People are the life blood of a business – but getting them engaged and committed can seem like a daunting task at times…

What are you doing to foster engagement in your company?

How are you getting people on the same page and pulling in the same direction?

How much time do you spend reinforcing what’s important AND what are the consequences of not performing?

Here’s four “key insights” to get you on the right track!

1)    If you haven’t seen or reminded yourself of the most important factors for increasing employee engagement, check out the Q12 from Gallup.

The answer on their #1 question – “I know what is expected of me at work” had better be “strongly agree” if you want to ensure that your employees really understand what they are accountable to deliver.  And if they do say that they know, make sure you ask, “So what is expected of you?” to confirm you’re both on the same page.  BTW – Gallup considers the first six questions “Base Camp”as far as creating an engaged workforce.  How would your employees answer?

2)    If you’re struggling to get people on the same page and accountable, how are you involving them in your planning process?

Do they know what the strategy and goals of the company are?  (How do you know?) Are you holding weekly tacticals and having them tell you what their top priorities are for the week? If you need some help here, check out our upcoming One Day workshop on November 8th to get your team involved in the planning process and it’s a great way to teach them the “business of business”!

3)    If they don’t understand what’s important to the business, how are you training them?

What kind of business education are you providing?  Having monthly management meetings where you’re sharing information on the business goals, direction, financials AND asking the critical question at the end of the meeting, “What did you hear?” will help them to make the connection between what they’re doing every day and where the business is going (Question #8 on the Gallup 12).  And check out an oldie but a goodie, Jack Stack’s “The Great Game of Business” for more ideas.

4)    And – when was the last time you made a “cultural adjustment”?

Have you let someone go in the last year for poor performance or for not meeting your Core Value expectations?  Several of the companies that I know have had to make these tough decisions over the past year – and while they’ve been sad decisions for the leaders they’ve all ultimately had very positive impacts on their other employees’ attitudes AND their companies’ performance. Brad Harris, author of  “Ownership Thinking” has a very pointed but realistic saying, “The first clean kill alerts the herd.” When you make “lack of accountability” have consequences with teeth, you shape a culture AND reward those who are doing the work.

If you’re ready to get started on creating an aligned and engaged team, take advantage of our upcoming “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” Executive workshop on November 8th!It’s a great, cost-effective opportunity to get you and your team exposed to “the Habits” and on the same page – and – you’ll come away with a draft plan for 2013 too!

And – for more on Dr. Streeter’s work – she’s got some great research on small business and tons of videos of CEO’s, click here.

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