Thursday, May 02, 2013

Employee Engagement - Your Secret Weapon

Team engagement is paramount for a company to succeed in today's world.  With fewer resources there is no room for employees who are not committed to the cause.  Gaining market awareness is not something that can be left to a few people in sales and marketing.... the whole organization must be on working together.

Nobody longs to work for a company where the staff is treated like cogs in a wheel, but many people go to work day-in and day-out feeling they do not make a difference.  When I meet someone who works for a company with a great culture, I know it instantly from how they talk about their career.  On the flip side, you can easily spot those who are just going through them motions.

In the meetings industry I often see great engagement from those who plan events.  They have a commitment to creating meetings that impact those in attendance, and they will work long hours to ensure that they exceed the words on their job description (this is why I suggest other industries recruit people with meeting planning experience).   

Long hours (with little praise) would lead some to believe these professionals would not be as dedicated to their jobs, but I rarely meet anyone who works around "meetings" that does not push hard in every way.  They are engaged in the success of the events they plan and do not quit short of the goal.  

Why?

I believe it has to do with the authority that meeting planners have to make decisions on the fly.  When you are involved with a live event many things can go wrong.  The best planners do not wait for a committee to come to a conclusion, they just take action.  When you have the ability to make choices, you have a deeper feeling of ownership about your job.  While often these same people do not have this freedom in the early planning stages (the dreaded committee often has to weigh in on everything), while the event is happening they are the director.  This ability to be in charge can bring a lot of satisfaction (especially when they solve a problem and nobody ever knows the issue existed!).

Are you giving your people the power to act?  It is a good thing, as it hands them a powerful sense of ownership.  Engaged employees bring more to the workplace and that impacts your bottom line.

Have A Great Day

thom singer


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