86: The Root Cause of Employee Dis-Engagement with Tevis Trower

With so much emphasis on employee engagement programs, there is very little emphasis on the root cause of employee dis-engagement. Despite the overwhelming research on the negative effects of employee dis-engagement, very little is actually being done to move the needle. No amount of money or attention on employee reward programs, wellness efforts, or engagement programming will make a difference if we don’t address the underlying issue.   Tevis Trower helps organizations optimize their most precious assets: humans. As a “corporate mindfulness guru” she has served clients in over 70 markets, clients include HBR, YPO, PWC, KKR, Soros, Bloomberg, Viacom, Google and AOL/HuffPo on mindfulness, executive lifestyle, mastery, innovation, and sustainable success. She's a forever beginner guitarist, snowboarder and surfer. Tevis and I talk about the power of the beginner mindset, the root causes of employee dis-engagement, how to gain perspective on your own behaviors that could be contributing to a poor culture, and the challenges of trying to change the leadership above you.    Read the related blog article: Why Isn’t Your Employee Engagement Program Working?   Join the Modern Manager community (www.mamieks.com/join) by February 11, 2020 to be eligible to win a full behavioral, motivational, and axiological analysis and a 90-minute debriefing. These tools will gather information about your brain type, communication type, motivational orientation (what moves you), emotional consistencies (what emotions you rely on for decision making), effective nature, default instincts, emotional needs, self-esteem, self-direction, practical thinking, structured thinking, work/role-awareness, etc. One member will be drawn at random but you must join before February 11th, 2020 to be eligible.  If you work for a nonprofit or government agency, email me at [email protected] for 20% off any membership level.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Help me write my new book! I’m researching what makes a manager great to work for. Share your story and experience at www.managerialgreatness.com Help spread the word, too! Share the link with friends and colleagues.    KEY TAKEAWAYS When you have high expectations of yourself and you’re in the beginning or early stages of your skill development, it can be hard not to judge yourself. Instead, especially in areas that are for fun (e.g. hobbies) and you won’t ever be an expert, give yourself permission to be an “always beginner.”  An “always beginner” has the mindset that I’m learning exactly what I should be, I’m as far along as I should be, and I’m enjoying this moment for what it is without the pressure of seeing it as a only a step to some desired future.