Engagement Moments

[Deri Latimer]

Describe one, specific moment when you were engaged? What were the one or two behaviours of the person who facilitated your engagement? What did he or she say or do?

[Phil Gerbyshak]

What a great question to ask Deri, perfect to ask your employees at the beginning of the year if they understand employee engagement.

Now to think about this a little more and give you an answer. Thanks for making me think on this.

[Deri Latimer]

Look forward to your thoughts, Phil!

[David Zinger]

Deri:
I like this focus on the moment of engagement.
I believe I facilitated my own engagement.
I let my interest permeate by presence to the point of flowing into the task (the state of flow).
When I am fully engaged I am not saying much even to myself.
I was creating and making a contribution.
David

[Deri Latimer]

And so, for the leaders in organizations, part of the key is to provide opportunities for 'flow' to occur! I like that!

[Jean Douglas, CMC]

I can't point to any one individual. But, I can remark on what it takes for someone to make me feel engaged. I feel most engaged when I feel needed, valued, intellectually stimulated, listened to, and respected. In many instances, it has been the team that supports me that makes me feel engaged. My clients often foster my engagement as they fill my engagement needs.

When I think about what else engages me I think of my career- yes, my career choice certainly engages me as does research (not just measurement, but simple research - finding out stuff), but I have been very engaged doing other things too that on the surface may not seem to be engagement-related. I'm thinking back to my farm days when I could be engaged in cleaning out the barn (I think it was a mix of quiet time - our family could range from 10 to 17 depending on which relative(s) were living with us at the time), methodical work is good for thinking and the fact that I loved the barn and the cattle. The well-being of the cattles was the primary reason for cleaning the barn - so it tapped into the being needed part of me.

Now that I have rambled on about the farm, I would have to say that my dad was the first person to really engage me. When we talked, he really listened - my thoughts and opinion counted. He always made me feel that I was smart and that my opinions were worth listening to. I remember feeling this when I was as young as six years old.

So when I try to think about the behaviours of others who facilitate my engagement, I would have to say it is these things - really listening, making me feel like what I have to contribute is of value and that my contribution is needed.

[Deri Latimer]

That is wonderful, Jean! I felt like I was on the farm with you! Again, we hear the power of truly listening...I imagine you mean all those good behaviours like 'eye contact, nodding, mirroring non verbal facial expression, asking questions, etc. Thanks for sharing!

[Jean Douglas, CMC]

Thanks for the note. I kind of went down a sentimental trail there. He passed away a few years ago...

When I think about it, he didn't do the behaviours we usually think about. He asked questions that reflected that he was listening, but I think his real skill, which I try really hard to maintain, is that he was there with me in "the moment" - he wasn't thinking about what else he had to do (or at least I never felt that). He never did the mirroring, eye contact, nodding stuff. He was just there - all of him - like what I had to say was worth listening and responding to - I could feel his presence. We had great in-depth discussions.

[Deri Latimer]

That is beautiful! How lucky you are to have had such a great role model!

[Art Beecher]

Long time Employee Engagement Network reader, first time writer ...

I think, for me, a moment I recognized true feelings of engagement was more related to the task than to any person, or to be more accurate, it was more related to my Myers-Briggs type than to any person.

At work, I was taking on a new and uncertain project, one that didn't foster a sense of optimism, and one that I was being left to my own devices to manage.

As I researched and interviewed and documented and formulated, and as the days passed, I found my energy, my focus, clearly increasing. Perhaps as an ENTP, it was recognizing the possibilities of the work I was doing - recognizing that "hey, wait a sec ... this thing could really work. We could make this great if I could ..." - and I clearly recall disembarking my train one morning, and walking at a good clip so I could get to work a few minutes earlier than my usual early hour and get back to the task.

This continued for weeks - this desire to fully commit to the work, to put my discretionary effort to the task - and I learned that in addition to feeling better and more energized, there was an observable change in me as well, as colleagues began to comment on how happy I seemed.

So, it might have been the possibilities of the work, it might have been the challenge of taking something that was considered to in the morass and making it into something really great, it might have been the autonomy of being left on my own to succeed or fail, or it's likely a combination of those things.

Hope that's helpful.

-A

[Deri Latimer]

That's very helpful! This ENFP can relate!

[Samantha Wood]

Deri, what a brilliant topic! I love it. And Phil I think you're spot on, this is exactly what employers should be asking their teams. Think that's going in my blog :-)

And the answer? For me, total engagement has always come when I'm asked to do what I'm really good at. And being asked is important. Doing something well is in itself quite engaging, but when you know that you're doing something really successfully, and its exactly the thing your company or business needs and appreciates you doing... well that's total engagement for me.

[Deri Latimer]

Right on! Isn't it true that doing something of VALUE to the organization - something that matters - is key!