Engagement & Motivation

Forget career progression and job satisfaction. For a workforce battered by recession, the new reality is one of reduced expectations, increased anxiety and a desire for job security and stability above all else.

As we slowly begin to emerge from recession, a mass of disgruntled, unmotivated and disengaged workers will be trying to change jobs. But will this represent a threat to organizations or an opportunity?

Engagement and retention need to go back to the top of the agenda if organisations don't want to suffer a mass exodus of talent once confidence starts to return to the jobs' market.

A couple of weeks ago, Wayne Turmel spoke to Joyce Gioia, President of The Herman Group, for our last podcast of 2009, about the ways your organization can become an employer of choice in 21010 – and why, despite the recession, this matters. Knowing just how quickly most New Year's resolutions get forgotten, here's a reminder of her salient points.

Tammy Erickson is an author and expert on organizations and the changing workforce and, in particular, the generational differences between workers today. She spoke to Des Dearlove about the best ways to unite generations into a productive workforce.

It's often said that money doesn't bring happiness. But the truth could be more complicated, according to researchers at University of Toronto and Stanford University.

Since the recession began, many organizations have had to cut costs, lose staff and demand more from their remaining employees. But this can lead to negative energy and a loss of goodwill. So how do you keep your employees on board for the road to recovery?

How do organizations boost the performance of employees when times are so tough? Stuart Crainer hears from Sylvia Ann Hewlett that ignoring your best people leads to the evaporation of loyalty and trust as alienation and disengagement sets in.

Trust is an essential requirement of effective leaders. Without trust, leaders have no followers. And if they want to build trust, leaders need to understand that trust as driven more by aligned commitment and shared responsibility than by an assessment of individual capabilities.

The reason employees become disengaged is because management takes the lion's share of ownership. So if you want to build real employee engagement, relinquish your monopoly on leadership, change the way you view employees and push ownership down throughout the organization.

With new research highlighting a sharp decline in employee commitment - particularly among top performers - isn't it time organisations stopped cost-cutting and lay-offs and started to plan for the future?

The real toll of the recession is its impact on everyday people. Smart managers know that creating a climate of fear isn't going to help. Instead, they need to focus on the right things that together create a more motivating work environment for their employees.

How do you inspire confidence and innovation in an organization whose employees are worried sick about their jobs? The answer isn't that complicated – and it doesn't involve employee engagement surveys.

For all the talk about its importance, the vast majority of organisations simply don't take employee engagement seriously. And they never will until those who run these organisations acknowledge that every employee is a potential asset, not a liability.

Job cuts, endemic uncertainty, too much change too quickly – it's little wonder that so many people feel pretty alienated from their organisations at the moment. So here's some very sound advice from consultants Watson Wyatt about the steps you can take to reconnect employees.

Companies looking for a novel way to boost employee morale and engagement are turning to corporate vegetable gardens as the latest tool in the battle to win hearts and minds.

Employee engagement could be improved by cutting back on military-style management layers and improving workplace democracy, a Welsh academic claims.

Despite what bankers continue to claim, money buys neither happiness nor loyal employees. So throwing good money after bad isn't a long-term solution for employees suffering from occasional feelings of low job satisfaction. There are lots of tools in the box – tools like pamper power.

Getting your employees to focus at least once a day on an element of their job the previous day that went well could boost happiness across your company, according to a UK academic.

While many companies concentrate on physical employment contracts during a downturn, the psychological contract often gets overlooked. Dr Graham Dietz of Durham Business School warns against this and offers advice on ensuring your company's contract remains in good health.

Can you put a cost on bad manners? Does politeness pay? According to a US business school professor, the answer is an emphatic "yes" – in fact the cost of bad behaviour can run into millions.

Belief is a powerful thing. People who look at a challenge and say "I can't" have already determined their outcome without even an ounce of effort. That's why it is so important that managers engage team members by communicating belief in their abilities.

If an organization really wants to attract and retain the best and brightest, a good place to start is by painting a vision. I don't mean some tired mission statement, I mean something with depth, something so compelling that the average working professional wants to be part of it.

The UK government is urging organisations to redouble their efforts to get employees more engaged, recognise potential and so help drag the country out of recession.

One of the secrets to creating passionate, engaged employees and to motivate teams to top performance is actually very simple. Engage people's desire to contribute by showing them how their work is part of the bigger picture.

Far from creating resentment as jobs are cut and pay is slashed, the recession appears to creating greater workplace engagement as employees and managers pull together. At least that's what employers are saying.

If you base your judgment on what written across the web, most of the working world is miserable most of the time. So can you make yourself happy at your job?

