A case against EE?

[Michael Miener]

I just returned from a leadership program where we had some intense discussions about a statement from one of the lecturers saying we are facing a paradigm change going from

from
making individuals more valuable to organisations – by “motivation” and “engagement”

to
making organisations more valuable to individuals – who are already valuable

Agree or disagree? Looking forward to your comments.

[Johane Desjardins]

Finally a statement that has solid meaning and deep implication! Something that will make people reflect on the current reality and the expectations of today's workforce.

Yes, everyone is valuable. Organizations need to take responsibility for "mining" and then nurturing the talent, the knowledge and personal values that each individual brings to work.

[Gina Abudi]

Hi Michael,

Can you provide a bit more information? It seems to me you are saying that what you heard is that the organization itself has to show the individual why they should stay and continue with the organization. Is that correct? If so, I do see this actually - but I'm not sure it is a case against employee engagement. It seems to me that even in a tough economy like we are in, there are still opportunities for some of the best employees - the "high potentials." I think organizations need to work a bit harder to keep those people by showing how the organization can be of value to them - but, I believe the organization also must keep those individuals engaged - through new opportunities, challenges, etc. If you think about it, the younger generation expects to get value from the organization they join - not just provide value to the organization (although don't get me wrong - they want to provide value to the organization). A two way street I guess.

Interesting discussion topic!

Best, Gina

[David Zinger]

My reaction was voiced by Gina.

Good provocative statement but really employee engagement is a two way street and engagement is not one way, it is bidirectional.

Hence the problem with pairing engagement with employee if it is seen as only the employees issue or responsibility.

I see this as a time when we are fostering engagement in so many areas and in so many directions.

David

[Jason Scott]

If it is true that information technology has become a commodity, then people are an organizations only source of durable competitive advantage in the future.

[Rob Fox]

Well said. Organisations do need to strive make themselves more "valuable" to their people, the communities they serve, and to society.

For me the question becomes what does "valuable" mean?

Thank you for the thought.

Best,

Rob
www.engagingideas.co.uk

[Adam Hibbert]

It's a useful way to look at the issue from the other end of the telescope - hopefully will help us get the engagement debate out of the old carrot/stick mindset, which I try to remind my colleagues is truly only appropriate for Donkey work. But let's not mistake that for a fundamentally different theory.

The point is, the stereotypical old Theory X organisation had one value for employees - pay. In keeping with that mode of relationship, they just brought their labour time in, and kind of acquiesced while the organisation figured out ways to pump it out of them. The model Theory Y organisation we're all in this place to create has many values for employees, which ideally combine to stimulate and satisfy our creative urges and help us make ourselves more useful, as a willed choice (btw, a self-enriching experience).

Primary among these values, I'd argue, is having our skills and experience recognised by seeing how we're able to contribute to the decisions of the organisation - that value transforms "the" work into "my" work, at which point you can expect me to engage all of myself with it.

[Jason Scott]

Very well said.

[Tom Rausch]

I recently heard Richard Barrett put the paradigm shift this way: "Business is a wholly owned subsidiary of society." Organizations need to focus on their value to all individuals and their contribution to the greater good of all- not just their employees (although this is a crucial stakeholder group). This shift in focus has the added benefit of giving employees of the organization meaningful work- a reason to contribute far beyond simply earning a paycheck.

Barrett followed up with this gem: "Society is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment." I see Michael's comment about the conference discussion as further evidence of the important shift we must make from "me" to "we" if we are going to flourish as a species.

[Susanne Jacobs]

I agree with the second statement. What an Employer does to value and bring value their employees and potential recruits is and will be more and more the only way to ensure they can attract the valuable skills on sale by individuals. The key is to ensure that what is on offer meets the actual needs and aspirations of the talent particularly in terms of flexibility.

[Judy Bardwick]

A very crucial difference between morale and satisfaction and engagement is the former involves how much the organization owes the employee which is a measure of Entitlement.

Engagement is a measure of a reciprocal and interacting relationship between employees and their organization. In this case both parties are responsible and must earn the respect of the other.

All of this is discussed in my 2008 book, "One Foot Out the Door." I'd suggest those who are interested in the issue of rewards and recognition and individual differences read the chapter on Customizing which is relevant to this point.

[Johane Desjardins]

Judy,
Page 110 of your book, "I want: my life as well as my work to have meaning" paints a great picture of value that would truly engage employees.

[Lalita Thakur]

A very meaningful statement keeping the employee commitment and loyalty in mind.
Its true that we usually talk about motivating and engaging people and making them more valuable, but when it comes to employers branding we need to make organisations more valuable to employees. Human resource is already a valuable asset to the organisation, but to retain an employee organisations need to work more towards making themselves valuable to individuals.
For example organisations like Google, through their wonderful organisation culture have created for itself such a value that people from across the globe want to work for it.
We talk about learning organisations, development and many more upcoming topics, we can actually implement this idea of making organisations valuable and it wil further help in overall strategic alingment of an organisation.