Ben Simonton's Discussions
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Having turned around four separate management disasters, I am quite familiar with what you are facing. The only way that employees become cynical and obstreperous is for management to mistreat them and disrespect them. The only way to correct this...
I doubt that anyone is apathetic to the cause of fixing what is wrong about our health care system. But there is no attempt in the present legislation to address those ills, only to effect a federal takeover of what it does not already control abo...
Don't try to "engage" them. Management cannot engage their workforce or motivate them.
Engagement is something employees do. Management can easily cause them to disengage and often does so. So find out from them what management is doing to diseng...
Thanks, Alan, for the link. It only serves to confirm what we all know at heart.
And I agree with David that there is value in letting employees know. If they are employed in a place that denies them engagement, this will have a very negative eff...
Thanks for the quote, but it is not enough to make me want to read the book. There are many who can spout some nice words, but when it comes to implementation are just using a form of top-down command and control.
Best regards, Ben
Thanks, Alan.
Before I bother to read it, please tell me whether the author tries to "engage" the workforce or creates an environment that ceases to demoralize and demotivate the workforce thus allowing them to become engaged with their work. If ...
Derek,
In my experience, rewards have a negative influence. This result is well explained by Alfie Kohn in his book "Punished by Rewards".
Best regards, Ben
I would talk with employees and ask them what they need to do a better job. How they answered would tell me how if they are engaged or not. I would also talk with managers to find out whether they think their job is to engage employees (wrong end ...
Sounds like management is attempting to "engage" employees, big mistake. Management can disengage employees, but cannot "engage" them. "Engagement" can only be achieved by each employee on their own and will only be achieved if management has crea...
Thanks, Alan.
Fostering the correct environment is the key. Employees who are allowed to become engaged in their work will have passion though management can help them to become passionate.
I say this having managed people for over 30 years. I d...
The author is correct that engagement is a prerequisite to high performance. But the author infers that management's responsibility is to "engage" its workforce.
Management cannot engage its workforce. It can only disengage them. Every employee w...
Sorry to disagree, Jason, but there is a silver bullet as Peter contends. Actually, I contend that there are a set of actions management can take which will allow employees to be engaged in their work.
Engagement is not something management does ...
Profile Information
- Who are you?
- I managed people for over 30 years and now help managers to become exceptional managers of people.
In my first 12 years as a manager of people, I made all the errors one can make by using a form of the traditional top-down command and control approach for 12 years. Big Mistake!
Over next 10 years I moved away from top-down eventually arriving at its opposite. Wow! Managerial Nirvana! My people became four times as capable as I had thought possible, literally loved coming to work, and were able to blow away competitors.
I personally developed, tested and proved every element of a superior strategy for managing people. This strategy is capable of producing 30 to 300% productivity gains by unleashing the full power of each employee's creativity, innovation, productivity, motivation and commitment. Though that may sound too good to be true, in 34 years managing people I used these skills to effect four successful turnarounds, including a nuclear powered cruiser and a 1300 person unionized group in New York City.
Thanks for reading my profile.
- What is your interest or involvement in employee engagement?
- Help execs and managers to unleash each employee's full potential of creativity, innovation, productivity, motivation, and commitment
- Website:
- http://www.bensimonton.com
- Where are you located?
- Sun City Center, Florida
Comment Wall (3 comments)
- At 11:14am on August 10, 2009,
Diane Desjardins said…
- Slavery used to be completely acceptable for awhile. Then, somebody started to wake up people and now we recognize that humans being are not things that you can dispose off as a property.
Time to wake up again. The dream have turned against us: it is now a nightmare for management and for the workers. Some choose to become zombies (dead people) to maintain the illusion of success, but those of us who are awake know better. Success is in the way you live your bliss.
I follow my bliss (Joseph Campbell last and ultimate advice) and life is wonderful :)
- At 11:05am on August 10, 2009,
Diane Desjardins said…
- Thank you Ben.
I think that management is in a trance, with all the emphasis put on thing that are relatively controllable. But human being are not things to be controlled. They are individuals that offer you their abilities and hopefully their heart to help you achieve the projects that give life to the company they work for. I want to wake some of them up and make them feel something too, not just think something : put their mind into their heart sort of speak. I see and meet a lot of hypnotized good people out there. I want to snap them out of it. Maybe my recognition angle will be a good start, particularly if they start to receive recognition too. They might feel something...
- At 8:52pm on March 31, 2009,
David Zinger said… - Ben:
Welcome to the Employee Engagement Network. I am glad you have already taken an active role and I trust you will find value and valuable interaction on this network. Let me know if I can assist you. Take care and stay engaged.
David
About
Latest Activity
An engaging look at some words of wisdom. Which statements do you believe fits best for employee engagement?
Excellent - thanks Heather!!
I summarized some high-level thought leadership from firms such as DDI, McKinsey, Towers Perrin, and Hewitt in my latest blog post. These are all papers from the last several months discussing engagement: bit.ly/3a4uft
I know that Towers Perrin a...
Thanks a lot for your help !
I actually did have a look on Gallup's 12 Questions, the only worry is that it measures more the enablers of employee engagement than employee engagement itself. I have however grouped the items into themes, and only o...
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