Employee Engagement and Leadership: 5 Interventions that Enhance Engagement

Join CX league

Receive weekly curated CX content by joining my newsletter with 1000+ readers from companies like Randstad, Forrester, Egon Zehnder, T-Mobile, Salesforce and more.

Wouldn’t it be great to get some hands-on ideas on how to improve the engagement of your employees?

That’s exactly the goal of this blog, based on the book Alive at Work by Dan Cable.

It’s a must read (as far as I’m concerned), even if you only 1% interested in moving toward engaged employees and a more human-centric organization.

At the end of the blog, as a bonus, I share some powerpoint sheets that you can use in your own storyline, including measurable results of the interventions.

So you have all the ammunition you need to convince your fellow managers and board members.

Why Scientific Management No Longer Suffices

Let me take you on a little journey.

On a drizzling Monday morning in 1911, a 55-year-old engineer jumps out of his bed and yells: “Eureka!”. He just solved the complex puzzle that all organizations are struggling with:

How can I create excellent performance while my organization is growing so rapidly?

He knows that people are in essence very lazy and only motivated by money. So how can we get them to perform adequately?

By splitting all activities into small tasks, adding performance indicators, throwing in some serious control mechanisms and rewarding them based on that performance. “Trust no one, obedience to the max, Hallelujah!”

On a drizzling Monday morning in 2019, we find that most organizations are still using these basics of scientific management to run their organizations.

Which organization is not using KPIs for steering?

It was a pretty damn good idea to last > 100 years! Or was it?

The seeking system is the key

The context of organizations has changed dramatically over the last 100 years. The speed of innovation and technological change is huge.

In such a context, organizations need: creativity, proactiveness, learning, experimenting, gaming, agility, innovation, collaboration, decision making, meaning and purpose.

What was scientific management in essence trying to prevent? Exactly. The list mentioned above.

It was meant to deactivate our seeking system, which is the part of our brain that creates a natural impulse to explore, learn and extract meaning.

It even releases dopamine when we follow its urges and get the chance to maximize it, creating a natural high. It’s how we as human beings are designed.

Because of the industrial revolution and scientific management, we have done the opposite, by creating organizations that are designed to suppress our seeking system.

They are designed to create fear by maximizing control. And “fear is the kryptonite of the seeking system”.

Learned helplessness makes it hard to act

In 2019, we are all empowered, we are all strong and capable of making our own choices.

So why are so many people in organizations simply accepting what’s happening? Why don’t they just leave?

It’s also biological. When we start, we are all energized and motivated to make changes in our new role.

But after we have been told several times that there is no budget, that we should focus on our KPIs, we feel helpless. This has 3 serious consequences:

  1. It changes our emotional state (we grow resigned)
  2. It lowers our motivation (we stop trying)
  3. It changes our mindset (we think it’s the same in other organizations)

In other words, once you’re in a situation where your seeking system is deactivated, it’s pretty hard to step out of it.

The good news though, is that it’s really easy for you as the leaders of the organization, to reactivate the seeking systems in your own organization!

Yes, even in production environments (as Cable proves in his book), so don’t let anyone tell you this only works for the Apples and Googles of this world.

Re-activate the seeking system of your employees

The book is full of easy-to-implement examples that have shown great results in enhanced employee satisfaction, reduced churn of employees and increased customer satisfaction and sales.

I read the book at the start of 2019 and thought this is my new bible (and that’s when I wrote the first version of this blog).

But of course, I wanted first to experience if it actually works. And oh how it does!

During 2020 I’ve been using the exercise in workshops across many different countries.

Every time the same energy and vibes were released in the group, with stars in their eyes.

Goosebumps guaranteed, especially with the best-self exercise.

Below you find 4 examples of interventions you can implement in your own organisation.

1. Onboarding

During the onboarding, start with the introduction as follows (best self-exercise).

Ask the question “When did you feel that we’re acting like you were born to act?”, either in a work or personal situation.

Take 5 minutes to think of the example and then share the stories one by one.

Result of the intervention: 11% increase in customer satisfaction and 32% reduction in churn of employees.

Rethink the goal of your onboarding. Don’t make it about sending a lot of information.

Be bold.

Focus on complete engagement: use this best self-exercise, have customer share their story what your company means to them, invite colleagues and  leaders not to share the strategy of the company but to share why they are proud to work for your organisation, etc.

Then find another way for me to learn about the organization after the onboarding.

Using smart new technologies with very short but impactful ‘learning snacks’ to teach me during the work itself.

When I’m fully engaged, I learn a lot more and really internalize it, instead of just listening to the huge amount of information I receive during most onboarding sessions.

2. Relational best-self onboarding

This was an experiment where I don’t share my own best-self story, but my family or previous colleagues have been asked to share what they feel is my best self. These results were even better.

Result of the intervention: +200% in creative problem-solving.

3. Servant leadership

I think we all know this movement, although sometimes it can feel as a complex, 10 year culture program to get there.

Also with this topic, you can start small but with huge impact.

In essence, one question asked by you as a leader can make the difference.

If your goal is to create excellent customer experience, the one question you need to ask your employees every day, every week, every month consistently, is:

“How can I help you create even more excellent customer experiences?”.

And then act on their needs and facilitate where necessary.

Even in organizations where you start from a difficult situation of distrust, apathy and task-based steering, this works. What you’re doing with this question,  is activating their seeking system.

Of course this can take longer, depending on where your organization is coming from.

You have to be consistent, be sincere about it.

A feeling of trust is then created, they feel that you are really looking to support them to make the difference. And you’re off.

Result of the intervention: +54% customer satisfaction, -29% customer complaints, from worst to best in the industry concerning churn of employees.

4. Show the impact of their work

There are also several examples to show people the effect of their work. Let them visit the customer who is using the product they have helped to build.

Let them solve a problem the customer is facing. You can also integrate this in the onboarding.

Result of the intervention: + 171% in fundraising after a short 5-minute interview to hear what the fund meant to the student receiving it (no tears, just sharing how it helped him).

Find the true drivers of employee engagement

All these interventions can be implemented starting tomorrow.

Go an experiment to really feel the impact is has on your colleagues.

I’m already a fan and on a weekly basis see the amazing effect they have during the workshops where I use them.

In line with my recent blog on employee experience, when you have found the real, latent drivers of your employees, you can make even more smart choices which interventions are the most useful for your employees in the specific context of your own organisation.

Enjoy experimenting!

Join CX league

Receive weekly curated CX content by joining my newsletter with 1000+ readers from companies like Randstad, Forrester, Egon Zehnder, T-Mobile, Salesforce and more.

More To Explore

Customer Experience Management

Human Centric CEO Podcast: Interview with Emre Gurkan (Zain Iraq)

When I first met Emre, I was immediately struck by his energy and his ability to connect the technical with the deeply human. Here was someone who had walked an extraordinary path—from programming in C++ to singing opera, from consulting with global giants to leading cultural transformation in Iraq. As I listened to his story,

Customer Experience Management

Human Centric CEO Podcast: Interview with Naiara Cantabrana (Randstad)

As I sat down with Naiara for this podcast, one thought kept resonating in my mind: Why do some organizations thrive not just financially, but also as places where people genuinely want to be? The answer, I believe, lies in the magic of human-centricity—a concept that touches everything from leadership behaviors to company culture and