Editorial
The employee engagement industrial complex isn’t doing much to improve employee engagement — we established that in our previous article. That means we as leaders need to take a different approach.
We can’t “engage” employees, but we can cultivate the circumstances in which employees develop the connection and commitment that comes from feeling valued, included, involved, enabled, empowered and appreciated. The solution isn’t a tech solution for sale; it’s us.
Now let’s get into exactly what we can do as leaders to succeed in creating more engaging workplaces.
If we want to move from the ineffective approach of doing engagement to our fellow humans in the workplace to doing it with them, we’ll first need to reassess the practices we’ve previously used to engage employees. Are our current approaches to employee engagement cultivating the right circumstances, or are they attempting to distract employees and ourselves from what’s wrong?
Perks Do Not ‘Engage’ Employees
Years ago, I toured a customer support center that had all the bells and whistles of a seemingly engaging workplace. There were go-karts, napping pods, a miniature golf course, even a climbing wall. A beautiful restaurant and an enormous slide made the open workspace inviting and exciting. To be honest, I was a little envious.
But this was a call center, and amidst all these distractions, employees were doing what call-center employees all over the world are doing as you read this. They were desperately trying to keep their heads above water while fielding a relentless barrage of phone calls, emails and chats from customers, all of whom needed something. Working frenetically, they managed multiple chat windows while talking to another customer on the phone, swiveling in their chairs to take in multiple screens, and frantically toggling from one application to another. Meanwhile, numbers scrolled over their heads to highlight key performance metrics, and alarms went off whenever call queues or wait times exceeded their thresholds.
When I had the chance to chat with the call center director, I asked how employees felt about the fun go-karts that zipped all over the office. He sheepishly admitted that several had crashed into the walls, causing no serious injuries, but considerable damage to the drywall.
When I asked about the exciting slide that dominated the open space, he confessed that a few employees had broken bones because the slide was installed at a dangerous angle.
Then I asked him about the ultimate lagging indicator of employee engagement: turnover.
At this question, his shoulders sank, his gaze dropped to the floor, and he practically whispered that almost half of his employees quit every single month. That’s right; attrition was nearly 50%. If you’re not familiar with call center turnover, that’s worse than average.
At first, I was surprised that things could be so bad in this wonderland of fun. Upon reflection, I realized that this level of turnover was the result of some common misconceptions about employee engagement, the same misconceptions that fuel the employee engagement industrial complex:
- That employee engagement is about fun and distraction
- That we can engage employees with perks
- That employee engagement is an employee problem
Connection and Commitment Are Not for Sale
But as we determined in the previous article, an engaged employee is so connected and committed to their work that they willingly and proactively go above and beyond their job description to help the organization attain its vision, fulfill its mission and achieve its goals, in return for the promise of greater satisfaction, fulfillment, self-actualization and flourishing.
We can’t buy connection and commitment with perks. Connection and commitment develop when we value, include, involve, enable, empower and appreciate our fellow humans.
6 Disciplines of Human-Centric Leadership
Engagement develops when we, as leaders, behave less like carpenters who believe we can design and build an engaging workplace, and more like gardeners who patiently and consistently practice a few key disciplines that improve the likelihood that the plants in the garden will flourish. These human-centric leadership disciplines are the equivalent of planting, fertilizing, pruning, feeding, watering and weeding. They aren’t steps to be completed, but disciplines to practice consistently, continually and repeatedly.
- Empathize: Develop a comprehensive understanding of what our fellow humans need to be successful and what’s getting in their way through intentional, structured and continuous listening.
- Encourage: Invite our fellow humans to participate in cultivating the kind of workplace we want and need, and encourage them to get involved.
- Educate: Cultivate a shared understanding of what’s important, why it’s important now, and how each of us contributes through open discussion and debate.
- Enable: Ensure that our fellow humans have the knowledge, skills, tools and resources they need to be successful.
- Empower: Remove roadblocks and obstacles to make it easier for employees to make their greatest contributions and become the best versions of themselves by examining our policies and processes.
- Embrace: Notice and celebrate deliberately the attitudes, mindsets, behaviors and outcomes we want and need.
Admittedly, practicing these six leadership disciplines consistently and patiently over time is much harder than buying a software platform, installing a slide, or any of the other tactics of the employee engagement industrial complex. But this is the work of leadership: helping our fellow humans become the best versions of themselves. In future articles, we’ll break down some of the tactics that bring the disciplines to life.
Simply put, practicing these six leadership disciplines makes employee engagement more likely. It also leads to organizations that are more human-centric — focused on addressing the needs, aspirations, fears and motivations of the humans they serve and the humans they employ. Human-centric organizations are crucial to a world that the employee engagement industrial complex hasn’t been able to achieve: a world of greater satisfaction, fulfillment, self-actualization and flourishing for all of us.
Conference
Sep
16
HR Tech Conference Las Vegas 2025
Register
Conference
Oct
27
Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo Orlando 2025
Register
Editor's Note: Read more about the kind of leadership needed today:
- The 4 E's: The Human Capabilities Creating Strategic Advantage — By cultivating the four E's and asking the right questions to measure them, you don't just keep pace with change — you turn it into competitive advantage.
- 'Hardcore' Work Culture Is a Shortcut to High Turnover — How do you balance employee experience with a focus on increased productivity? It isn't easy, but it's possible. Here's how.
- Work Design Is How Performance, Engagement and Well-Being Scale — When leaders organize work around how people actually collaborate, they'll drive performance and help workers finish their days with energy, not exhaustion.
Learn how you can join our contributor community.
