Recently, I was talking to the leader of a nonprofit organization who was complaining that volunteerism was at an all time low. \u201cEven when people volunteer, most of them don\u2019t show up or follow through,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t seem to be engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This is a common problem in the for-profit world as well. In fact, barely one in ten of the global workforce is engaged on the job, according to Gallup<\/a>. Most people are just checked out.<\/p>\n I spoke to a business leader in our area who was surprised to hear we don\u2019t have a centralized office and that all of our employees worked remotely, even our local ones.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no way I could do that,\u201d he said. \u201cI can hardly get my people to work even when I am right on top of them. They just aren\u2019t engaged. If I let them work remotely, they\u2019d spend all day goofing off.\u201d<\/p>\n In both cases what\u2019s missing is connection. If there\u2019s no connection to the organizational vision, the team leader, other teammates, or organizational outcomes, then leaders will fight uphill battles on engagement everyday.<\/p>\n But if leaders cultivate those connections, they\u2019ll build teams that are enthusiastic about driving results for the organization. Based on that understanding, my teammates are the most engaged employees I have ever seen. Specifically,<\/p>\n\n