Download - Engaging Leadership
ENGAGING LEADERSHIPEngage the Brain (and the business)
• Weighing in at 1.3kg
• Comprising 80% water
• Using 25% of our bodily resources
• Incorporating an estimated 86 billion
neurons and 100 trillion connections
OUR BRAINS ARE AMAZING
• Continuously changing, growing, learning
• Emotionally rather than rationally led
• Sensitive and responsive to external environments
WE KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM THAN EVER BEFORE
RESEARCH SUGGESTS OUR BRAINS HAVE 4 BASIC NEEDS
1. Attachment. The need to bond which develops from birth and is stimulated by trust
2. Orientation & Control. The need to design and control our own environment
3. Self-esteem. The need to increase and protect our self worth
4. Pleasure Maximisation. The need to increase pleasure and avoid pain
(Grave, 2006)
By facilitating:
• a deeper understanding of human behaviour
• practical insights into the development of self and teams
• greater awareness of how to increase individual and team engagement across business
WHICH SHAPE UNDERSTANDING AND
IMPACT OUTCOMES
PARTICULARLY IN THE SPACE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
• increasing profitability by 12%
• increasing productivity by 18%
• growing customer advocacy by 12%
Which we already know can deliver solid business improvement
(Gallup, 2006)
WHICH IS A KEY DRIVER OF OVERALL BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
• innovation
• Wellbeing
Making a positive business-wide impact in areas such as:
• sickness & absence
• employee turnover
YET STILL STRUGGLING TO SHOW GREAT SIGNS OF
PROGRESS
• Relatively static engagement levels
• Only 35% of employees considered to be actively engaged – reducing to 27% in the UK
• UK ranged 9th for engagement levels among world’s top 12 largest economies
Evidenced by:
(Kenexa, 2009/Towers Watson 2012)
DESPITE THE TIME, EFFORT AND
MONEY SPENT ON IT
• Still no hard evidence that employee engagement levels are increasing
• Despite the many millions being spent ($720million per year in the USA alone)
(Gallup, 2011-12)
WE KNOW MANY THINGS IMPACT EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
• Culture
• Development opportunities
• Fair pay
• Work/life balance
• Tools & technology
HOWEVER, 4 THINGS ARE SHOWN TO MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
• Narrative
• Engaging Managers
• Employee Voice
• Authentic Values
(MacLeod Review, 2009)
• Narrative fosters self esteem, creating stronger attachment
• Supportive managers contribute to pleasure, facilitating orientation and control
• Employees who are listened to experience trust, stimulating attachment and self esteem
• Authentic behaviours increase pleasure, build trust and reduce fear
AND WHEN IN PLACE SATISFY THE BRAIN’S BASIC NEEDS
• Solid HR practice
• Progressive Learning and Development support
• Fair and equitable pay and benefits
SUPPORTIVE BUSINESS PROCESSES ARE FUNDAMENTAL
BUT ON THEIR OWN THEY ARE NOT ENOUGH
THE MISSING LINK IS LEADERSHIP
• 70% of business leaders believe engagement to be critical for their business
• 80% of the variation in engagement levels is down to the line manager
(CLC, 2011/MacLeod Review, 2009)
A LEARNED CAPABILITY, OVER TIME
• As we focus on, practice and develop our core leadership skills
(CLC, 2011)
MAKING A DIFFERENCE TO OUR BUSINESSES, TEAMS AND SELVES
Improving our sense of well-being, energy, performance and impact
AS WE DELIVER BEST RESULTS
“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises”
Demosthenes
Deborah HulmeMinerva Engagement+44 (0)20 3285 7943www.minervaengagement.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUTENGAGING LEADERSHIP
• CLC (2011), Essay: Building Capital Engagement
• Gallup Organisation (2011 – 2012), State of the Global Workforce Survey
• Gallup Organisation (2006), ‘Engagement Predicts Earnings per Share’
• Grave cited in ‘A journey through the brain for business leaders’, Eds A.Ghadiri, A. Habermacher, T. Peters, (2013)
• Kenexa (2009), comparing UK engagement levels
• MacLeod & Clarke (2006), Engage for Success
• Towers Watson (2012) Global Workforce Survey
REFERENCES