There

Couldnt Be A Worse Time Diagnosing And Treating the Heart of Engagement with Self-Determination Theory

I think they know were in trouble, but for the life of me I dont get it; they just dont seem to give a damn. Lately weve been our own worst enemy. The plant managers consternation, confusion and frustration were evident in his voice and body language. We are facing major challenges in the next few years and if we cant Dind ways to innovate, out- work and out-smart our competitors, Im not sure this company will make it. It would be a shame. This company has been a provider of good paying jobs, has given back to the community, and has for years delivered better than average returns to its investors. He knew in his mind and heart that if he couldnt get his employees attention and get them motivated to vigorously support his companys plans to meet these challenges, not tomorrow but today, all could be lost. As we talked, the indicators were clear that the gap between management and employees had been growing for a few years. Now is not the time to be sparring with one another - we need to Dind a way to work together. Employee Engagement is a term that has emerged over the last ten to Difteen years in business world that attempts to capture what this plant manager and his employees were experiencing: engagement, or more speciDically disengagement. A number of globally recognized consulting companies have made a science and a business of studying its causes and assisting organizations in overcoming the crippling effect it has on employee performance. These companies, through the use of surveys and studies, have been able to directly link employee disengagement to bottom-line metrics such as employee turnover and retention, customer satisfaction, product and service quality, accidents and injuries, creativity and innovation, employee discretionary effort, and most importantly trust and loyalty. To this point, the Gallup Organization claims, Workplace measures like employee engagement might be even more important as predictors of an organizations economic health than EPS (Earnings per Share). The deDinition of engagement varies depending upon whom you are speaking with. To help organizations, The Conference Board, a global, independent business membership and research organization working in the public interest since 1916, developed a deDinition that blends the key elements into one concise statement: engagement is a heightened
1

There Couldnt Be A Worse Time emotional and intellectual connection that an employee has for his/her job, organization, manager or co-workers that, in turn, inDluences him/her to apply additional discretionary effort to his/her work. Most leaders are well aware of how disengagement is directly and indirectly linked to their bottom line. A prime example is the importance of retaining key personnel in labor markets in which highly skilled individuals are critical to business success and growth. But awareness does not always translate to a deeper understanding of the underlying factors that cause disengagement. Leaders must dig deeper in order to develop a comprehensive plan that addresses the root causes of disengagement within their organization. The Dirst step is to look at the core drivers of engagement. Most studies agree on the following as drivers of employee engagement:

Trust and integrity How well managers communicate and 'walk the talk.' Nature of the job Is it mentally stimulating day-to-day? Line of sight between employee performance and company performance Does the employee understand how his or her work contributes to the company's performance? Career growth opportunities Are there future opportunities for growth? Pride about the company How much self-esteem does the employee feel as a result of being associated with the company? Coworkers/team members attitudes SigniDicantly inDluence one's level of engagement. Employee development Is the company making an effort to develop the employee's skills? Relationship with one's manager Does the employee value his or her relationship with his or her manager?

An observation about these drivers, which leaders notice and usually ask about, is the absence of pay, beneDits, incentives, and rewards; they dont make the list of top drivers. Most organizations pay fair wages, therefore they do not appear in a list of the top drivers of engagement, and incentives and rewards, although useful in short-term motivation and engagement initiatives, do not drive engagement long-term, yet many organization focus on these factors falsely assuming they will drive and sustain performance and engagement. These drivers provide leaders with broad areas to explore and evaluate in making an assessment about employee engagement. In addition to these drivers, there are a number of warning signs signaling disengagement. Increased utilization of medical beneDits Increased use of sick days
2

There Couldnt Be A Worse Time Increase in disciplinary warnings and coaching Frequent turnover Increases in accidents and injuries Frequent customer complaints

