ENGAGING YOUR

EMPLOYEES











By Reiss Motivation Profile Asia Pte Ltd

!"#$%&'() "+ ,-&.. /")&01)&"2 3%"+&4- 5.&16 789:
;;;<%-&..1.&1<=">
!"#$#% '()* !+,-(.%%/
In a Toweis Walton suivey, it was ievealeu that only a small poition of employees in an
oiganization (SS%) aie engageu. The iest aie eithei uisengageu, uetacheu oi felt unsuppoiteu.
As BR manageis anu bosses, how can you engage youi employees such that they feel
appieciateu.
Beie's a typical scenaiio:
}eiemy, by natuie, is an active, out-uooisy guy. Be is most uiiven to woik in jobs that iequiie
him to be physically active. Bence, his job as a uiivei at the logistics company that meant he
spent many houis on-the-go suiteu him well. Be peifoimeu well as a uiivei, anu he was nameu
the "best employee of the month" S times in the iow. 6 months into the job, the BR managei
ueciueu to offei him a chance to "upgiaue his caieei" as a "iewaiu" foi his goou peifoimance.
}eiemy was offeieu a new position within a company - a stock-taking anu inventoiy position.
With the piomise of eaining moie money, }eiemy took it up. But within 2 months, }eiemy's
piouuctivity uippeu, anu his confiuence uiveu fuithei as he maue mistakes. As the iesult, he
became uisillusioneu. Bis supeivisoi uiu not unueistanu why }eiemy's peifoimance was below
expectations. Be knew that }eiemy was a "goou employee" anu hau goou woik attituue, so he
assumeu that }eiemy's "pioblem" is that he was unfamiliai with the new job, anu uiu not have
the iight skills foi the job. Be auviseu }eiemy that the job will get easiei as he became moie
familiai with it, anu tolu }eiemy he will suppoit }eiemy by senuing him on intensive tiaining
couises on inventoiy anu stock-taking. With some tiaining, }eiemy's piouuctivity impioveu
tempoiaiily, anu both the supeivisoi anu the BR managei assume that he will be able to
peifoim well in the inventoiy job, just as he uiu as a uiivei fiom hencefoith. But 6 months into
the inventoiy job, }eiemy's piouuctivity uippeu once moie. Be began to iesent being sent foi
tiaining, anu staiteu becoming incieasingly uncoopeiative at woik. The supeivisoi, having lost
patience with }eiemy, staiteu issuing waining letteis to }eiemy, iesulting in }eiemy looking foi a
job elsewheie.
What went wiong heie, anu what woulu be uone uiffeiently.
(1) What Went Wiong: }eiemy was assigneu a job that uiu not suit his natuie. As a peison
who is active anu loves the outuoois is bettei suiteu foi jobs that iequiie him oi hei to
be outuoois anu active, insteau of assigning the staff to an inuooi, seuentaiy job such as
stock-taking anu inventoiy uoes not activate the peison's natuial stiengths anu
inclinations.

What Coulu Be Bone Biffeiently: If the BR managei wanteu to offei an expansion of
ioles, complementaiy ioles that iequiieu }eiemy to be outuoois anu active, such as a
ueliveiy position, woulu have been moie suitable. In auuition, if }eiemy was a sociable
peison, a sales iepiesentative position, foi example, coulu also woik.

(2) What Went Wiong: The BR managei assumeu that "upgiauing" one's caieei equateu to
an "inuooi" job in an "office enviionment". While this may holu tiue foi the BR managei,
it wasn't tiue foi }eiemy. We can tell fiom this assumption that the BR managei's natuie
!"#$%&'() "+ ,-&.. /")&01)&"2 3%"+&4- 5.&16 789:
;;;<%-&..1.&1<=">
is the opposite of }eiemy's - someone who enjoys being inuoois, in the comfoit of an
office, anu is piobably not a veiy active peison.

