As I work with leaders on change projects and strategy execution I always make it a point to talk with the people on the front lines of the organization.  Whether I am conducting one-on-one interviews, focus groups, or larger input meetings one theme emerges in company after company: “Our leadership makes decisions without understanding what we really do and how those decisions impact us.”

Hundreds of others have said it, but apparently the point bears repeating:  If you want your people to accept and support change, you must first show that you understand the organization from their perspective.

When we try to motivate others or mobilize energy for a change, the most important element is being able to connect with people.  An authentic connection has a lot of ingredients, including understanding:

• What matters to this person;
• What is this person’s reality;
• What is this person trying to accomplish at work;
• What is getting in the way?

A few years ago, we worked with a technology company on the rollout of its new brand. We’d been asked to develop a training class that explained the new brand position. The changes that we were about to introduce would impact the work of every person in the company. There were new guidelines about how to talk to customers, new rules about how to use the logo and brand icons, and a new color palette for use in everything from external marketing to internal documents.

Any of you who have worked with high-tech companies know that the best way to kill an idea is that say that, “corporate says we have to do it this way.” How in the world could we get 7,000 “techies” to not only comply with the brand guidelines, but to want to? We knew that we needed every person to understand at a gut level why brand consistency, and therefore guidelines, were needed. So we started our program with a visual tour of some great brands—Apple, Starbucks, Ann Taylor, and Disney. We got people interacting and talking about why each brand was so recognizable. Time and time again, the audience saw that deliberate, consistent use of fonts, colors, and shapes helped to create a strong brand.

In his new book, Leading at Light Speed, Eric Douglas discusses the importance of understanding frames – patterns of assumptions that are often invisible, but that influence how people think about an issue or problem.  According to Douglas,

Douglas goes on to argue that systems thinking enables one to understand, and get past the limitations of frames.

Right Management recently conducted a survey of more than 650 senior leaders and human resource professionals to identify the most important leadership practice fundamental to achieving business goals during tough times. More than half (51%) of respondents cited “engaging employees to ensure organizational alignment and commitment” as being the most important leadership practice.

So how do you engage employees, or re-engage them? Lessons from the field of positive psychology indicate the importance of paying attention to how people feel before you focus on what you want them to do.  In her book, Exuberance, John Hopkins psychiatry professor Kay Redfield Jamison writes, “In times of adversity, inspired leadership offers energy and hope where little or none exist.”

I recently had a prospective client ask me how I would create a communication plan that would convince people to support a change.  My response was that any communication plan should focus on communicating with people, not to them.

As Peter Bregman writes in his book, Point B: A Short Guide to Leading Big Change, providing information is important in any change.  But, he writes,  “tell & sell” isn’t enough.  Real change happens when every person impacted is actively engaged in the process of change – to the point where they become owners  – not targets of the change.

Just last week, Melissa Dutmers of RiverFork Consulting posted 9 questions to ask when leading a change:

Another great way to influence people’s behavior – make it fun!

In addition to the fun factor, I think this video illustrates another powerful point.  People are curious.  In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath demonstrate how powerful it can be to start a talk or a class by using a question or a mystery:

Today’s takeaway:  Are you leveraging fun and curiosity to interest people in your change effort?

Are you taking time to genuinely connect with your employees?

A few weeks ago I attended a panel discussion about the impact of executive actions on employee engagement.  One of the executive panelists, Steve Bigari spoke about the importance of really caring about employees as individual people.  By dressing as waiter and serving coffee before the meeting, he illustrated the point that leaders often don’t see the “invisible” people in their own organizations.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Bigari’s demonstration lately because I am preparing to teach a class on motivating and retaining employees.  While there are many aspects of motivation to be explored, I think the most fundamental point is that every employee needs to be seen and know that he/she is respected and valued as a person.

Patrick Lencioni, author of The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, asserts that anonymity is a driving force in what makes people miserable at work.  He writes:  “People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known.”

Has your company held layoffs this year?  If so, chances are high that the layoffs are taking a toll on the morale of your employees.

A survey released last month by Watson Wyatt found that:

• Employee engagement for workers at all levels dropped 9 percent last year and close to 25 percent for top performers.
• Compared to last year, top performers are 20 percent less likely to recommend their organization to job seekers and 14 percent less likely to remain with their company.

For more results from the Watson Wyatt 2009/2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey, click here.

To learn how to re-engage and re-energize your workforce post-layoffs, check out our e-book:  Leading after Layoffs.

Employee engagement is more than a yearly survey.  It’s about connecting your people with your strategy.  Check out this terrific video from Coffman Organization.

I recently co-facilitated an offsite for the Human Capital team within a government agency.  The leader of the group started the session with an fun, simple, and powerful activity.  She began by asking each person to quietly think about their team as it is today and then draw an animal that represents the team currently.  Next she asked everyone to draw an animal that represents the team they would like to become.  Finally everyone went around the table and shared their drawings and what they represented.

I was fascinated by how rich the resulting discussion was.  While people chose different animals, there were a lot of similar references. The animals they chose for the future tended to represent characteristics such as speed and agility coupled with teamwork.