What Part of Engagement Do You Own?

I just finished reading an article about employee engagement and I’m pleased and aggravated at the same time. The part I loved focused on how increased engagement leads to improved business results across the board – sales, creativity, safety, profits, etc. Engaged employees have lower stress and more energy.

The part that frustrated me was the focus on what organizations and leaders need to do to improve engagement, without talking about what employees themselves need to do. Based on my recent survey, it looks like you agree!

The Survey Says…
Thanks to each of you who responded to my quick survey last week (if you missed it, click HERE to take it now).

Here’s the question I’m referring to: “Please rank in order of importance who is MOST (1) to LEAST (3) responsible for YOUR engagement at work“ (choices for the answers included Organization/Executive Leaders; My Manager; Myself). (232 people responded to this question)

72.8% ranked “Myself” as #1 (most responsible)
61.3% ranked “My Manager” as #2
57.6% ranked “My Organization” as #3 (least responsible)

So, of those who weighed in on my informal survey – you agree that YOU are most responsible for your own engagement. This is great news!

It Takes 3

To be fair, employee engagement does take ALL three of these elements (NOT in order of importance)

1. The organization supporting engagement at a strategic level
2. Leaders supporting engagement at the tactical level
3. Each employee supporting engagement at a personal level

That’s Not Fair!
Sure, I can hear some of you saying, “You don’t know how clueless my boss is” or “No one listens to me at my job.” Well, that might be true. I agree that organizations and leaders do impact engagement – they are a key part of the “It Takes 3” equation. Unfortunately, they are also out of your span of control.

So the good news is you don’t have to wait on others to be engaged at work today. You can reap the benefits of positively connecting to your job…time will fly, your connections to others will improve and you’ll enjoy your

Here are 7 things engaged employees do differently.

1. Know what gets you satisfied, energized & productive and seek out opportunities to do more of those things.
2. Identify your own work beliefs that help/hinder engagement and get rid of the troublesome ones.
3. Minimize internal mind chatter that causes worrying before problems even occur.
4. Maximize positive connections & opportunities to be engaged.
5. Convert your own challenges into opportunities by using the SHIFT steps (click on blue SHIFT to access an overview of the steps).
6. Convert team challenges into opportunities using the SHIFT steps.
7. Take personal responsibility for your own engagement everyday.

Remember – It Takes 3 for engagement and the place to start is yourself.