Employees Are Less Engaged Than You Think!
I have always suspected that the real disconnect in company culture lies within the C-Suite. Like I started this article, we “Think” we are connected, engaged and even inspirational and a lot of times we are not.
We also think we are good motivators and that we are positive, but once again, far too often we are not.
Gostick shared evidence of this when he said 2/3 of managers believe that they are good at providing employees with positive feedback and recognition, however when their employees were asked, not even 1/3 agreed.
Creating an Engaged Business
In short, we are far too often disconnected from our employees, but we aren’t always aware of this disconnect so we ignore the challenge subconsciously. However, as a whole our businesses depend on having employees that are engaged and passionate about what they do.
I believe this will be a top strategic challenge for every leader for the majority of their career because it is never really solved because as people change (promoted, turn over) the culture changes and the engagement changes.
Some companies better manage this through lower attrition and stronger vision, but nonetheless the need to keep employees engaged will forever be a piece of the puzzle for building great organizations.
Gostick during his presentation told a story about “Hard Rock” and how they build a culture that is fun, scalable and repeatable. In an interview with a dishwasher from one of their locations, the young man talks about how much he loves his job as a dishwasher. Didn’t even know that was possible.
Apparently it is, and Gostick seems to have a few of the keys. While I believe the debate and discussion on this will evolve endlessly, it was a solid presentation on a topic that should be near and dear to many of our hearts.
Related: More 2014 NSCA BLC Coverage
