Good morning, and hopefully spring is making her way into your world today.
An interesting article in the December 2010 issue of Training & Development magazine caught my eye recently. Looking at research by Sirota Survey Intelligence (www.sirota.com) the article notes the following key drivers of employee commitment and retention. The top five drivers are apperently:
1. I feel my career goals can be met at this company
2. I feel a sense of belonging at work
3. My work gives me a sense of accomplishment
4. I am paid fairly
5. Senior leaders treat employees as valuable assets
So many business gurus have been making the same argument; employee retention and engagement is a question of hearts, not brains. Our challenge is that four of the top five are intrinsic, internal perspectives on the part of the employee. As a leader I can create all the opportunities for growth I can, but it will always be the employee who decides whether there is enough opportunitiy for their own goals and accomplishments. I can create as safe and welcoming a place as possible, but it will be the employee who decides if they belong or not.  I can create a culture that honours and respects the contrinutions of each individual employee, but it is they who decide how valuable they feel.
And herein lies a fundamental problem, I say yes we have to create and enhance organizations so that career opportunities are there, that people may feel as though they belong, that they can feel that they are accomplishing something, being paid fairly, and are making valuable contributions, AND, we have to recognize and honour that we are running adult organizations, and not nursery schools. Adults make their own decisions aware of the consequences and opportunities therein, adults are entitled to their own pain, adults know they are valuable not because someone tells them that, but because they feel it within themselves, they already know they are making a difference in their world.
Many of these surveys, in my humble opinion, imply that it is the organization that has all of the power around an employee’s engagement and satisfaction, when in fact the only person who can make me feel engaged and empwered is me. The challenge for us as leaders then is to create environments where I’m more likely to bring my own engagement, to bring my own power to the workplace. I’ll do that most likely in a place that treats my engaged and powerful self with respect and dignity.
May this week be filled with opportunities for each of us to honour our own engagement, our own power.