GET YOUR PEOPLE PLAYING
What happens to a sports team that stays in the dressing room after the officials have signalled the beginning of the game? They get walked over of course! It is interesting how many corporate organisations are trying to win in the market place or market space that have their players sitting in the locker rooms. You may say they are on the field of play, afterall they come to the office daily and do their jobs. Well its possible to be on the field physically and remain in the locker room psychologically, going through the motions without any real commitment.
Employee engagement and commitment is crucial to becoming champions in the market place. In general, employee commitment is defined as the psychological attachment of workers to their workplaces. Many managers are yet to realize that the game of business is people and people involvement is the key to winning. Many more are grappling with a lack of commitment and passion in their workers. I dread going into a lot of business places in Nigeria today where the customer is treated like a pest and employees approach their jobs like it is a big burden. Even when you point out to them that their attitude will cost the business they make it clear that they care less. I lay the responsibility firmly at the foot of management.
We have all heard about companies that seem to have everything--great products, enormous capital resources, reputation, skilled employees, "advanced" planning--and they still fail. Why? Most times the people are not committed. Is the ability to inspire passion and commitment a soft skill? Not anymore. Managers MUST have the know-how to elicit commitment or perish! A committed, passionate workforce can: make shifts and leaps that strategic planning alone cannot envision ; fight to achieve the organization's mission ; bring continuous improvement, creativity, and innovation to their work ; enjoy a more fulfilling life, personally and professionally which reflects on the bottom line of their organizations.
Employee commitment is the key to productivity. Even if there are a number of reinvention efforts and top management support, unless employees at all levels are willing to improve productivity, all efforts toward productivity enhancement will come to nothing. Having the right strategy and a good organization isn’t enough. Without commitment, strategy does not fly. It stays rooted to the boardroom tarmac.
Another area where employee commitment is crucial for an organization is in the area of delivering value to the customer. Regardless of how much technology you may employ to improve the consistency and efficiency of the customer experience, what makes it memorable, is an employee that creates a positive, emotional outcome for a customer. Sometimes it will require the employee to do his best and then some. Only a committed employee goes this extra mile. Any company interested in achieving breakthrough value must understand that employee loyalty drives the service profit chain. How then can you ensure employee commitment? There are no easy answers to achieving employee commitment; it requires major investments of time, resources and emotions. Several issues stand out however.

First, managers’ will have to change the way they see their employees. For the past fifty years, management approach has seen capital as the scarce resource in business. So top management define strategy, build a structure to run the strategy then tie the strategy and the structure together with a well articulated system. Competition was therefore based on capital instead of added values and the business with the most capital wins.

Things have changed however as the world of business is awash with capital and internationally there are trillions of dollars available for investment purposes. Nations like the Gulf States and China have become not only exporters of goods and services but are also exporting capital. The scarce resource in business today is ideas, innovation and committed, motivated and entrepreneurial knowledge workers. Top managers must therefore view employees as investors in the company who expect dividend and capital appreciation. Companies that realize this know that such workers must be properly rewarded and recognized. The key for today’s companies is to manage around purpose, people and processes.

Another key issue in employee commitment is the prevailing culture. How much does culture matter in eliciting commitment- quite a lot. Different types of organizational culture will differentially affect different dimensions of employee commitment. Any behavior modeled by influential figures in an organization will soon become the norm. Managers must ask some serious questions like: are people empowered to act; are suggestions taken seriously, are they rewarded? Can we build heroes as these often help build enthusiasm, motivation and momentum behind strategies and change initiatives However the most important way of eliciting commitment in workers is to infuse them with passion.
Passion - not technical expertise, huge organizations or brandname recognition - is what separates truly successful companies from marginal ones. Ultimately we're not driven by what we know, but what we feel. Reason is seriously limited. The heart has reasons which reason might not know of. Most people make decisions based on so-called facts instead of realizing that their decisions may be based on beliefs, myths, assumptions and prejudices.
For example, a so-called learning organization where employees share their knowledge and expertise is useless if employees are not excited about learning. Passion should however be handled with care. It can be both positive and negative. The passion that organizations should strive for is one that includes zest for life, drive to accomplish, competitive fire and desire for truth. However, you should avoid "negative" passion, which includes acting without thinking, spontaneity without purpose and fervor without clarity.
Ensuring a passionate work force begins at the point of hiring. Seek out people with posistive emotional energy. Managers need to hire people who care about what they do otherwise they will waste time, money and resources. During the interview, managers might want to examine body language and ask questions to gauge the candidate's passions and level of commitment.
Its never too late to begin. People really do want to do a good job. They are looking for a reason to. Start today to infuse passion, light the fire, inspire commitment. Get your people playing!