Tom Peters. January 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhilst one might argue about the words, it makes sense. Engagement pertains to how an individual connects to something, work, family, learning. In the world of school education globally, student engagement is very much the current focus. To have students that are engaged behaviorally, cognitively and emotionally in their learning is to have students very much invested in what they are learning and doing. The outcome expected is better results and better learning outcomes.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.74″ background_color=”#f7f7f4″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|”][et_pb_row make_fullwidth=”on” custom_width_px=”680px” use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|” make_equal=”on” column_padding_mobile=”on” background_color_2=”#efefe9″ parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/doors2.jpg” show_bottom_space=”off” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.18.1″ animation=”off”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ column_padding_mobile=”on” background_color=”#efefe9″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/doors3.jpg” show_bottom_space=”off” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.18.1″ animation=”off”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text disabled_on=”off|off|” _builder_version=”3.18.1″ text_font=”PT Serif||||” text_text_color=”#818178″ text_font_size=”24″ text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20%|10%||10%” custom_margin_tablet=”|10%||10%” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop”]<\/p>\n
Logically, if you don\u2019t feel connected to your work, then it is unlikely that you will put in your best effort. <\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.62″ text_font=”PT Sans|on|||” text_text_color=”#888888″ text_font_size=”12″ text_letter_spacing=”2px” text_line_height=”1.2em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”20px||20%|” custom_margin_tablet=”20px|||” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet”]DAVID IVERS
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|”][et_pb_row use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”1200px” use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”4″ custom_padding=”0||0px||false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”0px|||” column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” parallax_method_3=”off” parallax_method_4=”off” admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.4″ text_font=”PT Serif||||” text_text_color=”#363636″ text_font_size=”20″ text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” text_line_height=”1.4em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”60px||0px|” custom_margin_tablet=”40px||0px|” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet”]<\/p>\n
Given that engagement is to do with how you connect to whatever it is you do, the work of Tom Peters makes sense. Logically, if you don\u2019t feel connected to your work, then it is unlikely that you will put in your best effort. The outcome of that scenario is poor interaction with the people your organization seeks to serve. By way of example, if you work for a Government Department, say Public Works, in an administrative role, and you do not see how placing an order for a requisition for screws is serving your city or your state, if you cannot see that in a small but significant way, ordering those screws means that a new Government building can be finished that will provide extensive services to the people of that city or state, then the work becomes a mundane, routine job. You become disengaged from the real purpose of the work you do and indirectly this impacts the citizens you seek to serve. Tom Peters in his first blog for 2019, indicates that this is the antithesis of excellence and the way to improve it is \u2018Deep Employee Engagement\u2019.<\/p>\n
The question, of course, is how do you achieve \u2018Deep Employee Engagement\u2019 or \u2018Employee Engagement\u2019 of any kind? The starting point is key here. It is imperative that leaders within the organization, including the C-Suite, must start from the premise that they have hired the very best people for the positions they have, to achieve the outcomes for the organization. If leaders are not starting from this point, then trust and the organization\u2019s health is at issue. In their excellent work \u2018The Leadership Challenge (2012)\u2019, James Kouzes and Barry Posner give a clear indication as to where a good starting point ought to be. If an organization promotes a certain set of \u2018values\u2019, then ensuring a shared-values across the whole organization would seem important.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrganizations with a strong corporate culture based on a foundation of shared values outperform other firms by a huge margin. \u00a0Their revenue and rate of job creation grow faster, and their profit performance and stock price are significantly higher. Furthermore, studies of public sector organizations support the importance of shared values to organizational effectiveness. \u00a0Within successful agencies and departments, considerable agreement, as well as intense feeling, is found among employees and managers about the importance of their values and about how those values should best be implemented. <\/i><\/p>\n
In our own research, we\u2019ve found that shared values make a significant and positive difference in work attitudes and commitment. <\/i><\/p>\n
For instance, shared values <\/i><\/p>\n\n- Foster strong feelings of personal effectiveness<\/em><\/li>\n
- Promote high levels of company loyalty<\/em><\/li>\n
- Facilitate consensus about key organizational goals and stakeholders<\/em><\/li>\n
- Encourage ethical behavior<\/em><\/li>\n
- Promote strong norms about working hard and caring<\/em><\/li>\n
- Reduce levels of job stress and tension<\/em><\/li>\n
- Foster pride in the company<\/em><\/li>\n
- Facilitate understanding of job expectations<\/em><\/li>\n
- Foster teamwork and esprit de corps<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Periodically taking the organization\u2019s pulse to check for values clarity and consensus is well worthwhile. \u00a0It renews commitment. It engages the institution in discussing values (such as diversity, accessibility, sustainability, and so on) that are more relevant to a changing constituency.\u201d \u00a0(James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. (2012). The Leadership Challenge (5th Edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. p59-60). <\/i>Of course, how well structured a questionnaire or survey is and how much information they provide is an important consideration.<\/p>\n
If \u2018Employee Engagement\u2019 relates directly to the culture of an organization, it is worth considering a definition of culture. In Organizational Anthropology, \u201cCulture is the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization, that operate unconsciously and define in a basic \u2018taken for granted\u2019 fashion an organization’s view of its self and its environment.\u201d (Schein, E. (1992). Organizational Culture and Leadership, (Jossey-Bass Psychology Series). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. p6-7). If our organizational culture is a shared phenomenon, it makes sense that meaning is derived by determining the shared-values that sit behind the assumptions and even the \u2018Vision and Mission Statement\u2019 that drive the organization and its well-being.<\/p>\n
Starting with the creation of a \u2018Shared-Values Statement\u2019, requires either an initial staff meeting or the creation of a steering committee that leads and guides the process. A \u2018Shared-Values Statement\u2019 gives concrete detail to the what is often the more ethereal \u2018Vision and Mission Statement\u2019 of the organization. The \u2018Shared-Values Statement\u2019 is an agreed statement as to what are the key things that the staff collectively name as being not just important but valued as being essential to the fulfillment of the \u2018Vision and Mission Statement\u2019. For example, a school might have as its \u2018Vision and Mission Statement\u2019: \u2018Achieve Excellence in Education\u2019. In support of that, a \u2018Shared-Values Statement\u2019 might state that as a school we value: student-centered learning, positive learning environments, student voice, teaching skills to students. Such a statement might even be renamed as a \u2018Shared Learning Belief Statement\u2019.<\/p>\n
In developing a \u2018Shared-Values Statement\u2019, the steps recommended by this article are:<\/i><\/p>\n