The problem with these signs is that ... they are lagging! These signs conDirm that disengagement is taking a toll on the effectiveness and performance of your employees, customers and organization. Maybe even more diagnostic of disengagement are observable behavioral climate factors. Emotional climate vital signs are experienced by all employees in an organization and are usually disruptive and counterproductive to positive working relationships and the quality and effectiveness of work Dlow. The following is a list of emotional behavioral vital signs that create increased emotional disturbance, distance and mistrust in working relationships: Disrespect: is a clear signal of disengagement in an organization. It tends to infect relationships between employees and management, however it can also become an issue in employee/employee and manager/manager relationships. It is most often observed in the style of communication employees use to communicate with each other and management. It also presents itself behaviorally in how employees respect and treat their equipment, how they utilize resources and in their disregard of established practices and procedures. Blame: is another signal of disengagement. Typically discussions revolve around assigning blame and therefore there is a growing absence of personal or team accountability. Blame creates an environment that reduces creativity and a solution approach to solving issues. A climate of blame reduces teamwork and infuses the work atmosphere with stress emotions. Malaise: is a noticeable lack of energy, enthusiasm, involvement, and volunteerism. Employees act disinterested and look forward to when the day is over. Employees may exhibit a lack of resilience and optimism. Con=lict: arises frequently due to the lack of tolerance for differing opinions and views. Employees and management are quick to judge and become hardened in right-and-wrong and win-and-lose situations and conversations. Collaboration becomes nonexistent. These situations are further intensiDied by disrespect and blame. Excuses: agreements and commitments to perform seem to be empty words and not worth the time it took to discuss or document. Deadlines come and go with no results, only excuses as to why they werent kept. An air of hopelessness, mistrust and frustration pervades while progress and growth are thwarted.

There Couldnt Be A Worse Time Mistrust: runs as an undercurrent in interactions, which increasingly interferes with open communication, collaboration and performance. One indicator that trust is low is in the amount of emails that start Dilling inboxes. In particular, the list of people copied on emails increases exponentially. Another sign is when mistrust slows progress on projects because individuals, teams or departments hold back in their deliverables until they see evidence that the other participants in the project have taken the Dirst step. Action, execution, performance, and quality: suffer as result of these aforementioned factors. When disrespect, blame, conDlict, and mistrust infect employee/management, employee/employee, management/management and employee/customer relationships, discretionary energy, commitment, accountability, and loyalty to the organizations strategic goals and mission become secondary, reducing their overall effectiveness, which in turn increases tension and stress, deepening the cycle of disengagement. How organizations approach the problem of disengagement and the factors that reduce individual, team and organizational effectiveness is critical. A typical reaction is for management to get tough by tightening the existing hierarchy and instituting additional carrots and sticks, or rewards and punishments, to motivate and enforce desired behavior. The danger in this reactive strategy is that it may achieve a boost in performance, giving leaders the illusion of success, but in the long term these strategies do not address the root causes and will increase disengagement. In this case, organizations also run the risk of increasing their dependency on extrinsic motivational techniques and tools of incentives and rewards, further stiDling the chances of rekindling and inspiring the intrinsic motivation of their employees. These reactive and superDicial strategies employed in attacking disengagement are understandable because its human nature to be seduced by short-term successes. Additionally, the science of human motivation and engagement throughout most of the 20th century instructed and guided leaders down this path. Today, leading behavioral and organizational development specialists and scientists now view these theories and approaches as outdated, folklore, and discredited. However, business leaders, continue to embrace these approaches, demonstrating that they are creatures of habit and resistant to new learning and change even in the face of evidence. There is a path that can guide leaders and organizations to more rewarding and sustaining results. This path is being traveled by many of the worlds top-performing companies. The motivation and engagement science these companies are using to create their organizational culture is called Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which has been promoted in recent books by Edward Deci, Why We Do What We Do, and in Drive by Daniel Pink. SDT addresses the core drivers or needs that create engagement and that intrinsically motivate people.

