Employee Engagement: Are You an Ostrich or a Giraffe?

Part III: Are You an Ostrich or Giraffe

After taking a bit of a hiatus - it is Summer after all - I'm getting back to continuing with my 5-part series on the Ostrich vs. Giraffe leadership. Today we're considering employee engagement and how you can be more like a Giraffe.The good, the bad and the undecided

When we refer to “employee engagement” we’re not talking about the upcoming nuptials of a key staff member.

The Conference Board, a nonprofit organization specializing in management and marketplace research, defines it as “employees’ emotional and intellectual attachments to their jobs.” The Gallup Management Journal says that “engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company.” Suffice to say that engaged employees:

• Approach their jobs with a high degree of commitment and motivation,
• Derive lots of energy from their jobs, and
• View their employers and managers positively.

As you might expect, a disengaged employee will display traits opposite of these. He or she may:

• Show a distinct lack of motivation, perhaps arriving late and leaving early (or at least counting down the minutes until quitting time),
• Appear listless while working and repeatedly fail to volunteer to help out others, and
• Spend inordinate amounts of time grumbling about job duties or management while offering no workable solutions.

Of course, many employees exist somewhere between these two extremes. Call them “unengaged.” They show up on time and do their work but rarely go beyond their normal job duties to show true passion or enthusiasm for the organization. These are the people who have quit the company (metaphorically) but are still collecting a paycheck (literally)!

4 ways to unleash your inner giraffe

So the question becomes: How can you push the unengaged into showing some passion? And how can you keep the disengaged from hurting your company?

For answers to these questions, let’s hit the savannas and look to our friends the ostrich and the giraffe. As noted previously, when an ostrich is confronted with a threat, it tends to freeze and lie still. Although I’d guess an ostrich is indeed motivated to escape harm, it nonetheless appears rather unmotivated lying there in the grass or dirt, looking like it’s waiting to be pounced upon.

Giraffes, on the other hand, has a markedly different reaction to challenges. And it’s in a giraffe’s behavior that you can find hints as to how to motivate your employees. Here are three ways to unleash giraffe style of leadership toward increasing engagement:

1. Lead the herd. Being birds and all, ostriches do group together in flocks, and these flocks do provide some nominal amount of protection. But, when danger arises, chaos often ensues and ostriches have few defenses beyond hitting the deck.

Giraffes, on the other hand, live their lives very much within a functional herd with clear leadership in place. Herd leaders, generally alpha males, guide followers to feeding spots and water and away from danger.

Likewise, you shouldn’t allow your company to devolve into chaos and passivity when challenges arrive. As giraffes do, you need to stick your neck out and be a leader. This means:

• Ascertaining which horizon you should head toward and clearly articulating your company’s goals and its strategy for achieving them,
• Ensuring your leaders are regularly interacting with employees about today’s business and economic environments and how the organization is responding to each, and
• Continuously sharing the long-term vision of the organization and reminding people what the organization stands for.

2. Communicate and inspire. When an ostrich is crouched on the ground in its defensive pose, there’s not a lot of communication going on. Giraffes aren’t the most vocal of creatures either, but they communicate through body language and, some believe, via infrasound (very low frequency sounds) to steer the herd away from danger quite effectively. In fact, other animals will often stick close to giraffes because, thanks to that well-known long neck, giraffes are often the first to know when a predator is near.

Do you communicate enough with your employees so that they aren’t caught off-guard by adverse challenges? Doing so is key to keeping staff motivated and engaged. Some suggested moves include:

• Building strong manager/employee relationships based on open, two-way communication,
• Asking managers to show sincere interest in staff members’ well-being (perhaps conducting regular “check-in” meetings), and
• Coaching management to relate to staff on a professional and personal level (while maintaining due appropriateness, of course).

3. Share the load. Another problem with ostriches’ “fend for yourself” mentality during times of danger is it allows for little teamwork. Conversely, when giraffes are feeding or visiting a waterhole, some members of the herd stand guard in various positions while the others are eating or drinking.

By letting your employees contribute in meaningful ways while the rest of the organization is going about its usual business, you can build enthusiasm and commitment. People thrive on challenging, meaningful work that gives them the freedom to use their know-how and experience. To allow your staff to “watch out” for you while you’re guiding the herd through today’s challenging business environment:

• Survey employees about their personal passions in the workplace as well as on practical issues such as how to better manage costs and improve workflow,
• Let staff members work independently on projects they’re passionate about, and
• Publicly recognize employees who make meaningful contributions outside the scope of their respective jobs (perhaps in a company newsletter or via a companywide e-mail).

4. Pass on the knowledge. Few things are quite as heartwarming as seeing animals passing along their innate knowledge to their young. Of course, ostriches do this, but they pass along those aforementioned passive skills. Giraffes, on the other hand, teach their calves to stand tall, stretch their necks and use their powerful legs for speed and protection. (Giraffes can quickly neutralize predators with one kick.)

Are you passing along such important knowledge to your employees? Now more than ever people need to see a future for themselves that is worth working toward. Ways to do this need not be overly complex. They can be as simple as:

• Developing position competencies so employees know what they have to master to move ahead,
• Giving people “stretch” assignments to hone new skills (similarly, giraffes’ long necks evolved from having to stretch to reach food sources),
• Posting internal job openings to further increase employee opportunities for professional growth, and
• Training managers to be more effective as coaches and mentors.

Investing in training and career path development keeps employees growing on the job and minimizes their need to seek employment elsewhere. And this is a real danger: 60% of employees surveyed in a study by World at Work intended to leave their jobs as soon as they were able while an additional 21% were strongly considering it and actively networking.

Naturally, staff members have many potential reasons as to why they’d like to move on. But, if you fear losing key players, promoting employee engagement is one way to increase the chances that your best and brightest will stick around.

Passivity is passé

Our economy’s slow recovery is making every aspect of doing business important. A disengaged or even unengaged workforce could hurt your ability to keep up with competitors. So be like a giraffe, not an ostrich: Stretch out, look around and move forward. Don’t choose passivity!