Stop Complaining – Take Employee Engagement Into Your Own Hands

There’s been a lot of fanfare surrounding employee engagement. Executives are urged to design and implement engagement programs, line managers are trained on how to engage employees and HR departments are designing engagement tools, measuring its success and ensuring that engagement plans are implemented. However, few are talking about the responsibility of the individual employee to make himself engagable or to engage himself.

Employee engagement is a two way street – it requires the employer and the employee to develop and nurture a relation in which employees are:

• Committed to their organization’s goals and values


• Motivated to contribute to organizational success


• Enhancing their own sense of well-being

Of course there’s a huge responsibility for companies. But it is not just their responsibility. You also have a role to play. So what can you do to become a highly engaged employee?

1. Do your homework

As much as companies do their due diligence to ensure they recruit ‘A-players’ you have a similar obligation to yourself and the company that you do the same. I always tell candidates in career conversations that the only time they can select their line manager is when they join the company. So do your due diligence by calling friends and checking out Linkedin Profiles to see what kind of people are working for the company and what the background is of your line manager. Connect with people in the team to understand your new manager’s leadership style and the ‘real values’ of the organisation (not the ones on the wall). Make sure you understand what’s expected of you and that it excites you.

2. Make yourself ‘engagable’

Being ‘engageable’ is a mindset and is very much in the hands of an employee. Things you’ll want to focus on include:

• Being positive


• Responding to attempts of colleagues involving you with at least a “lets see” attitude, preferably a “can do” one


• Don’t Complain


• Avoid being dragged into office politics

It’s all about the attitude and the right one can get you opportunities that you want.

3. Understand what drives and frustrates you

Being engaged links your commitment to the organization purpose to your own well-being which is different than the person sitting next to you (even if you do the same job). You might be driven by the opportunity to make an impact, whilst for your colleague whom just had a twin baby might be in it for the money or the opportunity to learn for someone else. Knowing what drives you is important for you and the company to know how to engage you.

It’s not only about understanding what drives you, it’s also about knowing what frustrates you, what gets you in a bad mood (both at work and at home) and what colleagues do to make you ‘go off on a tangent.’

4. Help the line manager and organization understand what you expect from them

Knowing what drives you is one thing but for the engagement dance to work your partner, in this case your line manager / organisation need to know and understand this. You can’t assume that your line manager can mind read so don’t test him. Have a genuine conversation about what is important for you. Even if you have to acknowledge that salary is not your main driver, don’t worry. Your boss will probably take a jab at you for this in the next salary round, but of course he’d only be joking.

5. Help the organization what they can expect in return

No relation is a one way street. So be clear on what the organization expects from you, what you can’t do (I know someone who can’t stay late on Thursday’s since he has to watch the kids when his spouse goes for her tennis lessons), where you can do more or add more value. Think about your strengths and contribute all of them with full force.

6. Pro-actively resolve issues

Things will go wrong. Sometimes your boss, colleague, or the HR department will de-motivate you or something goes wrong at home. You can’t be a flurry of engagement at all times. If it’s just a ‘bad day in the office’ keep your head down, recognize it and don’t infect others. If it’s consistent and happens for a longer period of time you have a responsibility to bring it up . Ideally this is directly with the person you have the issue with but if for what ever this isn’t possible find a colleague, confident, mentor, or even the HR department as a willing ear to listen and help you resolve your temporary ‘engagement crisis’.

7. Find another job if it doesn’t work

If you do all of the above and give it your best but you still feel that the job and/or company isn’t adding to your personal well being, there’s only one option left: Resign! The worst thing you can do to yourself and your colleagues is to moan, become a complainer and contaminate others. It’s fine, it happens, it doesn’t mean that you have failed or are not competent. It’s simply a matter of different horses for different courses. Next time you’ll do your homework better and be more engaged.

Stop Complaining – Take Employee Engagement Into Your Own Hands