I'm not a big TV watcher but for as long as I can remember I have loved The Office. Our friends at the paper company in Scranton, PA said their final goodbye last week. The final curtain set among the swan song with a chorus that said: Life happens at work.
My occupation takes me to a different professional landscape each day. I always have a new audience with new business issues that create performance initiatives. We take extreme measures to find unique solutions to complex problems. In truth, we're just a bunch of people with the intent to make things better. So why would PBS choose to do a 10 year documentary on a small company in Humbletown, USA? Why not?
We spend most of our waking hours at work so lets revisit the final words of the great Jim Halpert who shared his love for his beautiful, boring job. In reflection, our hero realized that everything he had he owed to the job he felt he had no engagement toward. When we put aside the self-fulfilling prophecy that work sucks, we may come to realize that we cannot live without it.
My quest to discover the essence of Employee Engagement can be characterized by process analysis. Survey the surface area, find the faults and seek to connect where there may be a divide. What if engaging our workforce is not nearly as complex as we make it out to be?
Do you agree with the following statements?
I Feel An Obligation To Work As Hard As I Can For My Company!
The line of engagement is drawn upon the difference between willingness and duty. Are you pursuing each day's task list with the intent to evolve yourself and your company or are you doing what you must to stay employed? Are you empowered to take chances? Is there joy in the completion of your agenda items? Do you feel that your personal life is evolved through the work that you do?
You should not have to question your motivation. You should be driven by that which means something to you. Is that so hard to embrace?
My Manager Understands Me
Free will is a beautiful thing. Wouldn't it be nice if every manager/peer relationship was guided by free will. Wouldn't it be nice if your boss understood that you could walk out the door if respect faded (wouldn't it be nice if you could). Often, the problem is not finding a new job but starting over. So, you endure the boss you do not respect for the sake of getting through another day. Very few of us have the wherewithal to sustain the pseudo-motivation forever.....and things usually end badly. Not because we dislike the company but because we are on a different page than the person we see most.
Trust drives relationships. We want to be able to say what is on our mind and to voice our opinion without fear of repercussion. Fat chance!
Biting your bottom lip from time to time will keep you in good standing. If you feel you are holding back more than you are sharing, your boss may be dangerously incompetent.
I Have A Greater Chance To Succeed Here Than I Do Anywhere Else
No job is perfect, it's work and we accept the good with the bad...!
Do you have the tools to succeed? Are your co-workers invested in your success? Are you kept awake at night by the excitement of the challenges of tomorrow....or are you awake with discontent of the choices you have made that got you here?
With all this in mind, there is one way to solve any Engagement Crisis. Take action!
The one strategy certain to ensure success is a personal desire to overcome any and all hurdles. There are times when your company, co-workers, or even your boss cannot help. It is at this point that you have to choose to succeed. The driving factors to your willingness to make this personal commitment are listed above.
Today Dunder Mifflin operates like any other company. Client calls are made, orders are processed, product is delivered and employees are paid. And in-between employees do ridiculous things and make friends for life.
When the camera turns away from your office how will your character be remembered?
Don't Forget to Remember!
Dave
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