Mutiny on the Bounty! How Vision Boosts Employee Engagement and Keeps Your Team from Revolting
Posted by Andrew MooreApr 11
I was sitting at lunch. I was having a bad week and was looking at my plastic plate piled high with chicken fingers and fries. I love chicken fingers. They are a great passion of mine. I sat across the table from one of the managers in my firm. I knew what lunch was going to be about- he was going to complain about the company, about his place in the organization and decisions that he did not understand.
I could feel his negative energy creep into my psyche.. I was beginning to pile on. I started to complain more and more. It was a feeding frenzy and we were both pissed off by the time I had finished my strips. It was now time to go back to work.
So there it is… negative begets negative… I guess we all know this. But I am curious about why we were both negative.. We were both PASSIONATE about our frustration. What happened that allowed us to get to this point?
The funny part is that we spent considerable negative energy because of our positive passion for our company. Both of us wanted our firm to be better. We were proud of what had been built and what we had contributed. What was missing??
Could it have been vision? I have come to the conclusion that many firms do not have a clear vision. Vision: A focus on overall goals and a road map we could all follow. Without a clearly communicated purpose, a company is the same as a boat listing in the waves.
A Pirate’s Life for Me!
Think about an 18th century pirate ship. Consider a ship that has a group of senior officers who have defined their goals. The ship sails the seas with a clear purpose. The Captain and his officers explain to their crew how each of them is critical in achieving specific goals for the journey. The men on board understand how they contribute to the cause and what their ultimate payoff is when they reach their goal. From the cook to the man in the crow’s nest, each person is playing a role. There is a vision and a purpose for each person.
Now consider the boat that is not clear in purpose. The captain tells his crew that they will sail… generally in “that direction”. The crew is expected to perform their jobs to keep the boat and team in line each day. From time to time, the boat may encounter a ship to plunder or an island to explore, but there is no focused direction. There is no plan to troll waters rich with the King’s ships. Just to sail and to do what the captain says as soon as he says it.
At some point, the crew will begin to mutter… they will begin to question their need to wash the decks or get up early to man the lookout. The crew will lose their passion to push ahead and at some point they will eat their chicken strips together venting frustration over the captain, officers and their decisions. Passion for success turns into negative frustration. Engagement is lost and a mutiny is at hand.
Mutiny! Vision is Core to Engagement
Line of Sight
It is crucial to provide line of sight for your team. Line of sight is simple- Does the employee understand how their work contributes to the company’s performance?
How does a company or team keep an employee engaged through line of sight? Here is the bottom line- your team and your company need to focus on overall goals. It is incredibly simple. Leadership includes setting goals.
Once a team has goals for the year or for the quarter, then each member should be presented a road-map of how their daily tasks contribute to those goals. I personally like having annual ‘Outlooks’ with employees. These are very different than the ‘review’ structure that many companies use.
Outlooks
An Outlook should be done at least once a year. It is written and should be very simple in structure. There should be a focus on the future rather than past accomplishments. Outlooks take into account company and team goals and align those with employee desires, strong suits and goals. Being able to focus on what makes each person great and providing a way to line that up with the team provides a strong path for everyone to succeed.
Once employees understand what the overall goals are and how they are being provided an opportunity to contribute to those achievements, engagement can begin. Without a clear and focused vision, company goals will be difficult to define and Outlooks may not be effective.
Do you have a vision that is clearly communicated? Is the vision of the company lined up with each employee’s greatest attributes and passions?
Andrew
You got it bang on when you said”Align the company goals with individual goals”
The mistake most often made is when management try to align the workforce with their goals.
The secret to engagement is to trust, and value the workforce, When that does not happen is when the frustration that you describe occurs.
If management truly value the workforce they will understand and share their vision. when that happens the workforce will choose to engage.
Peter A Hunter
http://www.breakingthemould.co.uk.
Andrew you have hit the nail on the head, however I believe that there is more to the argument on vision. I believe that many organizations exist with only one thing in mind, to appease or impress stockholders.
Herb Kelleher got it right when he said, “The business of business is people.” In every organization people are what makes the organization achieve success or failure. Vision is the long term ideal. However, the military uses the word mission completely different than any other organization. A mission should be the short term goal that leads to the success of the vision.
I have had employers tell me that no one really cares about all of that touchy feely stuff that makes up vision, mission, values. I obviously do not agree with those sentiments. Vision, mission and values are more important than competitive advantage any day. The reason? Because people are the ones moving toward something and people have emotions. Emotions are what we are essentially talking about. Either the engagement is there or it is not, but the emotional tie to doing a good job has to have a larger purpose than just doing a job.
This all ties back into the culture of the organization. How many people in organizations feel that they can’t bring a good idea to the table? How many people long to actually contribute to the overall good? The old days of just nine to five are long gone, people want to be a part of something they can believe in. When they lose that belief; disengagement becomes the status quo.
Andrew you have hit the nail on the head, however I believe that there is more to the argument on vision. I believe that many organizations exist with only one thing in mind, to appease or impress stockholders.
Herb Kelleher got it right when he said, “The business of business is people.” In every organization people are what makes the organization achieve success or failure. Vision is the long term ideal. However, the military uses the word mission completely different than any other organization. A mission should be the short term goal that leads to the success of the vision.
I have had employers tell me that no one really cares about all of that touchy feely stuff that makes up vision, mission, values. I obviously do not agree with those sentiments. Vision, mission and values are more important than competitive advantage any day. The reason? Because people are the ones moving toward something and people have emotions. Emotions are what we are essentially talking about. Either the engagement is there or it is not, but the emotional tie to doing a good job has to have a larger purpose than just doing a job.
This all ties back into the culture of the organization. How many people in organizations feel that they can’t bring a good idea to the table? How many people long to actually contribute to the overall good? The old days of just nine to five are long gone, people want to be a part of something they can believe in. When they lose that belief; disengagement becomes the status quo.