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