This is a written Transcription for the Leadership Hustle episode about The Leader's Guide to Employee Engagement, from Season 1 Episode 40.

Listen to the full episode below, or click here to listen on your podcast platform of choice.

Transcript:

Michelle Hill : In this episode of The Leadership Hustle, we'll give you some techniques on how to create an environment that's more engaging for not only you, but your employees. Hello and welcome to The Leadership Hustle. For executives whose companies are growing fast and need leaders who are ready. Hi there, and welcome back to the next episode of The Leadership Hustle. I'm Andrea Fredrickson, I'm Michelle Hill, and we're here to discuss employee engagement. Everybody's favorite topic. Yay! But really, this is a true story. I'm working with a group of people, senior people in an organization. There's 16 people going through this course and it's been half. We're halfway through the class, and this guy in there simply said to me, I did not realize how much more engaged my my people are now that I'm, like, talking to them and asking them questions. And you just shared a story that people say. I've had people.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Say, I didn't realize how disengaged I was with.

 

Michelle Hill : My leader.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Yeah. The leader. Yeah. I didn't realize how disengaged I was with my team. And I'm like, oh, okay.

 

Michelle Hill : Right. And so we, you know, I think we think leaders are always engaged.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Yes, we do, but they're not.

 

Michelle Hill : Right. Yeah. And then we we kind of talk about how an unengaged, unengaged, um, those that we lead tend to be like, well, let's, let's do some things that help promote more engagement. And trust me, before you turn off this podcast, this is not about throwing axes and, you know, Topgolf games and pizza parties and stuff like that. This is more about, you know, how do you genuinely create an environment that is engaging for the people who work on your teams and your companies? Yes. So you know, what's like an overall theme like in your head, Michel. I'm bringing. We're bringing up this subject. Where should we start?

 

Andrea Frederickson: Well, I think just like an overall theme, when we talk about engagement, if we want to create an environment where people feel engaged, they need to feel valued. They need to feel, um, as if they have a voice and that you're listening. So not just that they have a voice, but you're listening to them and they need to feel like you freaking care, right? So give a shit.

 

Michelle Hill : And that's and that's the case. I mean, I was just talking to a guy, um, last week, I said, you don't really seem like you really give a crap about your job. I don't. Why not? It's not that exciting. I don't really talk to anybody. People send managing. Nope. Okay. Nope. Still not good.

 

Andrea Frederickson: But, um, I'm like, oh, damn.

 

Michelle Hill : Um, do you communicate with people? Yeah. Through teams. We chat. Not now and then. I mean, I have lots of groups that like we talk outside of about other stuff, but we don't really nobody really asked me many questions about this is like, I'm just like doing my job. That's it. I'm like, so are you ready to leave? I've been ready for years. And so he's he's, you know, in an upcoming episode and blog that I'm working on. Is this on the edge of mediocrity? Right. Well, let's talk about that. Like our companies, if we don't improve the engagement of not only the people we lead, but the leaders, the leaders, people.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Yes.

 

Michelle Hill : Our companies are going to deliver mediocre results and mediocre service and mediocre everything. Right? So yes, people have to give a shit. Yes, people have to feel heard. People have to feel.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Valued, which is asking for their ideas. Right. It's engaging them in. Yeah, I've got a problem over here. What are you. Can you give me some ideas on how you might handle this or what are your thoughts on this? Or how would you know? I need some solution, some solutions. I can't talk here. I need some solutions. Right? Or some ideas on how I might proceed where we are engaging each other.

 

Michelle Hill : So. So in your classes when you're teaching? Yes. When you're with you're working with your groups. What are things that you suggest that help beyond give a shit? Make sure people feel valued and make sure people are heard. Like what? What are some of the activities? Are there things that you're asking them to do that help with this engagement?

