Do your employees feel like "an insider"?

#35, January 27, 2009

You remember the feeling: it's your first day back at school and all your friends are excited to see you again. You feel valued. Fast forward to the present: your manager buzzes you and says she wants to see you, and you know you're not in trouble. She has an idea she wants to bounce off you, because she values your opinion.

Contrast that with the feeling of being an outsider: remember your first day at a new school or in a company where everyone knows each other and you don't know anyone. Even worse than this is the experience of an employee who feels on the outside even after years with the company.

Insiders have a strong emotional connection to the organization. They know they're part of the team; they feel valued and involved. They participate in problem solving and decision-making, and will play an active role in looking for ways to improve performance.

When people feel like an insider, they move beyond just being engaged to feeling a sense of commitment to the organization. This need is so easy to satisfy; it costs nothing except a bit of effort on your part, and the payoff is huge! Here are some things you can do to get your whole team feeling like "an insider" today.

    Make time in regular team meetings to get team members involved by:
  1. Asking for their ideas on how to improve performance
  2. Identifying internal and external customers, and what value your team delivers to them
  3. Brainstorming ways that you could increase customer satisfaction by adding to that value
  4. Getting input from team members on dealing with problems or challenges your team is facing
  5. Encouraging team members, individually or in sub- groups, to take ownership on projects and report back to team members at the next meeting.
The need to be "an insider" is the third level of the Passion Pyramid, which identifies the needs that must be satisfied to create passionate, committed employees.

In the next tip we will look at the fourth-level need: the need for meaning.

How passionate are you about your work and your organization? Click here to take the two-minute Passion Index™ survey and find out!

Keep reading our Weekly Leadership Tips for ways you can create a work environment where all team members are engaged, committed to your organization, and passionate about doing a great job every time.

Learn how to light a fire within your employees, not under them! Click here to purchase a copy of Keith's book, Engagement Is Not Enough - You Need Passionate Employees to Achieve Your Dream.

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© 2007 Keith Ayers. All rights reserved.

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