What Coulu Be Bone Biffeiently: As bosses anu BR manageis, it is ciucial that we uo not
impose oui assumptions anu piefeiences on otheis. Each employee is unique anu will
have his oi hei own piefeiences anu stiengths. uet to know what uiives youi staff in
oiuei to iuentify the caiiot that woulu woik best foi each of youi staff.
Baving saiu that, the conventional way of "getting to know" youi staff woulu be to spenu
time with them, obseiving them, anu unueistanuing what uiives them. While this will
woik, especially when an oiganization is small, what happens when an oiganization
giows fiom Su to Suu, anu fiom Suu to S,uuu. What woulu then be an effective way of
"getting to know" youi staff.
This is when bosses anu BR manageis can tuin to piofiling tools to help iuentify what
uiives employees. A scientifically-pioven motivational piofiling tool, such as the Reiss
Notivation Piofile, can be useful. The Reiss Notivational Piofile iuentifies the 16 basic
uesiies that eveiy human peison will have. An example of a basic uesiie is the neeu foi
physical activity. In oui scenaiio above, }eiemy is a peison who has a high neeu foi
physical activity. Be is motivateu to get things uone when the task involves physical
activity, oi leaus to physical activity.
(S) What Went Wiong: }eiemy's supeivisoi assumeu that the suppoit }eiemy neeueu when
he was not peifoiming in his inventoiy anu stock-taking iole was to go foi skills tiaining
anu to give him a peiiou of tiaining anu leaining his new iole. We can tell that fiom this
assumption that the supeivisoi has not ueeply unueistoou the longei-teim, unueilying
causes of }eiemy's uifficulties, which suifaceu 6 months on when }eiemy consiueis
quitting the oiganization. While skills tiaining coulu make }eiemy moie competent to
caiiy out his new ioles, ovei time, as the inventoiy anu stock-taking iole uo not fit into
his natuial uesiies, }eiemy's tiue potential anu abilities will iemain untappeu anu
unuseu.
What Coulu Be Bone Biffeiently: No one is boin with the natuial ability to iuentify
anothei peison's motivations anu uiives, even though it is expecteu that people in
manageiial anu supeivisoiy positions aie able to uo so as the iesult of "expeiience" in
woiking with otheis. This is an assumption many bosses anu BR manageis make. A
bettei way woulu be to senu manageis anu supeivisois to be tiaineu specifically on how
to engage anu motivate staff baseu on theii tiue uesiies anu motivations, anu how to use
piofiling oi motivational tools as means to help them iuentify theii employees' stiengths
anu natuial abilities.
Info about ReissAsia
Reiss Notivation Piofile Asia is the uiiect licensee of Piofessoi Steven Reiss' Reiss
Piofile tool in Austialia, Cambouia, Inuonesia, Inuia, Laos, Nalaysia, Philippines,
Singapoie, Thailanu, anu vietnam. We aie also the licenseu uistiibutoi anu Nastei
tiainei foi Reiss Notivation Piofile ceitification in Asia. Foi moie infoimation, visit oui
website at www.ieissasia.com oi contact }oanne at impasiagmail.com
!"#$%&'() "+ ,-&.. /")&01)&"2 3%"+&4- 5.&16 789:
;;;<%-&..1.&1<=">

0(++)"12$31"# !44%2315%-. 6137 '()*
83$44
Communication occuis in S sepaiate stages:
Stage 1: A message is sent out.
Stage 2: The message is ieceiveu.
Stage S: A ielevant iesponse is sent back
When we say "communication has bioken uown", it is the failuie oi non-action of any one of
these stages. Foi instance, if a message is not sent out, then communication fails at Stage 1. If the
message is not ieceiveu by someone, then it is a failuie in communication at Stage 2. If a
message is ignoieu, then the communication loop has not closeu at Stage S. If a iesponse is sent
back, but is not ielevant to the message, then it is consiueieu a failuie at Stage S.
Knowing what the communication stages is allows us to iuentify wheie the bieakuown in
communication occuis when communicating with staff. Foi example, uuiing a staff appiaisal,
when an employee uoes not speak up about what issues he oi she is facing, it is a failuie in
communication at Stage 1. 0i when a boss ignoies oi avoius an issue when the staff says, "I
uon't feel suppoiteu by management", it is a failuie in communication at Stage S. 0i when the
boss shoots back a vague iesponse such as "What uo you mean not suppoiteu.", it can still leau
to a bieakuown in communication if the question is askeu in uefence iathei than to seek moie
infoimation oi claiification.
Noie effective way to communicate in such an instance coulu be to ask youiself, "what is uiiving
this employee to senu out this message." When you can shift how you view a message, a natuial
iesponse to a message like "I uon't feel suppoiteu by management" woulu leau to moie open-
enueu questions such as what woulu be the natuie of suppoiteu iequiieu.
But moie than just the question itself, how the question is phiaseu anu askeu can also make a
uiffeience in the ielevance of the message in Stage S of the communication loop. Foi example,
you knew what uiives youi employee to uo the things they uo, you coulu easily ueepen the level
of communication by asking in such a way that will appeal instantly to youi employee. So foi
employee A who has a high neeu foi inuepenuence, a question like, "Bow woulu you like to be
suppoiteu." will iesonate bettei with them, while an employee with a neeu to be accepteu by
otheis will appeal bettei to a question like "Bow can I suppoit you bettei."
It uoesn't take a peison houis oi yeais to change the way a peison communicates. By simply
changing the way questions aie askeu, you can quickly change the way communication is
ieceiveu anu sent out.
Info about ReissAsia
!"#$%&'() "+ ,-&.. /")&01)&"2 3%"+&4- 5.&16 789:
;;;<%-&..1.&1<=">
Reiss Notivation Piofile Asia is the uiiect licensee of Piofessoi Steven Reiss' Reiss Piofile tool in
Austialia, Cambouia, Inuonesia, Inuia, Laos, Nalaysia, Philippines, Singapoie, Thailanu, anu
vietnam. We aie also the licenseu uistiibutoi anu Nastei tiainei foi Reiss Notivation Piofile
ceitification in Asia. Foi moie infoimation, visit oui website at www.ieissasia.com oi contact
}oanne at impasiagmail.com