Managing for Employee Engagement : A Workshop Based on the Three Signs of a Miserable Job

by Lencioni, Patrick M.

• ISBN13: 9780470520741
• ISBN10: 0470520744
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Loose-leaf
• Copyright: 2011-04-19
• Publisher: Pfeiffer & Co

Summary

According to Patrick Lencioni, three underlying factors will make a job miserable, and they can apply to virtually all jobs regardless of the nature of the work being done. The three signs are at first glance obvious and seemingly easy to resolve. And yet they remain largely unaddressed in most organizations. Anonymity - People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known. All human beings need to be understood and appreciated by someone in a position of authority for their unique qualities. Irrelevance - Everyone needs to know that their job matters to someone. If there is no connection between a person's work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people, an employee simply will not find lasting fulfillment. Immeasurement - Employees need to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves. They cannot be fulfilled if their success depends on the opinions and whims of another person, now matter how benevolent that person may be. With all three of these factors, the one person who has the most influence and control over how they are implemented is the employee's manager. Managers must know their employees. Managers must understand how he or she makes a difference in their employees work life. Managers must initiate clear measurement tactics with their employees. This management development program is designed to help managers more effectively engage motivate, and retain employees by eliminating the three causes of job misery. The Employee Engagement Management Inventory (EEMI) was designed to help managers evaluate their susceptibility to the Three Signs by comparing their own self-ratings with those of their direct reports. The assessment has thirty-six statements, twelve for each of the Three Signs, which respondents rate on a 6-point Likert scale. The feedback report provides the manager's self-ratings and the direct reports' ratings overall for each of the thirty-six statements. By comparing their own ratings with their direct reports' ratings and comparing the direct reports' ratings to one another, the managers identify where they are strong--what they are doing well in terms of the Three Signs and what they need to improve.