3) Engage first-line leaders
The CEO normally has five to eight direct reports and ev- eryone else has another manager. The individual’s manager has overwhelming influence on the engagement level. This is even truer on the disengagement side. According to a “2009 Sirota Survey,” disengaged managers are three times as likely to have disengaged direct reports.
Problems often surface, however, because many supervisors have been in their positions for many years, and this whole engagement thing (the softer side of management) is new to them. A good tool to start conversations with long-time employees is to use 360 degree evaluations. A second comes from Bob Kelleher’s leadership summary:
workforce all looked and acted alike. Today, diversity comes in many shades. We not only have diversity in terms of age, gender, race/ethnicity and religion, but also deal with gen- erational, cultural, educational, communication styles and many other types of differences. Each requires a modified approach to connect with the individual.
For those of us in management, the biggest change is the Gen Y or Millennials, who are entering the work force. The December 17, 2010 “Kiplinger Letter” provided a good summary of what we should expect. They are: · · · · · · · · ·
Well-schooled, Culturally aware,
Tech savvy to the extreme, Accustomed to working in groups,
Clueless about traditional workplace etiquette, Use texting; don’t see need for face-to-face, Expect work to be fun and meaningful,
Enterprises that try to do good are appealing to them, Personal relationships are paramount and · Time is more valued than money.
Group culture is hard to change, but from my experience, it is often easier to change a group than an individual. If the in- dividual’s personal values need more than modest tweaking to align with the organization’s values, it is probably better to work out a generous severance package.
4) Communication: the Cornerstone
Another best practice is to remember that communication must be, “Seven times in 7 different ways.” The 7 ways could be face-to-face, at a shift meeting, in a memo, from a CEO session, weekly newspaper or perhaps front line to front line. It is also important to realize the responsibility, for making sure the mes- sage is receive, resides with the individual sending the message. At Dotson, we have all the standard meetings (shift, monthly, and quarterly meetings) along with many different committees. In addition, we have a unique communication platform from People Driven Performance (
www.pdpsolutions.com), which is delivered via touch screen kiosks throughout the plant.
The weekly digital newspaper (Figs. 2 and 3) includes a mix of current happenings, new employee and visitor welcome articles, human interest stories, technical information and teachable moments such as comments on a safety incident.
5) individualize your Engagement
Engagement occurs at the rate of one person at a time. Get- ting to that one person thirty years ago was easy, since the
10
Figure 3. The story page provides a teachable moment on a recent safety incident.
International Journal of Metalcasting/Fall 2011
Figure 2. Weekly digital newspaper presented on kiosks throughout the plant or on individual PCs.
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