Management responsible for employees disengagement

Often companies hope to drive employees’ attitudes and commitment through rules and regulations. It’s important to have them but employers must also recognize their limitations. Rules-more than anything- constrict creativity and innovation.  They also carry disciplinary connotations.  They discourage unacceptable behavior but do not inspire a positive attitude or increased performance.  Rules simply function to keep people’s heads just above water. This is mostly because they are fueled by fear.  People follow them because they have to, not because they want to. To have employees want to rise above it all, we need different tools. A rule of thumb is to follow a universal principle-  To demand commitment from our employees’ we must first be committed to them. This principle is referred to as the duty to ‘give in order to receive’ (not so recently rebranded as the so called ‘law of attraction’).

 Committing to improve employees’ attitude is a difficult choice because there will always be other priorities in the organization; urgent matters to attend.  Unfortunately, employees’ commitment must be cooked in a slow fire.   Given time, proper planning and foresight, it will emerge and solidify.

 Those who are convinced that a few rewards here and there and bi-annual office parties will suffice should stop reading at this point.  This attitude is based on the twisted belief that a job is a favor and that all employees should be grateful to have one.  I am sure most employees will be grateful but that does not mean they will go “above and beyond” or spend their discretionary energy and effort in their workplace. Just as friendship evolves over time, we cannot expect a workforce to magically become engaged with us with a few token gestures.

 The organization’s required commitment is twofold. The first is a pledge to take sustained action on a consistent basis to change the situation. The second is a personal commitment to the employees.  This cannot be staged.  It’s the attitude of genuinely caring about the employees; not as a means to a business end, but at a personal level.  After all, that is precisely what we want from our workers- an emotional investment.   We would rather have them come to work not because of the paycheck but mostly because they care about the organization.

The most difficult part of changing workers attitude is management.  The more hardened and invested they are in seeing the workers as an input of production; the more difficult will be for them to achieve meaningful change.  There are plenty of road maps to get workers engaged.  Yet, the first step requires management’s engagement towards the cause. It is a front seat versus back seat issue.

 Once the company has sufficient leaders committed to change, it’s a matter of planning and executing the appropriate strategies.  We want to get employees motivated about their work and drive  this enthusiasm towards the success of the organization.

 A first step could be to letting employees know what is expected of them and provide measurable goals.  Management could then follow up with periodical feedback on their performance and how their work impacts the company.

Management needs to communicate often with the employees; individually and collectively. There must be growth opportunities for as many people as possible. Supervisors need to be closely observed.  Are they an instrument of change, or an enduring impediment?  Their performance can be measured by the relationship they have with their employees. How well regarded are they?  How much employees enjoy working with them? Studies have shown that the critical factor in employees’ level of commitment depends on their immediate supervisor. Thus, strong management efforts to engage employees might be thwarted at the supervisory level.

Increasing the level of commitment in an organization is not a quick or easy task. It’s both a science and an art with a strong dose of humanism (after all we are dealing here with people). It also requires testing and measuring activities and a fair amount of trial and error to determine what works in the organization.  Persistent enough firms will be rewarded by being considerably more productive than others.