People often ask me - 'What kind of engagement activites can we organize? We were thinking of having some friday afternoon activities like tug-of-war, singing comeptition etc. etc.' My standard answer to then is 'Are you talking of entertainment or engagement?'
Often people do not seem to understand me as they may taken great pains to design that event. They are so consumed in that process that many times they miss the big-picture. Engagement is a strategy and not an event. So as not to say that such events cannot fit in the engagement-map. But to treat them as engagement per-say is huge mistake. This is why engagement remains as merely some events or activities in a company. Momentary cosmetic interventions cannot define engagement. Engagement is a culture issue. Culture is the incubator of engagement. And if the engagement strategy has not been weaved on the foundation of strong and breathing organizational culture, such initiatives would soon loose steam.
One of my student who did her internship at Rambagh Palace Hotel at Jaipur (Taj Hotels) and spent good time in studying their engagement practices, gave me first-hand account of what she 'experienced'. Tata culture of ethics and care is so neatly inter-woven in the organization that a considerable degree of engagement happens at the time of induction itself. She told me that to every employee she spoke, even though some were very busy, not a single employee felt that he/she was in the wrong place. The hotel had a fabulous 90% engagement. Being an intern she never felt bullied by her senior colleagues. On the contrary everyone greeted her with the customary 'Khambagani' which means 'hello'. No wonder not too long back the hotel was rated as the best hotel in the world.
Engagement is a way of life; it is like the blood which transports the life-giving oxygen to every part of the organization keeping it live and thriving.
6 comments:
Thanks a lot sir for mentioning my experience in the blog, it would not have been possible to work on this topic without your support and views. I am glad that we had this discussion on employee engagement today and in my personal views in hospitality industry employee engagement is a key to success. As employees feel that they own the place and feel empowered ,they have role clarity and work towards organizational goals. its very important for every organisation and it is a cultural issue rightly quoted by you.
Thank you for the insight in mentioning the importance of building a culture for developing engaged employees.It will be great if you may share any 10 key steps in engaging employees!!!
Ritika,I think you did a fabulous job at Taj. Thanks to you for sharing your experiences. All the best.
Dev, Thanks for your comments. My recent book covers in detail, ways to create engagement. I hope you can catch hold of one.
Having said this I strongly believe that engagement is not a ten or twelve step affair. It is embedded deep in the system that guides everything that we do in the organization. Engagement is a way of life. Understanding the fundamentals that shall create this deep impregnation is critical.
Thank you for the prompt meaningful response. However getting a copy of your book is a dream for me now due to the scarcity :)But i am sure that i will grab a copy at any cost :)
hello sir,
i think companies misunderstood d term engagement with entertainment..and that is why in-spite of trying hard to retain the employees,they are losing them.
Post a Comment