Why are you receiving this newsletter? 

 

You might be curious as to why this newsletter is coming to your mailbox now. You either expressed an interest in spirit at work or signed up for the newsletter when you attended a presentation or workshop on spirit at work. If you don't remember, it could be that you signed up several years ago. If this is no longer an interest, please unsubscribe below and we will remove your name right away.  Alternatively, if you like what you are reading, please help us to spread the word by sharing this content.

How has the recession impacted employee engagement and what can be done about it?

 

In a recent research report (September, 2009), Watson Wyatt points to a significant drop in employee engagement - especially in top performing employees. They found that employee engagement has dropped 9% overall since last year and close to 25% for top-performing employees. This is on top of an already dismal global engagement record.

 

In their 2007-2008 Global Workforce Study, Towers Perrin revealed that only one out of every five workers today is giving full discretionary effort on the job - going well above and beyond what is required because they are caught up in a passion and purpose of creating a better product, service or customer service.

 

Four out of ten were considered disenchanted or disengaged, chiefly because they didn't have the kind of rational, emotional or motivational connections to the organization that drive discretionary effort.

 

There is clearly an "engagement gap" and it is growing. As it increases, employers can expect a negative impact on employee wellbeing, quality of work, customer service, and productivity.

 

The good news. There are many strategies shown to decrease this gap. As Towers and Perrin say: "engaged employees are not born, but made." Based on surveys with 90,000 people, the Towers and Perrin's study points to "senior management's interest, sincere interest, in employee wellbeing" as the number 1 engagement driver.

 

The lack of expression of genuine interest in employees by leaders was an issue prior to the recession. The ressession has only exacerbated the concern. Many organizations found themselves in survival mode and leaders gave their attention elsewhere. It is time to pause and rethink how to respond to the current state.

 

The first step to helping employees become engaged is to get interested. Who are your employees? How has it been for them? What are their ideas about getting back on track? What are they interested in?  Ask what you can do for them. How can you help?

The Business Case

 

Employee engagement is a key driver of organizational effectiveness, productivity and employee spirit at work. The evidence is clear: When employee engagement increases, so too does employee satisfaction, commitment, morale, retention and productivity.

 

I have found that employee engagement, or what I often call "spirit at work" can be developed.

 

I took a team of workers through the Spirit-at-Work Program and it dramatically reduced the rate of absenteeism and turnover. Not only did we see an improvement in retention, our research pointed to an increase

in job satisfaction and commitment. Morale improved and the group began working together as a team. Why? 

 

Employees began to understand how their work mattered. They appreciated themselves and the work they did. And they began to think about their work differently. 

How Can We Create Spirit At Work?

 

As many of you know, I have been researching spirit at work - that sense that our work is engaging, fulfilling, and that we are able to make a difference for others - for close to a decade. It is my passion and now, my life's work.

 

Let me start by saying that the creation of spirit at work is a shared responsibility. Shared between the employee and the employer. What is interesting is that we can cultivate the experience for ourselves, even if our employer does nothing. But, when the two come together, amazing things happen. There are many ways we can foster spirit at work for ourselves, and, if we are a supervisor or leader, for our employees. The four key strategies outlined in my book Rethinking Your Work: Getting to the Heart of What Matters are:

1. Appreciate self and others
2. Live purposely and consciously
3. Cultivate a spiritual, values-based life, and
4. Refill the cup.

In this newsletter, I would like to share one tip to living purposely and consciously and that is to get to the heart of what matters about your work.

Get to the Heart of What Matters

 

It is impossible to live consciously and purposefully without knowing what is important to us and what moves our heart. By engaging in a continual process of reflection and self-examination, we can determine what we stand for, what gives us meaning, and our deeper reason for being. Once we have this clarity, we are in a position to live with intent and experience spirit at work. To get to the heart of what matters about your work become a witness of your life and watch for what moves your heart. Ask, "What matters most to me?" "What is my deeper purpose?" "What is mine to contribute?" 

 

Want to be inspired? Read Ken's story below about how he got to the heart of what matters . . .  in what many would view as a meaningless job.

Featured Book: Just Released

 

Rethinking Your Work: Getting to the Heart of What Matters

 

Feeling bored, stuck or otherwise uninspired at work? Before you quit your job or change careers, think again. This timely and important book and accompanying guidebook show that anyone can be inspired at work. What matters most is not what work you do but how you think about it.

 

Rethinking Your Work provides a blueprint for solving the pressing issue of job satisfaction and fufillment. Author Val Kinjerski, PhD, a leading authority in the field, shares findings from a decade of results-based research. She relates inspiring real-life stories of "employees with passion" and provides field-tested exercises that will help you get to "the heart of what matters."

 

Order today and benefit from our October special. See below.       

A Spirit at Work Story

 

(from Rethinking Your Work: Getting to the Heart of What Matters)

 

Ken works in a tiny booth in an underground parkade near a medical center. At first glance, it appears that Ken just takes people's money and hands out parking passes. On closer inspection, he does much more than that. Ken has spirit at work. He sees the parking lot as an extension of himself, so he often sweeps the entrance to the parkade, picks up garbage and cleans the windows of his booth. He says he would not have you come to his home if it looked like a pigsty, so why would he have you come to a dirty parkade?
 
When assigned to this particular site, Ken decided to get to know the people who parked in "his parkade." Some were regulars who worked in the building; others were parents bringing their children in for medical appointments. As they came through, he would offer each person a smile, get to know them by name and share a few words. He became curious about the people coming through on a daily basis and began to ask about them, their family and their work. At first, he received strange looks. People did not know how to respond. But soon, he was on a first-name basis with all his regulars.
 
Because the parkade is off the beaten track, it had a high vacancy rate when Ken first arrived. It didn't take long, however, before the "parkade full" sign lit up on a regular basis. People told him they went out of their way to use his parkade, often passing other parking lots. They looked forward to that positive thirty-second conversation.
 
Ken was troubled by all the children coming for medical appointments and wanted to do something to brighten their day. He decided to buy and pass out candies to each child coming through the parkade. He was very careful not to miss any children sleeping in the backseat. When he ran short on candies, he slipped out during his break to the nearest drugstore to replenish his stock until he could get to a discount store and buy a larger supply. He purchased the candies with his own money, saying that it cost little to bring such happiness.
 
Mothers came out of their way to thank him for his kindness. It turned out that most of these children resisted coming for the appointments until their parents, mostly mothers, assured them, "That nice man with the candies is going to be there." Mothers who felt badly about exposing their children to invasive medical procedures were very grateful.
 
Ken has spirit at work. His deeper meaning and fulfillment comes from making a difference in the lives of his customers. Putting a smile on the face of the children. Hearing that drivers go out of their way to have contact with him. His eyes fill with tears as he relates the stories of mothers expressing their appreciation. Ken's deeper purpose is to make people happy, so it doesn't really matter where he works. What matters is how he works and how he thinks about his work.