TO GET EMPLOYEES ENGAGED, THE COMPANY MUST COMMIT!"

ISABELLE HOUDAILLE

20 July 2022

We know that employee engagement is a key issue for managers because it is intimately linked to performance and, let's face it, meaning at work.

So what levers should be activated to "really involve employees"? This is the question Gaëlle Roudaut and Fabienne Ravassard answer in their book with the eponymous title, recently published by Vuibert.

Gaëlle, we know her well, after having been a consultant at Arctus, she still works regularly with our team, on various subjects including internal digital transformations, change management, and employee advocacy.

THE COMPANY FACING ITS RESPONSIBILITIES

The book in question shakes up preconceived ideas. Let's take a step back: why would a company expect its employees to commit to it when it does not commit to really involving them?

The authors, in 10 chapters and numerous illustrations by Gaëlle - she is also a graphic facilitator - deconstruct what makes and breaks the company-employee relationship and remind us of the responsibility of organizations, at the management level, to create the conditions for commitment. Let's not forget: commitment does not mix well with injunction! You cannot force an employee to be committed, just as you cannot force them to have confidence or to be motivated.

The matter is, of course, more complex, but the starting point for making employees committed actors is simple: for the company to be committed, it must itself embody commitment! How can this be done?

After reading the book, I see 2 inseparable means:

- by the posture, values and ambitions that a company, a management team and a manager have and communicate to their employees
- through the concrete actions they implement and make them live on a daily basis.

Far from being a trendy concept without substance, commitment is thought out, organized and requires strategy, investment and follow-up.

COMPANY AND EMPLOYEES: A SUBTLE PARTNERSHIP THAT NEEDS TO GROW

So, what are the fundamentals of the company-employee relationship that allow us to think that everything is allowed to imagine a solid and equitable partnership?

The authors start from their experiences and note the discrepancies between the expectations of an organization that expects a lot and the reality as perceived by disillusioned employees in search of meaning. The "It's lived experience" sections throughout the book humorously recount funny situations experienced in companies. There are many examples of poorly designed and incomplete transformation projects that undermine team dynamics, trust and motivation.

We can't help but look back at our own experiences. We tell ourselves that the task of re-engaging and re-embracing teams is a big one... and that this is perhaps also why we love our job😉.

The theoretical reminders proposed by the authors invite us to take a step back on this complex and ever-changing world. It helps us to question the role of each person, whatever their role in the organization, and the levers to approach change with pragmatism and humility.

LEVERS FOR GETTING INVOLVED TOGETHER

The scope of action is vast to get teams on board, motivate them and make employees and groups more committed.

In the book, we find the levers of change management: listening to the field and adopting the point of view of employees, responding to all needs, encouraging initiatives from local managers, supporting, communicating, valuing employees, and above all, proposing a new framework of cooperation where listening, learning, autonomy, creativity and empowerment prevail.

Gaëlle and Fabienne propose twenty or so concrete, pragmatic courses of action that are accessible if you are convinced that, in an organization, everyone has a part in the solution.
Mixing collective intelligence, feedback culture, participative innovation and co-constructed digital work environment, this book offers companies and decision-makers a real toolbox to orchestrate listening, sharing and co-construction, and to boost self-confidence and the confidence of others. These are all opportunities to rediscover the joy of leading projects and creating together, whether we are managers or employees.

THE 8 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS FOR A SUCCESSFUL INTERNAL TRANSFORMATION

At Arctus, what this book inspired is that the success of an internal transformation project depends on the involvement and action of all its stakeholders. This success is based on 8 key elements:

Listening to the needs of all stakeholders, at all levels of the organization, from management to business and cross-functional departments, from local managers to users and field agents, from referrers to ambassadors, from those disconnected from digital technology to those resistant to change...
Alignment between the needs and ambitions of each person
The sharing of a common vision
The implementation of a method to move forward together, step by step
The choice of adapted and evolving tools
Putting into action, beyond words, the one that leads to change
Tests and iterations
Communication to maintain transparency, to value the actors and to develop the team spirit

Thanks to Gaëlle Roudaut and Fabienne Ravassard for reminding us!

« Impliquer vraiment les salariés » by Gaëlle Roudaut and Fabienne Ravassard, published by Vuibert, March 2022 »

#change_management #engagement
#transformation #hybrid_work

Isabelle Houdaille

Senior consultant and facilitator

Isabelle Houdaille is a consultant in internal digital transformation and a facilitator in collective dynamics. She is passionate about all topics related to employee experience, commitment, communication and service design.