Comment by Ray Towle on January 30, 2008 at 8:43am

Nichole,

A great post and certainly food for thought . . . IF and organization wanted to make a commitment to do this, I'd suggest that for every executive, manager, and supervisor, these items would be an essential within every performance appraisal.

Way to Improve Employer Engagement with Employees:
1) Make understanding their employees, a true condition of employment. (More than just "ya really oughta wanna.")
2) Ensure that their employees have the belief and the perception that their work is truly challenging.
3) Ensure that all employees have whatever they need to do their jobs well, office space, hardware, software, training, and developmental opportunities for their career goals. (Their perspective, not management's.)
4) Ensure that all their employees have the understanding and belief in their company, vision, values, goals, and objectives. (It's more much than just telling them.)
5) Ensure that their employees understand and believe, in the the employees can expect of their superior. (e.g., "This is what you can expect of me as your boss.")
6) Provide two different types of feedback both Immediate and then, later on, a more thorough review and evaluation. (Immediate positive feedback is not common).
7) Find and use innovative ways to recognize and then employees in a ways that have meaning to them. (Never underestimate hoopla)
8) Create and maintain a work environment that fosters real trust and true collaboration.

And if bosses really did these things well, recruiting would become very difficult, because we tend to feed on employee discontent.

So, for me, the question becomes . . . how likely is this to happen? HMMMmmm . . . .

All the Best!

Ray "VirtualSourcer@comcast.net" Towle
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