Developing Engaged Players
This is part 3 of a mini-series on employee engagement.
- The Case For Engagement
- Hiring for Engagement
- Developing Engaged Players
- Optimizing Teams For Engagement
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Clearing Obstacles. Photo by asmundur
Who amongst us hasn’t had this experience? “Welcome to YourPersonalHell Inc. Here’s an overview of what we do.” [THUMP! - 50+ page document or context-lacking PowerPoint lands on our desk. ...two days pass.] “Sorry, I’m just so busy. Do you have any questions?”
While hiring for engagement is a great start your role doesn’t end there. Engagement is an ongoing process, not a one-time check box. It is quite tenuous and without constant attention you’ll find your employees drifting away.
That said, you have a massive advantage. Everyone comes to a job engaged. Everyone wants to prove their value, do great work and make a difference to the team.
The job of as the manager coach is to harness that fresh energy and put her in a position where she can succeed. I’d suggest starting with the following:
- Give context. Schedule time with everyone she’ll be working with and ‘for’, for the first day or two she’s there. While the meetings should be flexible enough to take on their own life, they should give the new hire an overview of how the interviewed individual works, the problems he faces, how she can help him be more successful and what works/doesn’t within the current system. There should be no taboos in these meetings. The skeletons in the closet should be acknowledged without fear of reprisals.
- Engage immediately. Give her a meaty assignment. While she may lack context, she’ll likely never be more motivated to do a great job than on day one. You will need to support her by providing context, but never put constraints on the project or tell her something can’t be done. The goal is to get something audacious and that can provide substantive insight and change. This assignment should be forward-looking and help her better learn the market or the industry’s opportunities. You have the opportunity to take advantage of creative energy and fresh eyes that aren’t jaded by the company’s baggage. Harness it and be prepared to implement parts of it. Nothing is more demoralizing than doing good work only to see it die in a drawer.
- Learn more about her. The real her - the one that shows up everyday, not the one you got to ‘know’ in the interview. Give her a week or two to outline her goals (i.e. what she wants to learn/accomplish, how she wants to be rewarded), her strengths, how she wants to work with you and the environments in which she’s been most successful. You want to be able to come back to this information periodically to make sure everyone is getting what they need.
- Meet weekly. Weekly ‘one on ones,’ typically devolve into status meetings. Hold those another time. These should provide on-going feedback, support and provide business context that will help her do her job better. What worked really well this week? What didn’t? Why (listen, don’t tell)? What roadblocks does she face? What do you need to start/stop doing to help her? What do you know about what’s happening within the business that she doesn’t? What would she rather work on? There should never be any surprises on the annual review if these are done right.
You’re not a manager, you’re a coach. To keep someone engaged you need to understand the invidual and continually give them the opportunity to shine.
Disagree? Have other ideas? Please comment below.
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