The Secret to Employee Engagement

People are temperamental. They change. Their moods, what they want, what they expect. Yet they do not expect the goals of the company to change or that they will have to work hard to align with them. If you as the manager ever require something more of them, you may hear complaints or whining and threats of resignations.

The truth is, don’t expect the employee to bend over backwards for you, IF he/she doesn’t LOVE you and your company.

The solution, make them love you, every single one of them! *Imagine villain doing evil laugh and rubbing hands together in a sinister fashion*

How?

Be truthful from the beginning. You don’t marry a woman telling her its OK if she doesn’t cook then expect three course meals 3 months later. You will be getting the same burnt chicken, instant noodles and take-out that she was feeding you during courtship. Similarly, if things will get a little tough in the following months, the employee has a right to know.

Don’t set unrealistic expectations. It’s okay to fail sometimes (unless it’s mission critical robotic dinosaur heart replacement surgery), let your employee know this so that they will be willing to act creatively on your behalf. Creativity is often needed for one company to pull ahead of another in this market. Similarly don’t send your pot-bellied husband to the gym one day and expect him to come back with a six-pack that evening.

Every Kiss begins with K. Well, commitment does not start with a ‘k’, but let your employee know you are committed to their success at your company. It’s not a matter of hiring them, placing them at a desk and expecting that they will work their

hardest. Show commitment by tracking their progress and providing feedback along the way. Relationships take hard work or a lot of trips to the jewelry store. Put in the hard work and save your company the cost of rehires and diminished returns.

Make anyone fall in love with you.

Get them hired, keep them happy and they will stay. The company will benefit and you may even get the “Manager of the Year” award. If my tips don’t work we may have to resort to more sinister methods, but that’s for another time.