Employee Engagement - Being "Heartful"

“In contrast to longstanding management thinking, the heart is the driving force of human achievement, and employee engagement is a decision of the heart.”                   - Mark C. Crowley

According to Datuk Wan Hisham Wan Salleh, President and CEO of Dale Carnegie Training Malaysia, employee engagement (EE) is the “science of instilling enthusiasm and commitment among employees, measured by increased performance, productivity, customer satisfaction, profitability and other positive business outcomes.

In a nutshell, it drives productivity, growth and revenue!. Why wouldn’t anyone, foremost leadership, responsible for business results take EE serious or be mindful of such intangible force multiplier? Is there a more important and deserving tipping point for organisational performance? You can’t outsource, digitize and factor AI into every bit of your operational process. You still need someone to sell the product or service and solve the customer complaints.         

Gallup is the world’s biggest survey authority on EE studies. Hence, I took the liberty to plot the 2016 status of EE, globally and locally.

Are you surprised?. Do you know why such a big number of our Malaysian workers are disengaged, compared to the world? You must have read reports, heard news, observed or even experienced. Share by leaving your thoughts in the comments section. 

Meanwhile, let me share what I think is fundamentally lacking and what needs fixing. It’s not rocket science. It impacts relationships and communication. It’s what glues an organisation, the 3 “I”s – integrity, integration and interaction. It can’t be bought off the shelf nor executed by some outside consultant or coach. It has to happen within.

It' the number one cause. Everyone in a relationship needs it. Without it, couples can break up (nothing to do with the ring!) and workers can become disengaged. It’s that little piece of rudder that steers the direction of the work-life destiny. It’s called TRUST. Without trust there’s no transparency, inclusiveness and engagement. That’s why I detest when people ridicule HR in calling “HR need to earn their seat or be invited to the table” Using disparaging language is a false start towards engagement ! If HR can’t be trusted to be engaged, then what hope is there for others?. How important is trust?. Check build-better-relationship. 

I have said enough. Hear it from others. In 2016, SAP Success Factors and Oxford Economics surveyed 4,100 global executives and employees for a study titled, “Leaders 2020: How Strong Leadership Pays Off in the Digital Economy.” The study identified seven ways to create tangible business impact in a digital environment.

1. Build trust. Trust is foundational to becoming an inspiring and capable leader. High trust levels confirm and legitimize hard work to establish a strong, functional relationship with team members. Start by observing the following  behaviours: 

• Invigorate: Create a sense of purpose for team members. Help them connect the dots and feel their work is valuable, that the team depends on their contributions.
• Immerse: Promote accountability. Give back to the team and the company by facilitating development activities or offering informal/on-the-job instruction. Contribute by sharing personal points of view to create an environment where everyone is a teacher and a learner. Generosity will help to drive trust and underscore a commitment to building an effective learning culture.
• Include: Welcome participation; seek out others’ opinions and ideas, and spread influence to team members, encouraging their contributions and impact.

To read the other six ways go to http://www.clomedia.com/2017/03/02/7-ways-boost-employee-engagement-digital-era/

We need to have a sense of mindfulness in addressing issues, be it at national or corporate level. We can’t ignore the elephant in room and just adopt solutions that borders on political expediency. We need EE on the plates of corporate leadership and government machinery. Didn't they pledge to be collaborative partners in economic growth and nation building?.

There has to be inclusiveness and collaboration. Government agencies like PEMANDU, HRDF, SME Corp, NPC, PLKN, etc need to join hands and cooperate to check the erosion of EE. The HR Ministry must establish a special committee and unit to manage because EE impacts the nation’s ability to produce a resilient and engaging workforce.

Source: Dale Carnegie: What Drives Employee Engagement & Why it Matters 2012

Corporations and Business units need to tackle EE at their level, as part of national demography and ecosystem. Whether you like or not, EE is a challenge that impacts people's capacity to perform and produce. The consequence of active disengagement is counter-productive and unhealthy to work culture. Disengaged employees are negative and indulge in satisficing behaviour. They shirk accountability, deliver minimal performance, waste resource, all of which leads to marginal profiting. On the contrary, engaged workforce are positive and take intrapreneurial ownership that leads to immersed synergy, superior performance, loyalty, profit maximisation.

If true, what get’s measured gets done, then EE has to be a NKRA. It's time to measure and put it on PEMANDU’s deliverables. It’s time leaders got serious with the data analytics and action. Being mindful requires taking time for regular introspection and pro-acting to address the worrying trend.

Being in denial and sweeping the problem under the carpet will only make it worse. The time to be mindful on Malaysian EE, is now.

“There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it...” –Jack Welch