Effective leaders do a good job of engaging the people they lead. In my book, 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations, I argue that committed, engaged employees are a critical success component. Leaders are in the best position to build a committed and engaged workforce.
Rich Illingworth is a friend, client and leader who I admire. Mr. Illingworth is the Vice President Human Resources for the Global Manufacturing Division of Pfizer Inc. Recently, he published a letter to the leaders of the thousands of people in his organization on the importance of engagement...
In his message to leaders, Mr. Illingworth identified seven drivers of engagement:
· Diversity and Inclusion
· Teamwork
· Organizational Effectiveness
· Communications
· Leadership
· Development Culture
· Recognition
He defined each of these seven leadership responsibilities as follows:
Diversity and Inclusion: “Diversity means the many unique and varied characteristics, perspectives and life experiences that define each of us as individuals. A diverse workforce allows us to benefit from the different backgrounds and perspectives of our colleagues; and fosters more creative thinking throughout our organization. By creating an inclusive environment, leaders enable our colleagues to feel valued, involved, supported and respected. Our inclusive environment helps us leverage our diversity.”
Teamwork: “Teamwork requires that leaders involve our colleagues at all levels. Our colleagues must be mutually accountable for our success. Teamwork does not imply that we use teams to solve every problem. We use teams where it is appropriate, and we develop strong leaders to guide these teams.”
Organizational Effectiveness: “Organizational effectiveness covers such things as structure, governance, alignment across the business, and business process improvement. All of these build an organization that empowers and involves colleagues at all levels. We need to adapt out processes and organization structure to capitalize on our increasingly global environment and to find ways to unburden our organization from non value added work.”
Communications: Communication must be honest, open timely and driven by leadership. Leaders have the responsibility to be readily available to colleagues. While written and electronic communications have their place, we place a premium on face to face interactions.”
Leadership: “We maintain our leadership position by remaining focused on our vision. We make decisions with speed and clarity, aligned with our values and leader behaviors. Everyday actions show our commitment to our vision and values. “
Development Culture: “A development culture means that leaders provide colleagues with the opportunities to learn, grow and develop. It includes, honest feedback on a regular basis. Performance management, development plans, coaching and feedback are the basis of our development culture.”
Recognition: Recognition needs to be a stronger part of our culture. Leaders should recognize colleagues for their contributions, using both financial and non financial methods. It’s important that leaders link recognition to performance.
There you have it – seven keys to creating a committed and engaged workforce from a company that does it better than most. Try these ideas with the people you’ll lead, and you’ll build a committed and engaged workforce.
That’s it for today. Please log on to my other blog www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming a leader and the star you are meant to be.
I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Bud
PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open. Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.
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