Engaged employees translate into a productive and successful organisation, which should be the goal of all leaders and organisations.
Yet despite all the best employee wellbeing, rewards and recognition programmes in place, employee disengagement can still happen and this can have huge implications on organisations.
Individuals and teams can become dysfunctional in that creativity and innovation is lost and they will do the bare minimum that is required of them. Their energy will be at an all time low and the organisation will suffer as a result.
A lot of pressure can be placed on the organisation and HR specialists as to what can be done to engage employees but very little is discussed on what employees can do to engage themselves. After all change comes from within and employees are equally responsible for finding ways to increase their own engagement levels (or mojo as some people call it).
You can have two equally competent and qualified employees where one is positive, motivated, upbeat and enthusiastic – while the other is negative, bitter, angry and cynical.
The difference is not what the company is or is not providing or what’s on the outside but rather what is happening on the inside.
While I respect and appreciate everything HR leaders and specialists do to implement all the programs and platforms possible for employees to benefit from, I believe we are missing the most important factor in employee engagement – the person who is doing the work. They need to take some accountability and responsibility for their own behaviour.
There are two common types of self-saboteurs we see in individuals, those that like to blame everything and everyone for what’s not working in their lives and those that like to play the victim, their life revolves around drama.
What people don’t realise is that:
- The word Blame ends in “me” – when we blame something or someone for what’s not working, we are avoiding taking accountability and responsibility for our own contribution to the situation.
- The word Victim ends in “i’m” – we are keeping ourselves stuck in victim mode no one else, and it is only ourselves that can take us out of this space.
Organisations can create a great foundations for employees to thrive in but employees also need to take ownership of their personal growth and destiny.
As a Relationship Expert and author of Embracing Conflict, I understand the dynamics when it comes to relationships and how quickly things can go wrong. You can read what some of my clients have said about working with me here.
I’d be happy to support you, your teams and your organisation and create better, collaborative environments for all.