Haiku to You

James Rogauskas has written a short book of Haikus profiling the disengagement of cubicle life.

Here are two haikus from the book.

I encourage you to read the book if you want to see a poetic portrayal of workplace disengagement.

Pried my thumbnail off

With the staple remover

Just to stay awake.

- and-

Today is payday —

For one brief, shining moment

It all seems worthwhile.

James has a website for the book but as of yet the possible level of disengagement is so high that there is nothing on it!

Get Engaged:

1. Read the book and reflect upon the poetry of disengagement. What would you do if you felt this disengaged?
2. Try your hand at writing a haiku of engagement.

We are all accountable for engagement

Beth Horowitz, chief executive officer of Amex Bank of Canada gets it.

Engagement is more than simple employee perks. Perks may contribute to employee satisfaction but they don’t necessary percolate into employees heating up the workplace with fully engaged performance.

Ms. Horowitz, according to Virginia Galt’s September 18 Globe and Mail article, is part of a trend of Chief Executive Officers taking a bigger role in engagement and talent management. In her case, CEO, stands for both Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engagement Officer. She has lead a corporate initiative aimed at creating a “culture of engagement” from the top down.

Ms. Horowitz believes some of the intangibles are the biggest producers of engagement — feeling valued and listened to  — that transforms good performance into great performance.

Get Engaged:

1. How are you accountable for engagement where you work?
2. Does engagement have the support and actions of all levels of the organization?
3. Are you being heard? Are you being valued?
4. Are you listening, are you valuing?
5. Are you working and living in a “culture of engagement?”

If it is to be it is up to me

Engagement can be a test of tenacity and gumption. I experienced numerous difficulties with this site. I was intent of fixing the errors but there were a few times I thought about just hitting the delete button and letting the project go.

This project’s focus on engagement is far too important for that but emotions such as frustation and anger can often cloud our efforts.

I would like to close with a very empowering 2 letter – 10 word quotation that keeps me engaged when I’d like to quit. I don’t know the source of this statement but if you do please leave a comment. Thank you.

If it is to be it is up to me.

Get engaged.

• What actions can you take to stay engaged when you feel frustrated?

Engagement Chronicle: Work as Divorce American Style

Here are some key points from today’s press release from VIP Innovations as reported in Yahoo News.

Shocking disengagement. According to Eva Jenkins, the increasing number of American workers who are divorced from their jobs and completely disengaged from their work is shocking. More than that, it’s costing businesses a fortune in lost productivity and revenue.

Bad managers/Poor training. The report puts the blame on human resource managers stating that disengaged workers aren’t born that way but are created by ineffective, badly trained managers.

22 million. This resonates with the Gallup Management Journal’s semi-annual Employee Engagement Index reports that 54% of employees are not engaged, and 17% are actively disengaged at work and only 29% are actively engaged. Disengagement can be seen in employee absence, illness, and a variety of other big and small problems that occur when people are unhappy at work. This translates to 22 million actively disengaged workers in the United States.

According to Jenkins,

This is an urgent problem and businesses that don’t address their own role in the problem are doomed. Companies don’t realize how important it is to give their managers the tools and training they need to do their jobs, too.

Get Engaged

• What do you believe are the sources of disengagement in your workplace?
• What role does blame play in disengagement?
• What are your responses to disengagement for yourself, the people you lead, and the organization?
• If you are a manager, what tools do you need to enhance engagment?

Welcome: Start Anywhere

Welcome

This site is devoted to the principles, practices, lessons, ideas, news, and tips involving engagement in the workplace and personal engagement. It will be the first site you will visit if you are interested in engagement. The site will help you assess engagement in the workplace, examine what organizations can do to build full work engagement, learn the role leaders play in enhancing engagement, and learn valuable lessons in becoming more fully engaged.

Today’s key point is from Patricia Madson’s book, Improv Wisdom. I love this short book packed full of wisdom and tips to transfer wisdom from improvisational theatre into everyday living. Patricia’s fourth maxim is: start anywhere.

To be honest, I was searching for the perfect way to begin this site. I thought about outlining Gallup’s contribution to engagement. I considered a lengthy discussion of how to define engagement. I thought of outlining the costs of disengagement. I thought perhaps I should begin with the metrics of engagement. Or I could start with a discussion of the differences and similarities between engagement and motivation. I became so reflective on how to start the site that I did not start it. Patricia begins her fourth maxim with this powerful quotation from the diary of Anne Frank:

How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment; we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway…And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!

Get Engaged

• How would you define engagement?

• How engaged are you?

• What can you start right now to strengthen engagement for yourself and others?

• What would you like to learn from this site?