Some employers act as if they shouldn't worry about impressing their employees unless it has to do with flaunting their wealth. But most know that when they make an effort to impress their staff, the result is increased commitment and productivity.

We all know from the literally hundreds of websites and blogs out there about the world of work that a large proportion of us hate our employers. But what is it we're so upset about?

There are signs that M&A activity may soon start to pick up again in Europe, which makes it even more worrying that eight out of 10 companies still fail to grasp the importance of managing the people side of mergers, acquisitions and integrations.

Anne is a newly-appointed department manager at a community college. With a demoralised skeleton staff and severe budget issues, she is already disheartened. Charles Helliwell has some advice to help her build morale and start to manage effectively.

Employers are still in a tight financial corner when it comes to offering pay rises or bonuses, meaning managers are having to think more creatively about how they keep their employees engaged and happy.

It is the most innovative and creative workers who will get us out of the recession. But they're also the ones most likely to jump at the chance of redundancy or a challenge elsewhere.

Why are so many employees disenchanted and disillusioned by their jobs? The answer isn't rocket science. In fcat there are four main areas that cause friction between employees and their bosses.

Finisher is a term used in American football circles to describe a player who never lets up until that last whistle blows. Sports teams need finishers to successfully compete. Businesses need finishers, too. But how do you find and cultivate them?

It may feel sometimes like our jobs and careers are going to hell in a handcart, yet new British research has suggested most employees are still relatively satisfied and happy with their work.

With growing signs that a turnaround may not be that far off, managers need to begin moving out of survival mode and start positioning their businesses for recovery.

It can be tough keeping yourself sane while at work. You are stuck in a cubicle and, in general, the people around you don't want to be there any more than you do. Your boss is probably a pain in your behind and shows you no appreciation or support. So what do you so?

Managers in India and Brazil appear to be better at building employee engagement than those in the U.S and Europe - something that could give them a distinct advantage when the economy picks up.

In tough times, many organisations slip into treating people badly. But with half of workers considering down-shifting to a more fulfilling job, poor employers could find their offices rapidly emptying when things pick up.

Surely it is just common sense to keep your best talent if you want a company to survive an economic downturn? After all, your best performers are also the people who'll find it easiest to secure a job elsewhere.

Never mind about emotional intelligence, empathy or consensual leadership, what really drives workplaces is passion, ambition and even conflict.

Many companies proclaim that their employees are their greatest asset. Unfortunately, the phrase has become somewhat cliché, similar to saying employees are "empowered." These are valid statements only if companies put actions behind their claims.

Whatever our age, it seems Aretha Franklin was right. What most of us want from work is simply to be managed with a little respect.

In the current climate it's easy to ignore the career needs and motivations of your workers. But assuming your team will go the extra mile just because they feel lucky still to have a job is a big mistake.

It's a tough thing to ask when times are so tough, but it is now even more important that senior executives find time to provide encouragement, advice and support for their people.

According to management consultants, people tend to be demotivated and lethargic after surviving a layoff. Being a professional web site, I won't print what blurted out of my mouth upon reading that.

We're really a lot like dogs, if you think about it. Surprised? You shouldn't be, because as a whole raft of studies demonstrate, what most of us crave at work is recognition and praise for a job well done.

If you were able to ask your boss for just one thing this Christmas, what would it be?

Before cutting jobs, take a deep breath and consider whether this is really the answer to your woes, or whether it simply create even more problems down the line.

Most managers are a bundle of nerves who would prefer to be back in the ranks rather than leading their teams through the worst recession in a generation.

Is it possible to get staff more engaged and committed just by changing how they think about their work? A new Canadian study has suggested that it is.

With the news full of yet more job losses, it's not surprising that worries about job security are having a significant impact on productivity, engagement and the general working environment.

Here's a great, yet seemingly obvious, way to get more out of your people based on the simple premise that giving staff a real chance at advancement will also boost their morale and productivity.

Just when they thought things couldn't get any worse, many organizations are seeing employee morale plummet as long hours, anxiety and stress tends sends productivity levels through the floor.

Far from being happy just to have a job, a new survey have revealed that the economic crisis is making us even more critical of our bosses than we have ever been.

Robert moved from the UK to a management job in China a year ago. While things went well at first, one of his team has recently been openly challenging his working-style and being dismissive of his decisions. What should he do?

In the current climate, you might have thought that organisations would focus on containing costs and managing employees out of the door. In fact the opposite is the case.

Nearly half of American workers rate their immediate supervisor more highly than their boss, viewing their senior executives as uninspiring, demotivating and stuck in their ivory towers.

If you want to know what makes employees miserable, and by inference, how to build enthusiasm and energy, this interview is a must-read.