Employee engagement

I was talking with a co worker today on the subject of employee engagement. We were discussing strategies for getting workers to feel more connected to their jobs and thus increasing employee satisfaction in the workplace. We discussed giving various employees responsibility for implementing new initiatives. This idea came from Trevor Gay an author from England and a good friend of mine. Trevor has written 4 books on leadership and management practices. One of his main tenets comes from his book Simplicity is the Key. Trevor makes the point to let the front line staff solve the problems because they know all the answers. As I think about this I realize that it has a lot of truth to it. When I read studies on job satisfaction and employee engagement I find that pay and work schedule are down the list of priorities on what makes employees happy. Near the top of the list is feeling valued and having the ability to feel as though one is making a difference. So, it makes perfect sense to give front line staff the opportunity to be in charge of new initiatives. As we begin to turn over these initiatives to the frontline staff the initial responses are favorable. I will have to keep a track of how they progress and what effect it has on productivity and morale.

Check out Trevor's Simplicity blog at http://simplicityitk.blogspot.com/ and check out the article that was recently published about his simplicity is the key theme in the New York Times and his his recent appearance on Fox Business Network TV