Influencing Up
November 30, 2011 — by Gary Magenta
I was invited to speak with a networking group of HR managers on the topic of improving employee engagement in their organizations. I expected to have a conversation about best practices, so I prepared accordingly. I quickly realized that this group already understood the best practices, but they weren’t effective in launching their initiatives.
These HR managers:
- Had great idea for programs to engage frontline employees.
- Needed to influence a leader to support them in executing their plans.
- Presented their leaders with slick PowerPoints and spreadsheets.
- Were met with responses such as
- “Can’t you just send an email or mention this at an all company meeting”?
- “This isn’t really something that I’m willing to allocate money or resources for.”
While they needed the support of leaders to launch their programs, I suggested that there’s a flip side. Leaders can’t deploy initiatives without the help of everyone in the company, including them, and I encouraged them to appeal to that co-dependency. By understanding what their leaders care about most, they could make an explicit connection between their programs and the potential impact on what their leaders care about.
I recommended that they skip the charts and slides and create an emotional connection by demonstrating their commitment to help that leader reach their goals. What would you have suggested
Related Content:
The Art of Engagement – Inspiring People, Creating Change, and Making a Difference
The Roots of Engagement in Russia
Saying Thanks by Giving Back
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Artie says:
December 24, 2011 3:21 pm
Learning a ton from these neat atrciles.
Lorin Mask says:
January 04, 2012 1:39 pm
I’ve actually done this. I did a “grass roots” employee engagement survey and then showed results to the managers of departments. Coached and trained those manages and created quanitifiable results within that department within the organization. Connected increase in engagement with increased attainment of goals. Once the CEO sees the proven, not theorecial results, buy-in couldn’t be easier.
Also, what is the competition doing? Are they achieving with employee engagement as a key driver?? CEO’s want revenue not emotional connections…unless that connection will make money!
Jak says:
January 13, 2012 8:10 pm
A tweak I’d consider is suggesting the HR person to connect with as many leaders as it takes to find an excitable sponsor — because you are spot-on, without the heart-felt support of a leader… it will be a hard road.