You know, as leaders, we all tend to face similar challenges. And one of the more common of those is figuring out how to get employees more engaged at work … more committed to their jobs. The WHY is obvious – the HOW can seem perplexing. If it was easy, everyone would nail it; if it was easy, it wouldn’t be such a “challenge.” So, what do we do … what can YOU do? Well, I’ve recently come across an invaluable resource that answers that very question.

In her revealing book I Quit, But Forgot to Tell You, Terri Kabachnick offers a large helping of practical employee engagement strategies that every leader should find beneficial. One of the many that resonated with me has to do with treating employees as partners. And it’s one that all of us would be wise to work on and pay attention to.

Over the years, I’ve learned that people tend to act and respond according to how their treated. So, if we want employees to act more like stakeholders in the business, we need to treat them more like stakeholders … we need to make them “partners” in the enterprise and provide them with opportunities for greater involvement. And, as I Quit, But Forgot to Tell You points out, that means doing things like …

• Teaching team members the basics of the business as well as their jobs.
• Sharing information about your organization’s challenges, finances, and future plans.
• Helping each person see the big picture and understand his or her part in it.
• Soliciting employee input and ideas on processes and purchases.
• Giving the people who do the work a say on how it should be accomplished.

Bottom line: When employees are treated as partners, senses of ownership, involvement, and responsibility are more likely to set in. And the pride that comes from contributing as a true stakeholder can fill a powerful personal need that we all share.

Lead well … LEAD RIGHT

What are your thoughts of treating employees as partners? Do you have any examples of when this worked for you? Other comments/thoughts/reactions? We want to hear from you!