Sunday, August 7, 2022 | 9:00 a.m – 10 a.m.
Stephen Martini, Director, Metro Nashville Department of Emergency Communications
Today’s employee falls into one of three general categories – actively engaged, not engaged or actively disengaged. Pollsters at Gallup have for more than 20 years tracked employee engagement in these three categories to better monitor changes in the U.S. workforce. Stephen Martini (Director / Metro Nashville Department of Emergency Communications) and Paul Boulware (Account Executive / Vector Solutions) discussed the latest results from the poll conducted earlier this year and applied those realities to the typical emergency communications center (ECC).
Actively engaged employees feel they have an opportunity to do what they do best each day with someone encouraging their development and feel as though their opinions count. They are involved and enthusiastic about and committed to their work, specifically as it relates to productivity, customer engagement and overall success in the workplace. These same employees support innovation and growth. Gallup results state these individuals make up 32% of a typical team – down 4% from 2020.
Actively disengaged employees typically feel miserable about their work experiences and spread that unhappiness to their coworkers. The only thing they like about their job is how much they hate it and the opportunity they have to complain about it with their coworkers. The one true hope for engaging this individual is to help them find what they are passionate about and help them be successful, even if that’s somewhere else! Gallup results state these individuals make up 17% of a typical team – up 3% from 2020.
Not engaged employees put in their time and fulfill their job responsibilities, but they are more neutral about the organization as a whole. To this group, work is just a paycheck and they don’t see a need or reason to become more involved expending any extra effort beyond the basic job description. While not hostile or disruptive, these employees show up to work and kill time, doing the minimum required, putting little effort into helping the customer. They are not carefully watching for dangers or difficulties, helping the team avoid pitfalls. They are more likely to miss work or change jobs at the first glimpse of a new opportunity – more focused on lunch or their next break, trying to get their tasks done without interference or involvement with management. Gallup results state these individuals make up 50% of a typical team – steady for the past several years.
It is the goal of leadership to create an environment inside the ECC to swing those ‘not engaged’ employees to become ‘actively engaged’! They need to see how the work they’re doing fits into the bigger picture, having a voice in the activities supporting the ultimate vision, engaging in opportunities to advance those initiatives through action, and understanding the work they do makes a tangible difference. This can be done by establishing committees to address important projects like training, quality assurance, policy and procedure, facility beautification, employee wellness and recreation, and technology. Leaders could establish a learning library featuring helpful books on a variety of self-improvement topics to help grow team members both professionally and personally. Titles to consider include: “QBQ”, John Miller; “Who Moved My Cheese”, Dr. Spencer Johnson; “Excellence Wins”, Horst Schulze; “It’s Our Ship”, Capt. Michael Abrashoff; “The Power of Positive Leadership”, Jon Gordon; “Financial Peace”, Dave Ramsey; “The Resilient 9-1-1 Dispatcher”, Jim Marshall; “People Driven Leadership”, Adam Timm.
Investing in our team members provides them the confidence that they matter – that leaders care about their overall well-being, which requires communicating, development efforts, involvement and collaboration. By creating opportunities to hear from our team members in significant ways and providing avenues to actively invest in their future success, we create a window of opportunity for ‘not engaged’ team members to become more actively engaged in the mission and vision of our agency.
By Stephen Martini
