On May 20th, Beverly Kaye joined Howard Morgan to present “Engaging the Kept-On Workforce.” We believe the session was informative, practical and timely.
The topic of this webinar was engagement and retention, an aspect of leadership and management which, as Bev reinforced in her presentation, is even more critical today because of our tough economic times.
After all, workers who are being neglected by their managers because of the crisis at hand, or who are stressed out by traumatic organizational changes, or who are feeling guilty about surviving the latest cutbacks and layoffs are often passive and even resentful. This can mean a double blow to organizations in need of strong discretionary efforts right now.
As Bev put it, workers who are engaged look for what they can give. Workers who are disengaged look for what they can get.
What’s more, talent is always at a premium, and neglected talent can quickly find a new home. And even workers who appear satisfied with less engagement in a prolonged crisis are actually honing their resumes, their resentments and their network, and are getting ready for the upturn to seek greener pastures.
Bev cited a number of research studies in support of her observations, and she pointed out the parallels with past downturns to make her case.
Largely, Bev put the onus on leaders, line-managers and Human Resources for making the critical effort to engage with employees on an on-going basis. She described the strategies that leaders and managers can use to better connect with employees and earn those discretionary contributions, and indeed their commitment, enthusiasm and innovations. But she closed with the responsibility that employees must assume in helping to bridge the gaps they see in their organizations. At times like these, it’s up to all of us to lead in ways that make a difference.
While you await your copy of Bev’s book, we recommend this article. Next week, we’ll send you a copy of the Values Instrument Bev mentioned in her presentation.
On behalf of Beverly Kaye and Howard Morgan, we thank you again for joining us, and look forward to the next occasion.
Warm Regards,
Unbound Ideas
We encourage all attendees to host a repeat listen of Bev’s presentation in their organizations during the next two weeks. Your site registration fee included the opportunity to watch Bev’s presentation on demand as many times as you like over the next two weeks. Use the sign in information provided to you by our technology partner, KRM, to access the streaming recording. If you have any problems gaining access, please do not hesitate to be in touch.
We also encourage you to submit questions and engage in dialogue with your peers on this page. To do so, register and then post your questions below. Many of you had questions we ran out of time to answer, so we are going to use this as an ongoing resource of the captured learning of the session. As you post questions or comments, we’ll then ask Bev for her reaction, input, and answers. So check back to see what she and others have to say. Trading ideas, resources, and strategies virtually can be as beneficial as networking in person at a conference, and more time and cost efficient.
The Values Instrument article Bev mentioned during her webinar on May 20th is now available here. Thanks for your patience while she put the finishing touches on it.
If you have any comments or questions for her on it, the other resources of her’s that we have shared or the session itself, please feel free to post them on this page or to pose them to her directly at Beverly.Kaye@careersystemsintl.com. We know she would be pleased to hear from you.
Have a great day!
Your friends,
Unbound Ideas