President John F. Kennedy was paying his first visit to NASA’s headquarters. During his tour, he noticed a caretaker mopping the floor in one of the main corridors. The President stopped, shook his hand, and asked what he did at NASA. The caretaker proudly addressed the young President by saying, “Sir, I’m helping to put a man on the moon.”
This story sums up what employee engagement is all about. The caretaker understood what NASA was aspiring to achieve and why this was so important to the American people. Like everyone else involved in that project, he felt that his contribution, regardless of how large or visible, had a direct connection with the moment Neil Armstrong took that first step on the moon.
Whether you’re a manager in NASA or any other company, your role is to help your team members see the bigger picture (your organisation’s vision), how the organisation plans to achieve this (the strategy) and how they can contribute to it.
When you’ve communicated this to your team, invite them to share their thoughts and have a discussion by asking questions like the below:
- Is the organisation on track to realising its vision?
- What are they main challenges?
- What benefits will our customers/employees/investors see?
- How do our roles contribute to the vision and objectives?
- If we are great at what we do, what difference does this make?
These conversations shouldn’t have definite answers – they should encourage debate and different perspectives.
Continue talking about the vision with your team by sharing progress updates, individual/team performance targets being met, awards and local recognition to reinforce the connection between the organisation’s vision, strategy and values, and what is happening in your day-to-day environment.
Engagement Vs Alignment
Engaged employees, who are committed to going the extra mile, will only be fully effective if their actions are aligned with your organisation’s goals and strategy. Think about your team’s alignment and engagement by using the below model:
Low Engagement with the organisation High
Ideally, every employee should be a Champion of their organisation. They should know the business strategy and exactly how they contribute to delivering results in line with the organisation’s aspirations. Consider your own team and where individuals would sit on this axis. Could you help them better understand?
Helping your employees connect with your organisation’s purpose and values
It’s likely that your organisation will have already communicated its vision, strategy and corporate values via your website, intranet and internal communications channels. Whatever language your organisation uses, the strategy should provide you with a clear direction of where your organisation is going and how it intends to get there, including plans to adapt, grow or change in the future.