3 Ways to Create Engagement Within Your Organization

Part 3 of 3 in the Protecting Your Castle series.

Engagement is the last, but certainly not the least, of the three areas that are required to maintain a strong internal control structure—the others being building strong internal controls and training employees. An organization may have the best internal controls, but because the controls rely on individuals to be implemented, this creates an unavoidable weakness. Employees may intentionally bypass the controls or simply make a mistake. In last week’s blog related to training, I discussed how giving your employees a sense of purpose is critical to keeping them engaged. Engagement is the final step to enhancing your control environment.

Imagine you’re at the castle I have been discussing for the last several weeks. Close your eyes for a moment. When you open them, you realize that you have been sleeping and your boss is looking at you. You can’t recall how long you’ve been sleeping.

The boss asks, “What are you doing?”

As you get your feet and grab your weapon, you respond cautiously, “Resting?”

The boss looks into the dark night and says, “Do you understand your job?”

You answer slowly, “Yes. I am on the look-out and if anything is suspicious, then I am supposed to sound the alarm.”

“That is your task,” your boss responds before pausing and asking in a slightly different way, “Do you understand your purpose?”

You think for a minute, “No, I don’t know.”

“You should have learned about this during your training.” The boss takes a deep breath and prays for patience. “Earlier you described your task, which is what you are doing. Your purpose is why you are doing it. Do you know why you are on the look-out?”

You look toward the interior of the castle, and ask, “To protect our people?”

Employees often focus on their tasks rather than their purpose. Tasks can be boring or become boring over time, but purpose can be powerful. Purpose is the fuel for engagement. Here are three ways to keep your employees engaged:

1. Leaders must lead by example. They should follow the same rules as everyone else. If a leader circumvents processes or controls, employees may become disengaged because the controls become unimportant if the leaders don’t follow them.
2. Recognize employees by rewarding positive behavior. Organizations should identify employees who are engaged by giving them an extra day off, a free lunch, or a prime parking spot. Don’t forget a simple thank you or small gesture of kindness are other ways to recognize positive behavior. These rewards must be celebrated in public. One caution—if the wrong people are rewarded, then this program could encourage disengagement.
3. Encourage and support collaboration within your organization. This can be within small teams all the way up to the organization as a whole. Allow everyone to have a voice and listen for consistent themes; then implement solutions to enhance the culture. However, be careful with this one because ignoring problems raised or not following through with solutions may again lead to disengagement within the organization.

Be deliberate and sincere when implementing programs to enhance engagement. By not implementing properly, your organization may increase an employee’s disengagement, which could cripple the organization.

If you ever have an idea for a future blog or a question about a published blog, please contact me with your thoughts. I would love to hear from you.