Page 16 - MetalForming February 2014

Human Capital By Debbie McGrath
The 3 “A’s” of Employee Engagement
Posted to HR.com by Wally Hauck, president, Optimum Leadership; www.wallyhauck.com Employee-engagement levels have the attention of
many C-Suite executives. The latest research by Towers
Watson, a human-resources consulting firm, confirms that employee engagement is a critical element for high levels of financial and operational results.
Any executive who doesn’t pay attention to employee engagement might be accused incompetence and/or mal- practice. This is especially true in light of the Towers Watson research, which shows that a mere 35 percent of employees are “highly engaged.”
We need improvement. Here are three good ideas that will help.
Anxiety
Anxiety often is considered a negative force (emotion) that causes stress and stagnation. Positive anxiety, on the other hand, is the urgent emotional need to act before an opportunity is lost. Positive anxiety proves useful for learn- ing and development. A balance between the challenge a person experiences performing a task and the skills he uses to perform those tasks will generate positive anxiety. This positive anxiety is required for engagement and nec- essary for learning.
Unfortunately, feeling comfortable (or satisfied) usually does not create development. Neither does negative stress. But, the stress most employees feel today is negative and caused by pressure to perform using threats or bribes. Pay- for-performance policies or performance-appraisal ratings are substituted for the required positive stress and results in a reduction in engagement.
Positive anxiety is intrinsic (internal), self-imposed and naturally healthy. People can use positive anxiety to make positive change. A great example of positive anxiety in prac- tice is seen in the process of learning speed reading. Many speed-reading teaching techniques require the student to push themselves to reading speeds five or even 10 times
Content for Human Capital comes courtesy of Debbie McGrath, founder and chief instigator of HR.com, Aurora, Ontario, Canada. McGrath has a degree in computer science and business administration from the University of Guelph. Founded in August 1999, HR.com aims to help build great companies by con- necting them with the knowledge and resources they need to effectively manage the people side of business.
www.HR.com
tel: 877/472-6648
faster than their normal pace. This push creates positive anxiety and trains the eyes and the brain to adapt to a much higher speed. The push creates positive change even though during this push the student feels anxiety.
It not only is permissible for leaders to create positive anxiety in the work environment for employees, it is their obligation. Leaders have the most influence over the mes- sages that come from the work environment.
Autonomy
The second “A” is for autonomy—the freedom to deter- mine actions and decisions. Autonomy is a higher standard than just empowerment. Empowerment gives power to someone, and suggests that there must be an authorization by management to perform a task or responsibility. Autonomy is about freedom for self-government or self-management. With autonomy the employee decides when and how to act to solve a problem—no authorization by management required.
Autonomy is best provided when employees understand the principles under which they can make decisions on their own. This does not mean specific processes or detailed steps are missing.
Toyota, for example, establishes four principles employees must follow to work toward improvement in their plants.
• All handoffs between internal suppliers and internal customers must have clear steps in a specific sequence and these steps are defined by the customer.
• Every supplier-to-customer handoff must be direct and unambiguous.
• The pathway for these handoffs must be simple and direct.
• Improvements can be made by anyone at any time as long as those changes are done using the scientific method. This final principle is the most influential for allowing employees to demonstrate autonomy.
Advancement
The final “A” is for advancement. Employees need to see how their efforts truly make a difference. This advancement must not just be progress for the sake of progress. It must be in context of a higher purpose and vision. In order for advancement to happen the progress seen by employees must be toward a vision and aligned with the values of the organization.
Three elements are needed to achieve advancement.
First, we must understand the aim of our actions. The aim also is often known as the mission or purpose. We must
14 MetalForming/February 2014
www.metalformingmagazine.com