 

Andrea Frederickson: Well, one of the first things is talking about stop solving everyone else's. Stop solving problems and you ask them on how to solve the problem. So and also when because this can be twofold. You notice a problem and then you just solve it and fix it, or you solve it and tell people what to do. Stop and start recognizing that there's a problem or a situation and go to the team to say or an individual, depending on what it is, right? What ideas do we have? How do you want to solve this? And, you know, delegate the problem as well. You don't have or this one I've been bumping into quite a bit. Someone at a higher level asked another mid-level manager to do something, and that mid-level manager will put everything on hold and actually physically do it. And it's like, why are you doing it? Can't someone on your team do it?

 

Michelle Hill : You to do it? Not you personally. Correct.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Correct. But see, there's a tension.

 

Michelle Hill : Yeah.

 

Andrea Frederickson: They feel good. You've asked me. I'm getting attention.

 

Michelle Hill : Get the feels.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Yes. And it's like. Give that to your people. It's not about you anymore. It's about them. Right. But. So looking at just something every day, people every day have people that ask them questions. And it's like, stop giving them an answer. Ask them what they think.

 

Michelle Hill : So I lump that into this topic. Believe in your people. It's not just give a shit and care about them, but it's like, believe they can believe that they can solve a problem, believe that they can learn how to do it, believe they can get the result. Believe that they can.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Believe in the potential.

 

Michelle Hill : I mean, I bring up people all the time. It's like, who was that person in your life that put their arm around their shoulder and said, you got this. I'm going to help make sure you get it. You get there. And and all of a sudden your confidence goes up and you're like, oh my gosh, now I'm interested in this and what else can I do?

 

Andrea Frederickson: I'm engaged. Right. It's it's the giving attention to your people, which if we're talking about managers, people that lead manage other people, right. It's about making sure we're giving attention to all of our people and that we are challenging them. We're stretching them. They're not just hanging out here in status quo, because when they hang out in status quo, they get bored. They don't feel rewarded, they don't feel like they're growing. And people want to grow. People want to get better.

 

Michelle Hill : Oh, the number of times, oh my God, they're too busy.

 

Andrea Frederickson: No.

 

Michelle Hill : Oh, they can't do that. Yeah. How do you know? How do you know? I mean, I.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Well, because they're too busy.

 

Michelle Hill : I could donate millions. I know, I know. I had a dollar for this for like. Oh, they can't do this.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Start a jar in groups.

 

Michelle Hill : I can't do this. Right. Yeah.

 

Andrea Frederickson: A couple jars, they're too busy. They can't do this or it's not. It's not good.

 

Michelle Hill : Enough. All the reasons why it can't happen.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Yes. Anytime you have a reason why it can't, you got to put a buck in.

 

Michelle Hill : Right. So $20. So what else? What else can we do? What else can we do?

 

Andrea Frederickson: What are things that. What are things that you're doing that you've been.

 

Michelle Hill : So one of the things that I have put a lot of emphasis on, probably more recently in the last year and a half, is not just putting a person in the right role because that sounds like, well, duh, right? But it is finding the things that a person does that gives them joy in a way where it's like, For example, things that you, the person does that they lose time just because they love doing it. Doing it. Yeah. It doesn't have to be, um, it doesn't have to be something like we're giving to the needy, which may give you joy and we can do that. But every day a person should get to do something that fills them with dopamine, that fills them with, you know, this is my sign for dopamine. It's like I should they should get the feels because I just get so involved in it. You know, we've got a lady in our office that oh my gosh, she loves to research. She is. I will find it out. I mean, I know that it's like it's a thing for her. It's a big.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Squirrel. And she doesn't take squirrels very often. No.

 

Michelle Hill : And I love that she does that because I'm like that is something that's like, I love learning, but I don't like to go find out. Right. And she is Sherlock Holmes to the nth right. And so when she gets to do that, she's like, look what I found. Look what I found. And I love that she does that because it's valuable to us that she can figure out that information. Everybody can find something in what they do. Yeah, but we sometimes have to give them the opportunity to find out what that. Yeah. Sometimes they read is that tells them, oh my gosh, you know PowerPoints. Oh I love analysis. Oh I love data crunching. I love speaking in front of groups. Please don't make me do data crunching. Yeah. So that is the opposite of joy for me. But but working with people. So finding the thing that gives them joy is a way to keep them engaged in what's going on, and then ask them about it and things like that too.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Well, and I was just with a group a couple of weeks ago, and a person gets promoted. While I'm just going to say to that, like an assistant manager, I'm just going to call it that. And the primary responsibility for that assistant manager is really focusing on training the rest of the team. Okay. They tend to promote great doers. So and I know this right. So they tend to promote great doers. And I asked the question of have you created clarity. And do they like first do they like training people. Do they like people? I mean they like people. If you're going to have them training people, um, that needs to be one. Some people love that. Some people love because it's like helping another person get better. It gives them energy. Right? And it's like you, when you're putting someone in a role to train someone, they got to want to be there. They got to want to give that attention. And you will.

