Since I became involved with the Engage for Success movement in 2012, I have been giving a lot of thought to the four enablers of Employee Engagement: Strategic Narrative, Engaging Managers, Employee Voice and Integrity. While all four are important, I believe that Engaging Managers are the glue that holds it all together, and the oil that makes the engine run smoothly.
Thinking back over my career as an employee, I can think of a few managers and supervisors that I had who were genuinely engaging, and this was at a time when the term ’employee engagement’ hadn’t been thought of.
One of my line managers springs to mind. He was a young Scot, not long out of university, who was put in charge of what was seen as one of the more challenging teams in the U.K. We were only challenging because we had never really been listened to, but Jack changed all that. One of his first actions was to invite all 25 of his direct reports to a meeting. We weren’t at all sure what to expect. When we arrived, he greeted us all individually and with deference to our experience. At the front of the room was a flipchart. There were no PowerPoint presentations, just Jack and his flipchart. He explained his vision for the team for his first year as our leader, and asked us for our comments. Then he asked us to come up with a list, on our tables, of what we needed from him if we were going to help him to deliver those goals.
We were astounded. No-one had ever treated us like this before. Then we presented back our lists of ‘needs’ to him. He agreed to provide what we needed, and, what’s more, he was as good as his word. That year was a great year, and so was the next one. Parts of the business that had never made money suddenly started to produce profit. Employee turnover dropped sharply, sickness absence reduced and people who had spent much of their career just going through the motions suddenly had a spring in their step and a smile on their face.
This all happened because one person was an engaging manager – we did have an engaging CEO too, but he wasn’t directly responsible for our team.
My own relationship with Jack was great. I knew I could speak to him at any time if I wanted to change something to deliver better service, and I knew he would always back me. While Jack was my line manager I used to wake up on a Monday morning and want to go to work!
I agree wholeheartedly. It has always amazed me that some managers have still not grasped the idea that their behaviour and attitude is reflected in those around them that they interact with on a daily basis, and those who work directly for them. The idea that a person can be ‘toxic’ for an organisation is true. How brave are we to front up to those people and give feedback and help them to realise how their actions and attitudes drive the culture of their department? Years ago I met with a very senior person at the Royal Bank of Scotland and he said to me that he ‘looks to people to leave a footprint on him when ever he meets them. Some people tread softly and leave a positive impression, others leave a huge great stomp and he is left cleaning the mark off for ages!’. I’ve always kept that with me when it comes to engagement. I endeavour to leave people with a positive lasting impression of me, one that is memorable for all the right reasons. True employee engagement comes from the heart, not from a management tick box activity.
Thank you Rebecca for taking the time to reply. I absolutely agree with your last sentence particularly. I was talking to a senior manager recently who told me that he was a great host at home, enjoyed cooking, entertaining, wine and conversation. I asked him how much of that persona he brought to work with him. I think everyone needs to bring more of themselves to work. I was also recently speaking to an ex-colleague, a senior HR manager, who had recently taken a severance package. She said that it was ‘lovely to be able to go back to being herself again’.
I remember Jack, and this piece of writing is very accurate.
Thanks Ray – maybe one day we will get the chance to rebuild everything again on the East Coast – wouldn’t that be great?