A second significant difference is demonstrated leadership. Leadership is not earned through a title, but comes from earning the respect and confidence of coworkers. Those with leadership skills are able to not just issue orders and walk away without following up to make sure that the job gets done. Those who are true leaders know the capabilities of those they lead and monitor the progress and results accordingly. Most importantly, when assigning a task, the leader is fully capable of explaining why something needs to be done and when it should be accomplished.
Being able to handle change is the third significant difference between the engaged and disengaged employee. Disengaged employees will almost always fight for the status quo because that is where they are comfortable; they see change as a negative because they might “lose” something.
The engaged employee may also be concerned about change but generally sees it as an opportunity. To some extent it is how people look at the glass of water; is it half full or half empty?
Engaged employees have a track record of success. During a job interview or a performance evaluation, even an informal one, they won’t hesitate to speak about the assignments they are working on, what the results are and when they expect to finish.
Contrast that with a disengaged employee who may not be working on, or thinking about anything other than what they were assigned to do when they took the job. If you ask them about results, they are hard pressed to speak of anything specific that they can take credit for. They will be delighted to talk to you about their last vacation, or the one they have planned, because that is where their true interest lies.
If your organization is not performing the way it should, it would be wise to look first at the people inside of it to determine if that is the root cause. Most likely it is.
Take a piece of paper out and write the names of those that you believe are disengaged. Under that list, write down these questions and ask yourself how these people might answer them:
“Can you give me some examples of how you have demonstrated initiative in your job this past year?”
“Can you give me some examples of some problems you have faced this past year and what plans you took to address them?”
“Can you give me some examples of the results you have achieved this past year through the efforts of others in the company?”
How these three questions are answered will provide the key information needed to determine who is engaged and who is not. The engaged employee will provide example after example. The disengaged employee will struggle to answer, even if provided ample time to do the research.
If you want to have an organization that performs, the more engaged employees you have on the payroll, the fewer disengaged employees you will want to provide a paycheck to.
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