Stop Engaging. Start Listening.
According to current commentary around organisational research findings, a key solution to business under-performance is employee engagement.
But without one vital, human ingredient, even the most highly strategized and abundantly resourced engagement effort is likely to fall on deaf ears!
I once attended a senior managers’ conference where the recently appointed CEO stood up, presented his new vision for the future and called for everyone to rally round and get their teams engaged. As I looked around, there was a noticeable shifting in seats, exchanging of glances and the unmistakeable whiff of scepticism. Déjà vu? I had a hunch this well-intended drive to raise performance was already dead in the water, well before the eager beavers in HR and Internal Communications could even look at it.
Employee engagement, the fashionable thing to be doing in companies nowadays, has become something of a panacea for organisational ills. We invite people to take surveys, revealing to us what’s going on in their hearts and minds, and then we roll out an engagement programme designed to ensure the same people understand and believe in the business plan, accept accountability, and align their contribution.
And we wonder why this doesn’t work.
Employees don’t become engaged just because their leaders want them to. And if their leaders aren’t “with the programme”, then we do have a problem.
So aren’t we missing something here?
Consider this for a moment, ……..…when was the last time you had the privilege of someone really listening to you?
I don’t mean the kind of listening that most people do, what I call “conversational ping pong”, where the other person stops talking to let you speak, only until it’s their turn. I don’t mean the kind of listening where you know you’re going to be interrupted any second, often so that you can receive the benefit of the other person’s rather “better” point of view or advice. And I certainly don’t mean the kind of listening where the other is pretending to be interested, for your sake of course, but is really busy thinking about what they are doing for dinner that night.
I am talking about the kind of listening where someone is genuinely interested in you and what you have to say, regarding it as both relevant and important; the kind of listening where you get a chance to express what’s truly on your mind, think your way fully through an idea and know you’ll get to go the whole nine yards without being shot down; the kind of listening where the other eagerly builds on what you have to say, asking great questions that in fact serve to move you both forward, to arrive at an even more amazing outcome than might have been possible otherwise.
This is the kind of listening that fosters great thinking and ideation in organisations.
But even more importantly, it is absolutely critical in enabling relationships to grow and flourish. Without relationship, the world is a rather lonely, unfriendly place.
Leaders who value and develop strong relationships in the workplace create a secure environment where people feel trusted, respected, supported and that they matter. Research shows that people, who experience this type of connection with their boss and peers, are more likely to feel motivated in their jobs, identify with the business and its goals, be willing to face difficult challenges, and feel they have a valuable contribution to make.
So, if you want your team to become more productive, successful, and yes, more engaged; if you truly want to build the kind of enabling relationships with your team and its members that elevates performance, adds value to your business, and lessens your worry and workload,................. then learn to listen at a different level.
Each day this week, one of 5 quick tips will be posted which can help you to do just that.
Check back tomorrow to receive Quick Tip No 1.