Jill Christensen
Jill ChristensenAuthor Blogger
Jill Christensen is a guest blogger for EmpowerPoints, an employee engagement expert, best-selling author, and international keynote speaker. She is a Top 100 Global Employee Engagement Influencer, authored the best-selling book, If Not You, Who?, and works with the best and brightest global leaders to improve productivity and retention, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth by re-engaging employees. Jill’s Website | LinkedIn Profile

I read a Forbes article about the linkage between common sense and great cultures.  The author points out that many top leaders forget to consult their common sense when figuring out how to lead other people.  In forgetting, leaders make things far more complicated than they need to be and risk creating a disengaging, demeaning work culture.

I have seen this scenario play out firsthand in countless companies during my career, which is why I created a simple four-step process to increase trust in senior leadership and an employee’s emotional connection to the company.  Many leaders tell me they think employee engagement is difficult and I tell them that’s because they are over complicating things.

At the end of the day, virtually every person in this world wants a handful of things from their work environment:

  • To have a voice and be heard.
  • To be connected to something bigger than themself.
  • To be acknowledged, appreciated, and recognized.
  • To learn and grow.

Very few people are motivated strictly by money.  People simply want to know that they matter.  That’s it.  Inherently, I think most leaders know this, but they get so caught up in thinking that employee engagement is difficult, that they muddy the waters and lose sight of how simple it is to lead effectively.

BE AWESOME.  If you are making things more difficult than they have to be as it relates to your culture journey, take a step back.  It’s a perplexing time for a lot of people; the last thing anyone needs is more confusion.  Creating a meaningful, engaging culture is not difficult.  In fact, it’s simple.  Focus on the four things that virtually every person in this world wants from their work environment, and you will simplify your world and ensure the long-term success of your business.  Priceless.