Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the wealth of information available on the Engaging Managers’ Zone? We believe you’ll find everything on EMZ to be of value, but we don’t expect you to read it from ‘cover to cover’. Instead, we invite you to browse and explore, follow your interests and let your priorities determine where and how you drill into the detail.
We hope you find the content encouraging and thought-provoking. As a one-stop knowledge hub, EMZ is a source of ideas, options and things to think about. It is not our intention to prescribe ‘the answer’ or any ‘quick fixes’. The content is designed to help you ask your own questions and reflect on what your answers might be.
It may be that you’re already taking appropriate action. We hope we can help you to validate your existing plans and build on those foundations.
On the other hand, change may be required. Don’t be shy about challenging yourself, but resist the urge to be overly self-critical. Look to the future, not the past. Focus on things getting better.
Think carefully, but remember: there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ approach. Follow what feels right and accept that we learn and improve through trial, error and experience. Change is challenging. It can take time to see results. At the same time: meaningful change is not necessarily radical change.
Employee engagement is not a switch you can flick from ‘off’ to ‘on’, or ‘low’ to ‘high’. It is not a recent discovery; not a fad; not an initiative. It runs much, much deeper. It is – and has always been – a natural, inherent and vital element in any field of employment.
It cannot be controlled, but it can be channeled and influenced. It is a tremendous and worthwhile opportunity, not a puzzle to solve overnight.
We believe that every manager should aspire and strive to be an engaging manager. But, to borrow from a popular quote about engagement, “…you have to want to be. There has to be deep-seated desire in your heart and mind to participate, to be involved, and to make a difference. If the desire isn’t there, no person or book can plant it within you.”
If you’d like to discuss further or for any queries, please write to info@engageforsuccess.org
Author bio: Oliver Blackwell, EMZ Author