 

Michelle Hill : See it on their face when they love something. Yes. And the other talk about things. Yes.

 

Andrea Frederickson: And the other person who's getting the training, they're going to feel a hell of a lot better when that person is excited and energized and really helpful and caring versus the this is how you do it. Don't do it any other way. And that's it. I mean.

 

Michelle Hill : That's not how we do it here. That's not how we do it.

 

Andrea Frederickson: It's not how we do it here. I mean, you name it in a negative way. It's not necessarily developing them. Right.

 

Michelle Hill : So one last thing that we can do to help create a more engaging environment or helping our people be more engaged, is take away or remove as many friction points as possible. I'm like, I can't tell you. Like we're going to add more, add more, add more, do more. It's like, okay, but can we automate something? Can we remove the possibility of errors on something? Can we make something? Can we do something that's gamified right. We can do some of those things. But what are the things that maybe there's instead of 27 steps there's three. Yeah. Right. Or we can automate something so we don't have to touch it as often. Yes. There's all kinds.

 

Andrea Frederickson: I also challenge them to think about if you're developing a person and they have a lot. And we need to start eliminating some of the things they're doing. Who else on the team needs to learn some of those things? Because then you delegate stuff from one team member to another team member. So now you're developing them while this person now has the real time to be able to do this new thing, because we just get so into habits of, oh, they do that, they do that, they do that, and because they're really good at it, but then no one else does it and no good deed.

 

Michelle Hill : Goes unpunished so that one person is punished for doing all the stuff. Yes. And they're the bottleneck.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Yes. And you. Definitely. Because you keep giving them stuff. But everyone needs to feel like they're growing and challenged. So it's evaluating what's everything this person is doing and who on the team, what's their skill levels on these different things and who wants it. Who wants to learn it, be involved, take it over or whatever. Having those discussions on some frequency.

 

Michelle Hill : Right, right. You know, creating an environment where people are engaged is good business. Quality goes up. Um, employee retention goes up. The the the truth of what happens in the and the information that's being shared goes up. Yes. And and just the ability for a person to be promoted into a different role because now they're being asked the questions and now they're learning and they're participating in new things, being asked questions in their in their in their response is valuable. Doesn't have to always be right. It has to be valued. And so the the topic of having an engaging environment again seems like, well, of course you have to have an engaging environment. But why do we run into so many organizations where people are just, nah, just showing up. I'm just doing my job, and the only time we see the excitement is when they get to do that one thing that they absolutely love to do. It's like, how can we spend more time doing the things that they love to do? And so I challenge each of the listeners here to ask themselves the question, first of all, are you engaged? Do you feel joy in any aspect of the role that you have? And if not, how can you find that? How can you find the joy in what you do, right? And if that's one part of the question. But the second part is the question, as a leader of others, what can you do to help those that you lead find joy and find ways in which they can feel much more engaged in? They want to be there. They want to be there.

 

Andrea Frederickson: They care.

 

Michelle Hill : They not just checking the box. Correct.

 

Andrea Frederickson: Yes. We've got to eliminate the box checking. Yeah.

 

Michelle Hill : This episode is so important. It's just a little tiny, um, component of what's important for businesses and leaders. But I think that if you put a little bit of attention to it, you can get some pretty big results. Yes. So definitely, thanks for joining us on this episode. This is a quick episode, but we really appreciate you following us and listening to the episode. So if you haven't joined or haven't followed us, do so so you don't miss any of the other episodes.