Despite this, the majority of companies still fail to achieve meaningful returns on their engagement efforts. All too often, companies apply a “cookie cutter” approach because leaders (wrongly) assume that people possess the same universal needs, beliefs and values (the “false-consensus bias”). Dr Wilson Wong at the CIPD argued, “Engagement of an individual depends on what is salient at the time for that person. Individual differences, circumstances… and personal needs vary enormously”.
Use two key principles to overcome these variations and strengthen engagement:
- Engage your people in meaningful dialogues to really get to know them: Leaders need to identify the specific values that drive the people who report to them. Start by creating a list of simple values and then use interviews or focus groups to ask employees which of these are most important to them as individuals. This will require conscious effort – but leaders will quickly learn a lot about their people and how best to support and reward them as individuals
- Leverage people’s strengths: Use the information you collect to create a couple of development goals for each person in order to bridge the gap between their personal values and the organisational culture. For example, if a person values risk-taking but the organisation values stability, task him or her with exploring and evaluating new technologies that can be used to enhance internal stability, e.g. social networking tools.
Sources: Baumgartner, N. (2014) One Engagement Strategy Does Not Fit All, HBR, Nov 26; Wong, W. (2012) Employee Engagement: Re-stating the Bleeding Obvious, Nov 28, CIPD.
Action Point
Action point: Reflect on your organisation’s engagement practices (and at different levels). Are managers applying a standard “cookie-cutter” approach across the organisation, or are they truly engaging people at the individual and team levels?
