self-interest is a powerful tool. Change has to be framed so that it is positive for everyone, or why would they embrace it? If it’s negative, they’d rather stall and hope everything snaps back to the status quo, which is exactly what usually happens. Even change that seems neutral is usually really negative, since it takes effort and causes disruption. If people think a change will benefit them, they will sign on and push others to support it.

2. Never back down. If a 3-year old gets the slightest hint you might cave in to resistance, they will fight like a wild cat. So will most adults, though usually with less screaming. Make it clear that the changes are good, AND they are going to happen no matter what, and that management is going to keep focused on it until it happens.

3. Incremental rewards. Don’t wait until everything is done to start congratulating people. Set small milestones, and be generous with praise. Create a sense of progress. If the big prize seems far away, it’s less real, and people lose interest. Let them follow a trail of small reward breadcrumbs to the finish line, so the next reward is always within reach.

4. Punishment must be real and tangible. Things like a “time out” or putting a favourite toy away should be a last resort. But it must be clear that punishment for purposely working against the change will be swiftly and decisively dealt out. Organizations rot from within when bad behaviour goes unpunished. It destroys morale and makes management look callous or clueless. I know this one won’t be popular, since everyone likes to think all we need is the positive stuff, but unless there are negative consequences somewhere in the background, there will be someone that wants to play the spoiler.

Spenkar said…

A couple of things that have worked for us are:

1. Create a forum for continuous support. Publish news frequently and encourage feedback.

2. Clearly spell out the why, who and how. What better than a visual to accomplish this.

3. Always remember the what’s in it for me factor.

4. Identify those few who can carry the torch and help grow them to spread the change.