Employee engagement is a concept that has come up frequently in our class discussion of what makes a successful tech startup, and it has been a central part of my group’s research for our project. This article from Forbes magazine argues that the issue of employee engagement needs to be rethought. Engagement within startups and other companies needs to go beyond annual surveys and should take a more integrated approach.
Bersin's article brings up these key points:
1. Think holistically: with the influx of younger workers and the proliferation of technology at work, the whole environment has to become more flexible and transparent. The traditional idea that "engagement is driven by a manager" is out of date, peers and other elements of an organization have a greater impact on commitment
2. The word "engagement" is limiting: it assumes that our job is to reach out and engage people, rather than build an organization that is fulfilling, meaningful, and fun. Re-designing jobs, changing the work environment, adding benefits, developing managers, investing in people, and being mission-driven are all things that go beyond the limit of the word "engagement".
3. People are the product: employees develop, deliver, and support what customers experience everyday.
Marwick’s reading Leaders and Followers that was covered in this course, can be applied to this article because it talks about the priorities of the technology scene and the hierarchies that are found within it. He recognizes the the highest position on the status hierarchy is reserved for entrepreneurs, and that employees often add more value to the world as an employee than they would as a founder of a company that isn't going anywhere. This idea applies to the article from Forbes, especially when looking at the third key point. Employees are the heart of any startup, and play an essential role in not only financially, but for the culture of the company as well.
Have you guys worked in an environment where this type of engagement approach is applied? If not, how was employee engagement enforced?
For the last 4 summers I have worked for a very casual catering company. My boss prides himself on the time his employees spend outside the workplace as a team. We have arranged dinners and events in order to understand and talk to one another about out desires and interests in a non work environment. This allowed us to not only work together better but also maintain relationships post work. However, working in the hospitality industry we definitely follow the people are the product point. Employees are required to be the experience customers receive.
ReplyDelete