Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has been used in organizational change efforts for a number of years now. Can you use AI for Employee Engagement?
Here’s the 6 Fundamentals, as outlined by Whitney & Trosten-Blooms, that I believe have staying power with creating employee engagement that produces results.
- Freedom to Be Known in Relationship
- Freedom to be Heard
- Freedom to Dream in Community
- Freedom to Choose to Contribute
- Freedom to Act with Support
- Freedom to be Positive
Here’s what managers and supervisors can do to leverage this approach without being Pollyanna.
Freedom to Be Known in Relationship – where are there opportunities to see your employees outside of their job or role? What kinds of conversations can you create build relationships with your staff? Humans are a connected-species. Sure, work defines us, but it doesn’t have to completely define who we are. We find connection and relationship through conversation. Harness the potential for relationship with your staff that models the type of relationships that allows them to connect fully to you and your organization.
Freedom to be Heard – this involves your curiosity, empathy and compassion. How do you let your staff be heard? Open-door. One-on-one’s. Asking vs. Telling. When people are being heard, they open themselves up. This openness fosters employees to bring their complete capabilities to your organization.
Freedom to Dream in Community – this is about the vision. How connected is your staff to your vision? The vision of the organization? Do they have a clear line of sight on how they contribute to that vision?
Freedom to Choose to Contribute - this is key! With choice comes empowerment. How do you foster this contribution to projects, tasks, assignments? (Hint: Asking vs. Telling)
Freedom to Act with Support – when “people know that others care about their work and are anxious to cooperate” they build trust, achieve results and delight with surprise. How do you support your staff to take on new challenges? How do you treat mistakes? Easy to own up to, or catch me in you can mentality. Your trust and support is key to increased performance.
Freedom to Be Positive – we get more of what we focus our intention on. What conversations are you creating? Threats, Weaknesses or Opportunities, Aspirations. Which do you want more of in your organization? Focus the conversation on that!
Choose one Freedom to try on this week. Focus some effort and intention on this one freedom. What results to you want to achieve?
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Nice Articles, thanks for this, looking forward to your next post. Keep your good work.