For practical tools and exercises that help to inspire higher engagement, please see:

http://www.engagingideas.co.uk

Best,

Rob.

I appreciate the time and effort you put into your comment. I can’t disagree with anything you have to say. Knowing your rights is fundamental, but so is knowing your responsibilities. And one of MY responsibilities is to know my rights and the rights of my constituents.

I am keen to make sure my rights are not violated, but I am even more keen to making sure I am bringing MORE than what my employer ever expected from me to work. I do that for me, its just the right thing to do.

Thanks!

Bret

Susan: Your points are excellent. We are entirely on the same page. Create the environment you want and need to excell – love that!

Stuart: You make a great point about how this is a cultural thing that should be communicated BEFORE folks are hired. That way people could select themselves into or out of this self responsible environment. So true that employers track but employees really don’t care because they don’t have to.

Lance, Susan, Stuart – thanks for taking the time and effort to share your thoughts. I appreciate it very much. Thanks! Bret

I agree with your comment response;

“Yet I have a strong message for followers: even if your leadership is not providing you conditions that facilitate engagement, that does NOT relieve YOU of the responsibility to engage at work and to engage with your leadership to make conditions better.”

However, as an employment mediator I have found the one critical element in a truly successful employment experience for leaders and followers is the near non-existent mindset for basic employee rights awareness, education and training.

I educate and coach many college grads, career seekers and employee on the importance of learning basic employee rights BEFORE seeking and ACCEPTING a position with an organization. Why? When one enters a workplace armed with the knowledge of what the workplace should offer and expect in return for the followers “responsibility to engage…”

the issues that develop into potentially negative conflict are greatly diminished, at least from the employees side. As you point out, “even if your leadership is not providing you conditions that facilitate engagement,” all to often incompetent management structures routinely violate employee workplace rights.

This is often due to the fact employers don’t invest time or resources in education and training their “leaders” concerning basic employee rights. Thus, an environment of negative conflict, distrust and low morale takes the place of “partnership, performance, and caring”.

I have found that many organizations do not focus on this (self engagement) from the beginning of a new hire experience. Employee engagement is something that employers track, but something that the employees are not mindful of. Employees need to understand how they fit into the culture and what is expected of them, and how that benefits them, their development and their future.

Giving is good but not at the expense of people not learning how to provide for themselves. Becoming a teacher and transitioning into a facilitator is better.