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Episode 65 Show Notes: How to Manage to the One to

Increase Employee Engagement

Chester Elton has been working with organizations on employee engagement and motivation. He has been

called the “Apostle of appreciation” by the Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest newspaper. Chester explains

the inspiration for his latest book and accompanying “Motivator Assessment” which leaders can leverage

for teams as well as individuals. He shares ideas for increasing engagement by making simple adjustments

to employees’ current roles. He explains how to ‘manage to the one’ and why this is key to increasing

engagement.

Chester has coauthored 10 books with Adrian Gostick including their most recent book, What Motivates Me

as well as The Carrot Principle and The Orange Revolution, both New York Times’ bestsellers. He is a

motivational expert and has been featured on Fast Company, The Today Show, MSNBC, National Public

Radio, and CBS’s 60 Minutes. Chester is a founding partner of The Culture Works and serves as a leadership

consultant to firms such as American Express, Procter & Gamble, Avis Budget Group and Cigna. He is also a

member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches ‘Pay it Forward’ project.

Key Learnings From This Episode

The Inspiration for What Motivates Me. Chester and his coauthor (Adrian Gostick) were motivated

to write their book based on results from the Myers Briggs’ assessments. They realized there was a

gap in fleshing out the whole person – ‘I know where I’m at, I know what I’m good at, but what am I

really passionate about?’ In collaboration with the creators of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 Assessment

(Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves), they developed "The Motivator's Assessment" which does not

allow those taking it to ‘sit on the fence’. They heard some feedback from a small group of people

who thought the results did not represent them. It was suggested that they share the results with

someone close (e.g., spouse, partner) for validation. People often have a thought about who they

‘should be’ or who they ‘want to be’ rather than who they really are.

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The Motivator Assessment Offers Team Benefits. When Chester and Adrian initially embarked on

this project, they thought it was going to be very helpful for the individual. They quickly found the

benefit was in teams. If a team leader can really understand the passions of their team – their key

motivators – then they are going to be better in putting them in a position to succeed. If the team

knows the leader’s motivators, communication becomes easier and clearer. When it ‘cross-

pollinates’ – when the team understands each team member’s motivators – you achieve a much

better picture of how you can drive forward in whatever the team’s purpose is in the organization.

When is it recommended for teams? A team can use this assessment at any step along the way

when you want to improve communication - whether it is when the initial team comes together,

when a team has been together for a long time, or when a team is in transition. Finding out what the

key passions are within your team will be helpful. There are 23 key motivators that coalesce around

five identities – Achiever, Builder, Caregiver, Thinker or Reward-Driven – at work. You then ask

three simple questions:

1. What motivators are in common?

2. What motivators are unique?

3. Where are the areas of caution? e.g., Where do we have a disconnect?

Many times when there is something ‘off’,

it is because we have not aligned our

motivators. The three questions help a

team come together.

Can this be used on an on-going basis or

only when a team is forming? This can be

done on an ongoing basis. As an example,

there are generational differences. The

idea of a career path is very important to

an entry-level or junior employee. Have

aspirational conversations on a regular

(monthly) basis (e.g., how are we doing?

have we kept our promises? what can we

do better? where would you like to be a

year or two from now?). Bringing it back to

those key motivators in those sessions –

making sure your manager is directing your

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career path, your assignments, and you are mentoring to align with your passions becomes key. This

should become a living document that you can use throughout your development.

Why Are Millennials Leaving? The number one reason they are leaving their jobs is the lack of room

to grow; there is no career path. Having aspirational conversations helps managers put together a

roadmap for each of their employees.

What is job sculpting? If you tweak just a few things in a job, engagement skyrockets.

1. 87% of employees surveyed globally were disengaged or actively disengaged at work

2. 80% feel they are in the right industry doing the job they want to do

Job Sculpting Example. A bank manager whose employee performed averagely learned through

conversation that the employee enjoyed public speaking. The manager discussed the need for

someone to deliver a 15-minute presentation in front of the group during a university relations job

fair quarterly. This would be considered a ‘job add’, an extracurricular activity outside of one’s usual

responsibilities. Even if you have a lot to do within your regular job, if there is something you are

passionate about, additional work is not a burden – it is, in fact, energizing. Not only did the

employee do a better job delivering the presentation than anyone else they had ever sent, but his

everyday work also got better because he was more emotionally invested and engaged. That small

job tweak took him from middle-of-the-road to upper echelon through a simple job sculpt.

