3 Misconceptions about Employee Engagement
Misconception #1
Employee Engagement is just another term for coddling employees.
I am not asking you to baby employees; I’m asking you to do what works!
Is your current leadership style working? Are the members of your team performing at the levels you want and need? Or are you living in the past, still trying to use the old command-and-control style of management? Ironically, that old-fashioned management style DOES treat employees like small children who need to be told what to do, step by step!
Misconception #2
I manage to be engaged without any external motivation, why can’t others do the same?
I’m going to challenge you. “ARE you engaged? Really?”
- When was the last time you came up with a more efficient way for you or your team to get the work done?
- What is the last project that you couldn’t wait to sink your teeth into?
- How often do you count the days to the weekend? To retirement?
Merely doing your job doesn’t mean you’re engaged. Engagement involves creative thinking, a search for innovation and regularly being surprised by how much time passed while you were absorbed in what you were doing. And this is possible at any level, whether you’re part of the management team, a server at a restaurant, or the janitor.
It’s not about what you’re doing; it’s about how you’re doing it.
Misconception #3
Some employees just don’t want to be engaged.
Door #1 – a job where you are routinely asked for input on how to produce the results needed and where you are given feedback that supports your growth.
Door #2 – a job where you are routinely told what to do and how to do it, where there is no consideration that there might actually be a better way and where you are given either no feedback or “constructive criticism.”
Do you sincerely believe that there are employees out there who would choose Door #2? These would be people who have come to accept that they simply don’t want to think for themselves and just want to be told what to do.
Ask yourself, and others, “Tell me about the best boss you ever had.” How many times do you think you will hear someone describe a person who gave them orders, breathed down their necks while they were fulfilling them and then told them in detail all the ways they had done it wrong?!?
If your management style is successfully producing phenomenal results, I applaud you. If you think there might be “more to go,” then give me a call and let’s figure out together how to get you, and your employees more engaged and more productive.
