Affirmation
Charles was eager to join the search for examples of extraordinary engagement. He began to consider all the places he felt demonstrated high levels of care in their daily activities. Tragically, his list was short. This reality underscored the virtually universal problem organizations are facing with engagement.
Looking for a place for lunch, he decided to eat at a restaurant he had never visited before.
“Good afternoon,” a cheerful employee greeted him as soon as he walked in the door. “Will you be dining in or taking out today?”
“Dining in,” Charles said.
Before Charles knew what was happening, he found himself immersed in an outstanding dining experience. The food was delivered to his table hot and fresh; someone offered him fresh ground pepper for his salad; another team member came by to “refresh” his beverage; and to top it all off, one of the managers stopped by his table.
“I’m Greg, one of the managers here; I just wanted to check on you and be sure we met your expectations today,” he said warmly.
“Thanks for checking on me,” Charles said. “This place is bizarre.”
“What do you mean, bizarre?” A concerned look crept across Greg’s face.
“No, no, it’s all good.” Charles quickly added. “However, the level of care is not normal,” he said without thinking. Then it hit him—he might have found his case study.
“If you eat here often, I hope you’ll find it to be normal for us,” the manager said with a smile. “That’s the goal. We want every guest to feel cared for personally on every visit.”
“It appears to be working,” Charles said. “How do you do it?”
“That’s a big question,” Greg said. “We actually do a lot of things behind the scenes so you can have a consistently amazing experience.”
“Can you share with me some of the things you do?” Charles asked.
“It starts with leadership—no organization drifts to greatness.”
“Sure, that makes sense,” Charles agreed. “What else?”
“We have to select the right people and be sure they are aligned on what matters most—this is a never-ending challenge, but without it, everything is so much harder; some things even become impossible without everyone pulling in the same direction.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
It starts with leadership—no organization drifts to greatness.
“Probably two more big ideas,” Greg continued. “We have to be sure the people are fully engaged and focused on execution. If they aren’t engaged, there’s no way we’ll deliver consistently. We want excellence to be the norm, not a random occurrence.”
“Very impressive,” Charles said. “Thanks for sharing! Do you have time for one follow-up question?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s go back to the idea of ‘fully engaged’; my organization has been thinking about that a lot.”
“What have you decided?” Greg asked.
“It’s really hard!” Charles laughed.
“We agree. That’s why we work on it every day.”
“What do you actually do to foster high levels of engagement?”
“You ask really hard questions,” Greg laughed. “We do several things.”
“Give me just one example.” Charles didn’t want to beg, but he would if he had to.
“Okay, just two words: thank you!”
“I’m not sure I follow you,” Charles admitted.
“We want every employee to know how much we value their energy and effort, so we say thank you a lot,” Greg said.
Charles knew he had a puzzled look on his face. “Please say more about that.”
“We say thank you when we see an employee doing their work with excellence; we say thank you when we observe someone going above and beyond our already high standards; we say thank you when we see our people living out our core values; we even say thank you for a team member’s contributions at the end of every shift.”
“Hold on. I was with you until that last example,” Charles said. “Practically, how do you do that?”
“If I am here, I thank every team member when his or her shift is over. If I am not here—I do have a life outside of work,” he smiled, “one of the other managers steps in and thanks people for their work. It has become part of our culture.”
“Doesn’t it get old?” Charles asked.
“I guess if it were not genuine, but when it is from the heart, it tends to connect with the heart. But don’t miss the bigger idea here: people who are appreciated will be much more engaged than those whose efforts are not acknowledged.”
“And you seriously think high levels of affirmation make a difference?” Charles asked.
“How was your experience today?”
“Sorry, bad question,” Charles said. “Something is obviously working. Greg, let me say thank you for sharing your time and your insights. And, thanks for a remarkable experience.”
“We hope to see you again soon,” Greg said.