There Couldnt Be A Worse Time Why does it work? First, we need to understand why the old models dont work. The Dlaw in these models of engagement and motivation, developed in the early 1900s, is that they are based on the science of operant conditioning made famous by B.F. Skinner, who used animals (rats, pigeons and dogs) to test their theories. They found that through rewards and punishment and by manipulating their physiological need for food they could train animals to perform tasks, which they then assumed were valid methods of motivation and engagement for all animals. A major theoretical leap was made in assuming that humans would, and should, respond the same way. Skinner was so sure that operant conditioning applied to people as well as to their pets that he once boasted, Give me a child and Ill shape him into anything. Although humans need food, shelter and money to survive, once those needs are basically satisDied, the needs that take precedence are called psychological needs. However, there is evidence to suggest that a monolithic hierarchy of needs does not exist and that psychological needs are always present and essential in motivating humans. An example of this is when parents qualify for food stamps to help in purchasing food for their family, but decline because they feel their self-esteem is diminished by accepting help. Henry Ford, one of many industrialists that institutionalized these now discredited approaches to human motivation and engagement, is one of many hardwired to practice these carrot and stick approaches. During his time, Ford was plagued by a massive turnover problem in his plants. So much so that he had to increase pay to retain employees -- but no amount of carrots and sticks could stem the problem. Ford is quoted as saying, Why is it every time I ask for a pair of hands, they come with a brain attached? What Henry Ford didnt understand, because the science wasnt available at the time, was that the part of the brain that was causing this problem was the emotional brain. People resented being treated as disposable parts of a machine, and although they needed money to buy food and other necessities for living they chose to leave. Fortunately for Ford, the inDlux of people from rural to urban localities kept a sufDicient supply of human resources to produce Model-Ts

A New and Effective Path If the old methods and science are not effective in creating and sustaining workforce engagement and intrinsic motivation, where can a leader turn to address this disease that is sapping their companys effectiveness? The answer lies in more than 40 years of research which has identiDied four core human psychological needs that drive intrinsic motivation and build and sustain workforce engagement. First and foremost is the need to experience the satisfaction of Dinding purpose and meaning in ones work and life. Too often work is viewed as a purely economical need,
5

There Couldnt Be A Worse Time however research shows that work has a direct effect on self-esteem and satisfaction with life. Theres a story that speaks to this core issue. President Lyndon Johnson was visiting the Kennedy Space Center and during his tour of the Center encountered a housekeeper. He stopped, shook the mans hand and asked what he did. The housekeeper responded, I help put men on the moon. Humans start out very early in life with an innate curiosity about their surroundings. It isnt long before children bombard their parents with persistent why questions seeking to understand adult behavior and the reasons behind their requests. You need to go to bed. Why? Throughout life, the need to know why persists; for some people it may seem more important than others, but it is always present in everyone.The need to know and to Dind meaning or reason in our work and life is in our DNA. I get saddened when interviewing employees and hear, I just do what Im told. The loss of potential and the sound of resignation is deafening, unfortunate and unnecessary. Its what I call Chronic Human Wasting Disease. Employees need to know why; they want to know what purpose does my labor serve and what difference does it make. When a leader can connect the work they do to a why -- e.g., I help send men to the moon. -- it sets the stage for rekindling intrinsic motivation and building engagement. It is critical for leaders to deDine the why inclusively; what are the mutual beneDits that will be derived from the combined effort and accomplishment of the work that is to be performed by both employees and management? This need is clearly identiDied as a core driver of engagement: the line of sight between employee performance and company performance, and the employees understanding of how his or her work contributes to the company's performance. The next three core psychological needs are: competence, relatedness and autonomy, and are the foundation of SDT. Competence is a need to believe that one is able to inDluence important outcomes. It also is related to one or more of the driving factors identiDied in engagement surveys, particularly career growth. This need is identiDied as a core driver of engagement: does the employee feel there are future opportunities for growth? Is the company making an effort to develop the employee's competence and skills? Relatedness is the experience of having a satisfying and supportive professional relationship with their manager and/or supervisor. It is also a factor in the working and social relationships between and among coworkers. This need is expressed in the drivers of engagement: relationship with ones manager -- does the employee value his or her

