I want to go where everybody knows my name ......

I have worked for different sized organisations, from the multinational/ transnational to the small/ start up and every time, I have had to readjust myself and my approach and expectations in each of these firms. But, having worked in these dofferemt sized organisations I can tell you that in terms of the oppurtunity to engage motivate and gaon committed employees, the small to medium sized business is placed in a strong position to build the kind of relationship that taps into the deep rooted need of all persons everywhere -  the need to be needed.

Not just wanted - needed.

I know a number of talented people that left large organizations without a qualm mostly to smaller sized orgs or to start their own businesses (both times with only a wing and a prayer)simply because they got bored with their roles as it felt like that role was too routine, undemanding and they ended up feeling undervalued,  underused - not needed!

If you are a small biz owner coming from working with large businesses, reading this, this is probably your story. And even though it might be argued that it is impossible to have jobs that are always interesting and demanding , it is nevertheless equally dangerous not to have a business environment that does not demand the best from people because it is an environment in itself that draws out that best performance. It is an environment that makes people feel wanted AND needed.

The size of a small business enables as well as discourages the growth of this. discourages because, building an enabling environment demands dedication from bottom all the way to the top, but it is the right environment to get this right, because its small size allows for implementation and monitoring in detail. the challenge with running your own business is that it is easy to get caught up with just trying to survive that one thinks that is all that matters. But paying attention to what your business environment and your values and behaviors are telling your employees is a survival strategy too. If you are telling them that there is a place for them in the present and future of the business, that they are wanted and needed; of your environment is telling them that, then there is a possibility that whether you are thre or not, that business will continue and isn't that what owners want - people to help?

Come to work, leave brain at home.

If you are a small business owner or a previous sole proprietor taking on your first set of employees -  this may sound like more rhetoric to add to your already over worked plate. but what employee engagement is really about - is making sure that when your employees come to work, thy don't leave their brains at home!

I read an interesting article in March about the UK PM giving his support to a task force taking a look at employee engagement in the UK. I literally did a double take - not just because the of topic the committee was looking at (with all the threats of strikes and unions up in arms, i would think the PM would be more interested in looking into "surviving the next 2 years!!"); but also because of the fact that the state of the psychological contract in the public service is in tatters and given the decisions of the present government, one would assume that how employees are feeling in terms of engagement and commitment was a non issue with them!

David MaCleod continues his work on employee engagement from 2009 (along with Nita Clarke), whose finding were that engaged employees (Defined in the report as An engaged employee is aware of the business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization) is a must have to succeed in the business world.

The best employment pitch I ever heard was from the HR Director at PWC - Nigeria office. When asked what PWC was in the business off he answered "we sell heads". Basically, we sell what knowledge and wisdom our people have stored in their heads. The problem is that we tend to hire people for specific jobs and tasks and that is, employee engagement practices are simple a bunch of things YOU do to get your employees to think more about what and HOW they do their job so as to help the business make its goals or targets or bottom lines. It could be you make and sell cup cakes and you have grown so much that you are able to hire someone exclusively to build the package boxes and pack the cakes. An engaged employee will do more than that......... they will let you know that the boxes look a  bit bland and might offer suggestions to improve their look; they may have been trained in calligraphy (yes, yes i know a looooong shot - no-one is trained in calligraphy these days :-)!) and offer to write your cards for you; they might choose to call your customers and ask how they found the cakes and come back and tell you what they found out. Basically - an engaged employee would go beyond their job description and actually do more than earn their pay - THEY WILL HELP YOU!. And if you really think about it, isn't that exactly why you hired them in the first place?

P.S
Have been down with a virus and that has taken some getting over! I have been tardy about this and I need to forge ahead. I made it a goal to publish 2 blogs per week (yup, I do have a bit to say) for starters. Lets see how that goes with me Performance Managing myself ;-)! I bet I will be a great boss of me!!!