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.”

In tough times, effective leaders help other regain feelings of hopefulness, optimism, and energy.  One example of a leader who did this successfully was Winston Churchill.  Lord Franks, England’s ambassador to the United States after WWII, heard Churchill speak many times.  After one of these occasions Franks wrote, “I came away more happy about things.  He dispelled our misgivings and set at rest our fears; he spoke of his aim and his purpose so that we knew that somehow it would be achieved. He gave us faith.”

If you lead an organization, department, or team it is equally important that you begin the process of re-engaging your employees by first acknowledging the emotions people are feeling, and then communicating in a way that rebuilds hope and enthusiasm.  For specific tips on how to do this, download my free e-books, Transforming Anxiety into Energy and Leading After Layoffs.

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:

1. What do you think about this change?
2. How do you feel about this change?
3. What do you see your role as in this change?
4. What is your opinion about this change?
5. What is your experience with this type of change?
6. What are you working on and how will you be impacted by this change?
7. What are your ideas about this change?
8. Would you change anything about this change?
9. Why do you think this change is needed (or not)?

Her readers added their own suggestions, including:

• What are you already doing in your day to day work that supports the change?
• What areas do you feel will be a challenge for you to adjust?
• How can I support you?
• What’s most important to you about the change?
• How will this proposed change be different from past changes in this organization?

Great advice from people who know that the job of a change leader is to educate, engage, and empower others.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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?

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.”

I agree with Lencioni.  In my experience, every employee  wonders, “Does anyone care about me as a person? Do I belong here?”  The answers go a long way toward determining motivation, engagement, retention, and productivity.

In fact, the 2007 Tower’s Perrin Global Workforce Study study of 90,000 employees found that the #1 element any employee wants (across all generations) is senior management interest in his or her well-being.

So, if you are a leader at any level – go ahead and make someone’s day.  Take some time to check in with people one-on-one.  You might try a technique we call the “Take Ten Check-In.”  Take jut 10 minutes a day to ask one person how he/she is doing.  Make it about the person – not just the work.  You will make his/her day.

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.

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.

While not a member of the team myself, I played along with the activity privately – doodling in my own notebook.  Without even realizing it I drew an owl and wolf.  Hmm. . .  All of the sudden I realized the owl represented the intellectual aspect of my work – the writing, which I love.  But the owl is solitary – you almost never see two owls together!  The wolf to me represented being a part of a strong, devoted, and powerful pack.  Still fiercely independent but able to come together to bring down prey and share in raising the young. This metaphor told me that I need to be working more with other people!

Wow! I never would have predicted that such powerful individual and team insight could come from such a simple (seeming) activity!  My guess is that it unleashes that non-judging right side of our brains and tells us what we are really feeling without slowing us down with left-brain rational processing.

Give it try yourself or with your team.

In July, Newsweek reported that 54% of employed Americans plan to look for a job when the recession ends.  The percentage is even higher for 18-29 yr. olds  with 71% saying they want to make a change.

History teaches us that trends in the job market shift every few years. In the 90′s tech talent was in demand.  Post-911 the bubble burst and the market favored employers.  By June 2003, the tide had turned and there was a shortage of talent in most fields. 2007 – well you know what happened.  Reports from many sources indicate that the economy is recovering and we are on the way out of the current recession.  What are you doing now to engage and retain your employees?

Arneson writes:

I checked out the site myself and was stunned to see an index that included hundreds of categories on a wide variety of topics.  Everything from video clips to fables to models and diagrams! Check it out – but beware – hours may go by before you realize it!

The results of the study are summarized in the report, “Engaging the 21st Century Multi-Generational Workforce.”

The primary focus of the study was on whether generational differences matter when it comes to employee engagement.  In short, the answer is yes.  Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Ph.D., director of the Sloan Center says, “We found that different factors ‘drive’ the levels of engagement of different groups of employees.”

While the insight into engaging the different generations is reason enough to read the report, I was particularly interested in the findings related to how different groups of employees are weathering the economic storm. 

Employees from both Generation Y (age 26 and younger) and Generation X (age 27 – 42) reported a drop in engagement, while employees in the Baby Boomer and Traditionalist generations reported almost no change in engagement. 

This phenomenon may be due to the fact that employees of the first two generations have never experienced tough times, whereas older employees have.  Having lived through previous downturns, Boomers and Traditionalists may have learned that things ultimately do get better.  As a group, workers over the age of 43 may therefore have developed more resiliency. 

The study reminded me of a recent BusinessWeek article about how the recession is impacting the country’s youth.  According to their Age of Anxiety piece,

” They (the millennial generation) are entering the workplace at a terrible time, and their first career decisions could have financial implications that last for years.”

So What?

Both the study and the article both point to the fact that we need to do more to help younger workers cope with the anxiety of living and working in a recession. 

If you are a Baby Boomer or Traditionalist boss, find time to have conversations with your younger workers about how they are feeling and coping. You may feel that you don’t have time to “coddle” younger workers given all of the other demands you face.  However, my own research and that from Harvard professor Bob Sutton, shows that employees can become paralyzed by anxiety which then results in decreases in productivity.

So taking some time to share your own stories of recovering from previous downturns and suggesting strategies that helped you cope in the past may ultimately improve the your younger workers’ productivity and your team’s results.

I recently worked with a Vice President from a defense company to create a town hall meeting that allowed and encouraged her more tenured team members to connect with the newer folks.  The experienced employees shared their suggestions for dealing with chaos, anxiety, and overwork.  The immediate result was a palpable sense of relief in the room and a heightened level of energy across the team.