There Couldnt Be A Worse Time relationship with his or her manager? It is also directly connected to the driver that employees want leaders they can trust and that have integrity. Autonomy, the third need, is the experience of being able to act with a sense of choice, volition and self-determination. Autonomy drives employee engagement by creating ownership and investment in what employees do and how they do it. This investment by employees helps to generate pride, commitment and increased discretionary effort. These three needs along with the need for purpose (why) are the most powerful and proven approach leaders and organizations can employ to build and sustain an intrinsically motivated engaged and high performing workforce that is committed to achieving the goals of an organization. They are the key to helping the plant manager Dind the reasons why his employees, Just dont seem to give a damn. Three step treatment plan to building an intrinsically motivated and engaged workforce: Step One: True North Are you on YOUR path? Step Two: Follow the Leader Walk the talk Step Three: Ready for What and How

Training for Managers and Supervisors Step One: True North Are you on the YOUR path? A purpose statement -- also known as the Big Why -- Articulate your mission and vision of where you want to go and helps to give direction to your strategies. It requires a certain level of self-assessment and experimentation to know if it Dits. The Dit is important because it must be authentically you or it wont connect and resonate with your employees. Purpose statements may have similar content and sound like other statements, but to the leader it resonates in his or her mind and heart; it is his or her brand. This alignment provides the energy, passion and resilience to stay true to the path when confusion, doubt and adversity appear and test your commitment. For leaders and their employees, the Big Why purpose statement is essential. It deDines and publishes what is your intrinsic motivation for leadership and is an invitation to your human resources to join with you in a mutually productive endeavor. Find your why
7

There Couldnt Be A Worse Time Communicating your why story

Step Two: Follow the Leader Walk the talk Leaders are the catalysts for change. Employees model and react to their leaders, therefore it is imperative that managers, supervisors and leaders commit to modeling the behavior and changes they desire and expect from their employees. In this module, leaders learn and experience to walk the talk, of the Four Core Needs: Why (purpose), Competence, Relatedness, and Autonomy. Learn about the science behind SDT and experience it through experiential activities. Explore and apply SDT to the following core drivers of motivation and engagement: Trust and integrity Is a matter of leaders 'walking their talk.' Relationship with one's manager Does the employee value his or her relationship with his or her manager? Set clear expectations and milestones

Step Three: Ready, Set, Go -- The what and how The role of leaders in a SDT model is signiDicantly different from the traditional hierarchical carrot and stick models. It requires new thinking, feelings, skills, and tools to awaken, inspire and empower intrinsic motivation and engagement. Transition from boss to autonomous support leader Communicate with head and heart Learn to hold a conversation without it going to silence and violence Learn why the shortest distance between two points of view is not a straight line Resilience - Staying the course

Training Module for employees Check you attitude at the door: Learn how to recognize what emotions are motivating you and to assess if they will get you what you want. I dont like to be judged, so why am I judging? Optimism produces results pessimism is a wet blanket. Communicating your concerns: A. Start with why: I want to discuss this issue/concern because ... B. Be speci=ic about the what: The speciDic issue/concern I have is ...

There Couldnt Be A Worse Time C. Provide your solution: My thoughts/suggestions/recommendations on how to address this issue are ...

In summary, there is a signiDicant body of research that clearly demonstrates the link between employee engagement and the productivity, resilience and success of an organization. Leaders and organizations that choose to ignore or dismiss employee disengagement as inconsequential or as an inevitable reality of worker and management perspectives are at risk of underperformance and failure. Just as there is research that validates the impact of employee engagement and disengagement, there is also research on theories and methods of motivation and engagement that can create organizational cultures of engagement and where employees are intrinsically motivated. Companies that have embraced these models have experienced signiDicant growth and success along with high levels of employee and customer satisfaction. A model of engagement and motivation that offers the most effective and foundational approach to achieving and sustaining a culture of engagement is Self-Determination Theory. The reason SDT is effective is because it addresses core psychological human needs that when satisDied will nurture, encourage and strengthen employee intrinsic motivation -- the power of which is transformational. For more information on how you can apply the transformational power of Self- Determination in building employee intrinsic motivation and engagement contact: Tom Wojick The Renewal Group tom@renewalgroup .com 401-525-0309

The Renewal Group 2012