In my last blog, I discussed the idea of workplace engagement and provided a definition.  I also suggested that discretionary effort – the difference between the minimum amount of care and effort required to avoid being terminated and the maximum amount of care and effort one can apply to one’s job – is always a choice.  In this post, I will introduce the “gear of engagement” metaphor and ask you to think about what gear your team or organization is in.

Every company has a culture, for better or worse.  A culture is comprised of the collective beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, values, habits, assumptions, and language shared by its workers.  It could be said that an organization’s culture is its personality, the thing that makes it unique and distinguishes it from other organizations.  The same holds true for teams.  In fact, although the organizational environment certainly influences engagement, the way a person perceives his/her every day work, team, and team leader has an even greater impact.

Culture and engagement are interrelated in important ways: a healthy culture will elevate engagement and a toxic culture will stifle it.  Moreover, engagement and performance are directly related: when people are engaged at work, their performance increases across several key dimensions.  In short, your culture’s “gear of engagement” has a high impact on performance and results.  Leaders have an opportunity to shift the gears in a positive direction.

We’ve identified five cultures and their respective “gears of engagement.”  While this list isn’t exhaustive, it does reflect the most common cultures we’ve come across:

• 5th gear (smooth shifting) – flexible, adaptable, creative, collaborative, accountable

• Grinding gears – relentless change, stress, work overload, shifting priorities, “firefighting”

• First gear – bureaucracy, slow approvals, politics, silo mentality

• Stuck in neutral – no movement, stagnation, status quo reigns, “Not my job” syndrome

• Reverse – going backwards, conflict, blame game, hostility and resentment

Which “gear of engagement” do you find yourself and your team in most often?  Of course, not every day can be a “5th gear day,” but if ever shifting into 5th gear seems like a pleasant fantasy, it’s time to reflect on why that is.  Is constant stress degrading the energy and enthusiasm of your people?  Is the snail-like pace of approvals depleting employees’ willingness to suggest ideas for improvement?  Is sniping and sneering par for the course on your team? 

Here’s the good news: team leaders have more control over the engagement and performance of their team than even senior executives.  The first key to elevating engagement is being aware of the mindset within your team’s culture.  The second key is taking action to improve.  Are you ready and willing to take that step?