The Universality Employee Engagement

It has been a frustrating week in Chicago. A snow blizzard of historic propotions put paid to my much anticipated session on employee engagement for a client. Sitting in the hotel room having nothing to do but read and catch up with old emails proved to be useful. It gave me time to finish a book that I bought before I left to the USA - Re-Engage : How America's Best Places to work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times by Leigh Branham and Mark Hirschfeld (McGraw Hill, 2010).

To be honest, the only reason why I bought this book was to be absolutely sure that none of my participants will say " yes...that sounds really good but here in America....it's different". I wanted to be prepared if indeed employee engagement drivers in America is different from Asia where I have been delivering this session extensively. I was not dissapointed as what the authors have discovered through extensive research on employee engagament in American companies are as universal as anything can be. The reasons why high performers in America become dis-engaged are the same as what you will find in India. The type of manager behaviors that promote employee engagement in America are exactly what I have been advising Asian managers. The kind of roles that senior American business leaders need to play are the same as what senior leaders in Asia based companies need to do.

I knew this all the while. All researches have shown this to be true. I just wanted to be sure. I would have waived this book like a priest on a Sunday morning if anyone had challenged the universality of engagement drivers! Too bad the snow storm had other plans. I could not deliver my all important sermon.

Well, since we are on the subject of employee engagement I might as well provide the 6 Universal Engagement Drivers mentioned in the book:
1. Caring, competent, and engaging senior leaders
2. Effective managers who keep employees aligned and engaged
3.Effective teamwork at all levels
4.Job enrichment and professional growth
5. Valuing employee contributions
6. Concern for employee well-being.

The Sun is up....the temperature is still way below zero. Much like employee engagement - even with all the benefits and infrastructure; cold and indifferent manager behavior will make no positive difference.