- A bit of a rant about employee engagement.
I contend that every job, no matter how much you love it,
and how great your team is, contains some ‘little things’ that drive you up the
wall. If yours doesn’t, then you are very lucky, and maybe you can stop reading
now and feel very satisfied, or to use current HR/management speak, feel very
‘engaged’ with your job and your employer.
I love my job, I love my profession, I am honoured to be part
of a great leadership team and to manage a dedicated and very capable team.
Even with massive structural change almost upon us, we are still maintaining a
strong sense of local employee engagement and dedication to the vital service
we deliver.
But…I still find there are frustrating and annoying little
things I have to do, or that I am not allowed to do, that have the potential to
upset the balance I strive to maintain. Most I am happy to say, not down to
local strategy and direction, but as a result of being part of a commissioned
public service. Those who work with me, will know which ‘little things’ I am
thinking about. This blog is not about those; it is about the need to find ways
to avoid or minimise these for everyone. And if that can be achieved, it may
just be the key to maintaining an engaged and motivated workforce.
Muda
Muda is a Japanese word for waste that anyone who has read
Womak and Jones’ book, Lean Thinking (1996) will know they apply to work of no
value. Specifically ‘any human activity which
absorbs resources but creates no value.’
To cut a long theory short, they link this to value streams, flow, pull
and perfection. They say that lean systems ‘can
only flourish if everyone along the value stream believes the new system being
created (or ‘the system’ – my addition) treats
everyone fairly and goes the extra mile to deal with human dilemmas…’ Without
re reading a book I first read over 10 years ago (font size 8 or 9 closely
spaced), I am not sure they particularly applied their theory to ‘employee
engagement’ and I don’t think the term was coined back then anyway. But I do
think their lean processes both lend themselves to engaged employees and are
likely to lead in turn to improved employee engagement, by removing pointless ‘little
things’ and through being treated fairly etc. The word ‘muda’ has stuck in my
brain and is something I muse on when doing work of no value or at least where
the ‘value’ is so far removed (if it exists) that I can’t see what it is.
Maslow
Other ‘little things’ can be Maslow’s basic needs, (or
hygiene factors), and this is something I have blogged about previously, when
aiming to demonstrate the value to operational teams of high quality and
efficient corporate services. See here http://familyhrguru.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/basic-needs-security-needs-and-back.html. I am firmly of the view that getting
these factors right is the foundation block for employee engagement. Being paid
correctly, having systems that are easy to use, having policies and frameworks
that make it easier to do your job and don’t dis enable/restrict etc. etc. What
is the point of an all singing all dancing ‘Employee Engagement Strategy’ if
there are too many payroll errors, system crashes, and policies that don’t make
sense? Little things…that can all too easily become big things, if
organisations get them wrong. Getting them right gives a strong message that
the organisation’s leaders think that work, work systems and reward processes
matter so much that employees should not have to worry about them so they can
get on with their jobs, in fact go the extra mile and enjoy their jobs.
Control
Then there is the amount of discretion you have over your
priorities, workload and the way you do your work; control according to the
HSE’s 6 stress management standards. I could list all 6, but I think this one
is the most relevant to the impact ‘little things’ can have, and also the way
change is managed (a subject for a later blog?) Transparency and balance are
critical factors affecting discretion. Is the amount of work, the nature of the
work, the deadlines, and the amount of freedom over how it is done clear? Is it
easy to see and to understand the reasons why, when the work you are required
to do is set by somebody else, and over which you have no discretion? If you do
have to do work where you have no control, how does this balance with work that
you can control? If the balance is wrong (meaning wrong for you as related to
your role expectations, your skills and capability), then the ‘little things’
have probably already become ‘big things’.
All of the above, I contend can go a very long way to achieving
or reducing Employee Engagement, all within a transparent and enabling
leadership style and organisational form where there are strong working relationships. As
I have already said, much simpler and more effective than a gold plated strategy that nobody reads, never mind takes seriously and commits to.
