Monday, August 21, 2017

Seeking "engagement" is a fool's errand

I have finally pinpointed why I really dislike the word “Engagement.” It is a false word.

In linguistic terms, it is a nominalization.  It is a word that pretends to be a noun. But it does not exist. You cannot find an “engagement” and pick it up. As NLP-ers often say, you cannot put “engagement” into a wheelbarrow. No one ever wakes up in the morning and says, “I want more ‘engagement’ today.”

The only correct response to someone seeking “engagement” is to ask: “Who is engaged in what?” And therein we see the real problem. Too many organizations are seeking to improve “engagement” when they should be asking, “What is it we want people to be engaged in?”  Seeking “engagement” is a fool’s errand, a journey into Alice’s Wonderland.

I see many organizations wasting funds on Engagement Projects. They send surveys to determine if people are engaged. Why aren’t they asking, “What did you do last week to improve (insert priority here)?”

There is a famous story of the porter in a NASA facility in the ‘60’s who was asked, “What is your job?” He responded, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.” This man was engaged. He knew the mission of the organization. He knew what was important, and he knew he was contributing.

How simple is that? When you can connect what you do with the primary purpose of the organization, you are engaged.  This means people have to know what is really important in your organization. What is the primary purpose? What is the #1 goal that supersedes everything else?

So skip the surveys. Look at the individuals and front-line supervisors in your organization. Do they know the purpose…the primary goal…of your organization? Tell them! They cannot be engaged if they do not know the primary goal, because they cannot know how or if they are contributing toward that goal. What are they engaged in? Do they think about how it connects to the primary purpose of the organization? Is continuous improvement toward that purpose or goal part of the culture? Does anyone ever ask?

Some businesses want to win awards. Baldridge Awards. Top 100 designations. Some even announce that such recognition is one of their key priorities. How does a Baldridge Award connect to what a line supervisor or painter or welder is doing? It doesn’t. Awards and designations are measurements, but they should never be a goal. Instead, announce that “Customer service is our #1 priority” and live it. Or “Patient Satisfaction is Goal #1” and live it. Ask, “What did you do this week to improve our patient satisfaction?” “What process needs to be changed to improve our customer service?” “How do YOU contribute to our goal of outstanding patient satisfaction?” These are the questions to ask. When someone…everyone…can answer those questions, you will have an engaged workforce.

How do you achieve this goal? It starts at the top. What are senior managers saying to middle managers (and everyone else)? What are middle managers saying to supervisors? What are supervisors saying to line workers? If you must hire temporary workers, do they understand the goal? How can they contribute toward it?

If the goal is “We need to improve ‘engagement’”, you are wasting your time. But if the message is constantly communicating the real purpose, e.g., “customer service, patient satisfaction”, then the question becomes “How are you contributing to our primary goal/purpose?” And restate that primary purpose. Constantly. In every message. When people know why their job matters, they will be engaged. An engaged workforce achieves goals. A goal of “engagement” achieves nothing.

Dr. Lakin is a consulting psychologist and author of "The Unfair Advantage: Sell with NLP!" and "Ten Ways Top Sales Reps are Different".