Plug ’em In Yourself

Almost seven out of ten employees admit they are unplugged, not really engaged—giving their best—in their work. Can your organization really flourish with that level of engagement?

Whether you lead a large or small business, a mega-church or rural chapel, a college, or a government agency, you need employees, staff, and volunteers who are actively working for the good of the organization.

After all, you have opportunities to seize and problems to fix; good things you want to make great and mediocre things you want to make good (or get rid of). But the big question is: do your associates have the same goals? Are they really plugged in—engaged—ready to give their best to make it happen? Or are they sitting on the sidelines watching, waiting for you to tell them what to do, or worse, waiting for you to fail? The latest Gallup data (2014) reveals that only 31% of employees are actively engaged; 51% are on the sidelines “just doing their job”; 18% are “actively disengaged”—making no effort to help.

Getting your employees to plug in to organizational aspirations is essential if you want to actually achieve your goals. Engaged employees perform at a much higher level. (There are mounds of supporting data, plus in your heart you know it’s true because you know how your own performance excels when you are plugged in.)

How to get your associates actively and positively engaged is a multi-faceted subject—too broad for a one-page blog posting. Maybe you should hire someone like me to help you. Right? Well, I wouldn’t start with that since…

Engagement is not drawing employees into your world; it only happens when you enter their world.
It doesn’t start with them engaging with you; it starts with you engaging with them.

“People today demand personal relationships with their leaders before they will give themselves fully to their jobs.” (Bill George, True North)

Your employees will engage with you when you engage with them—not before. Why don’t you get started today? Take a walk. Sit down and eat lunch in the factory break room. Have a ten-minute conversation at the water cooler. Have a pizza party for no reason at all. Intentionally sit down with one of the 18%ers and talk about their family, not their attitude. These things are much cheaper and more effective than bringing in a consultant. (But I’ll come if you want me to.)

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