Trading Job Responsibilities. Within a department, you can trade responsibilities within a team to

increase engagement by asking, ‘what do you love?’ and ‘what don’t you love?’

Increasing Engagement by Increasing Job Interest. People can be really good at but dislike their

jobs. This drives engagement down. Ask people what can be done to make their jobs more

interesting and engaging for them to increase engagement.

Motivation versus Competence? You might be passionate about something that you are not good at

– this is called a ‘hobby’. The key is to determine if there is a way to incorporate some of the things

you are passionate about into your job.

Managing to the One. When you aggregate data (from assessments), it provides you with general

trends that give you insight. When you get to the individual level, the more you know about that

individual, the more you can manage to the ‘one’ as opposed to managing to the masses.

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Managing to the One Example. Chester had the personal experience of being told that he could not

present the way he typically would at an event. He was able to convince the event manager to

deliver his presentation using his usual style and props. Chester asked the event manager what he

would say if he was questioned, and he responded that he would say, ‘let the man have his guitar’.

You would never hire Bruce Springsteen to play a concert and tell him, ‘oh, by the way, you have to

sing a cappella’. The idea is that we have general rules of conduct to avoid chaos. Under that

umbrella, there are individual traits that you want to tailor to the individual.

1. Old school is that you treat everyone the same – that’s fair.

2. New school is that you want diversity in the workplace – diversity of thought and ideas, and

to ensure you get that, you have to make people feel, as individuals, that they matter.

In the book ‘The Jordan Rules’, it states Michael Jordan was being treated differently from everyone

else. While everyone is not Michael Jordan, everyone has something they can contribute. If you feel I

am hearing you and making it possible for you to be your best self at work, you are going to give

your best work.

How can HR professionals help leaders motivate and engage their direct reports? An ex-Air Force

General retired from the military and went to work for a non-profit. He went from ‘if I say it, you

have to do it’ to begging people to work for him because, even though they paid less, it was all about

the noble cause. He received some advice from his wife who said, ‘you have 300 people working for

you – do you know their stories?’ No matter how big or small your team is, do you know that story?

If you know a person’s story, it will give you insight where their passions are and where they are

going to be best utilized.

When people are doing what they are passionate about at work and are highly engaged, they are

150% more likely to be happy in their personal lives.

When you help people create a great culture at work where people believe what they do matters,

that they make a difference, and that somebody has noticed it and celebrated it, not only does it

make for a better company and better customer service, but it also makes for better families, better

communities, and a better life overall.

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Recommended Reading and References From this Episode

The Culture Work Web Site

What Motivates Me: Put Your Passions to Work by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton

The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent,

and Accelerate Performance by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton

The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization by Adrian

Gostick and Chester Elton

What Motivates You? Take the assessment for FREE to receive your results in a 23-page report.

Instructions:

1. Launch the Motivators Assessment purchase page. Select a quantity of 1 (one) Motivators

Assessment and hit the “Add to Cart” button. This will take you to the checkout page.

2. On the checkout page type the word CARROT in the “Coupon” box, and select the “Apply

Coupon” button. Your total charge will now be $0.00. Select “Proceed to Checkout”.

3. On the Billing Details page, enter you contact information. (You do NOT need to “set up an

account.”)

4. After you check the box indicating you accept the Terms and Conditions, select the “Place

Order” box.

5. You will then be brought to your Confirmation page. You will receive an email confirming your

order number. A subsequent email will be sent with your free Motivators Assessment link.

6. Take the Motivators Assessment to receive your results/report.

To Follow Chester Elton

Email: chester@chesterelton.com

Twitter: @chesterelton

Chester on LinkedIn

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Aired: October 23rd, 2018

Industry: HR Consulting

Host: Fred Bunsa

Guest: Chester Elton

HR Studio Podcast is sponsored and produced by A.J. O’Connor Associates (AJO)

About Us: AJO is a Human Capital Consulting firm specializing in HR consulting, talent development and career

transition services. Through experienced listening, caring partnerships and exceptional quality, we help organizations

succeed by helping their people succeed. Visit ajoconnor.com to learn more.

Click the microphone to listen to Episode 65