It’s scary out there. Competition is now on a global scale and comes at you from every direction at any time day or night because of technology and the Internet. What’s even scarier is that according to a Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study, only 31% of employees are fully engaged in their work. The remaining 69% are somewhat engaged or not engaged at all. The cost of this to the world economy is staggering. This trend must be reversed if businesses are to effectively compete and thrive in the global marketplace.
What can businesses do to turn this around? They must focus on their people, those folks showing up for work everyday. Making sure they have everything they need to be their best. Having the support and appreciation of management so they can accomplish the goals and mission of the organisation, a mission that is clearly communicated. And give their people the information, tools and training they need to do their jobs more effectively.
And when management believes in and trusts their people, they will believe in themselves, then people will feel obligated to ensure that the trust is not misplaced and the success of the organisation is paramount. They know they are recognised and appreciated for their hard work. When people are treated with care and respect, they start to make good things happen, and quickly. An instant turnaround takes place. Why? People will turn on their Discretionary Effort. That’s the effort that is like spare change in your pocket waiting to be used. Discretionary Effort that cannot be bought or bribed – it will only be turned on if people feel valued, appreciated, cared for, trusted and respected. When this happens, your organisation delivers everything, from service to products, with seamless excellence. And work becomes a destination; a place where people want to go, not feel that they have to go. Your workforce becomes fully engaged!
The programme to get your people fully engaged is called Destination: Work. There are four principles when followed will take your organisation to a place where you will not measure success by quarters, but by decades.
Focus on people not just the performance numbers
Many times our communications from management is based on a scorecard. When managers give feedback based only on the performance numbers, it sends a clear message that these numbers are more important that their people; they don’t trust them and they’re expendable. This will only motivate people to be far less productive and to look elsewhere for job fulfillment when things get better – at a great cost to the organisation.
Motivate with trust, not fear
Show people you care about them, that they are important, without a hidden agenda. People will work harder, perform a higher quality of work, take more initiative, be more accountable, not be afraid of change, and work better with each other. This will lead to an increase in productivity and profitability.
Turn work into fun
Work should be enjoyable and fun. People need to be more light-hearted at work. They need to take their work seriously, themselves a little less and seriously. Bringing a sense of humour to work increases energy, makes work more enjoyable and keeps people more engaged.
Management must be a team player
Management must be visible, providing positive, relevant feedback and sharing information needed to accomplish the mission and goals of the organisation. When managers get involved it shows they care. Employees will work harder and take performance to the next level.
When the principals of Destination: Work are put into use, your people will wake up in the morning and say, “Wow! I get to go to work today. I get to make a difference. Lucky me.”
+ Harry Paul is a professional speaker and the co-author of six international best selling books. Visit www.harrythefishguy.com to sign up for his free newsletter and other tools and downloads.
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