How Do You Encourage Engagement?

"More than 500 staff at Keihin Electric Express Railway in Japan are to be subjected to daily face scans by "smile police" bosses reports the Canadian paper "The Globe and Mail." Employees will be put through a facial scan that detects the quality of their smile and then they will receive immediate feedback on whether it is good enough. In fact, if their smile is found lacking, then the software will suggest "you still look too serious," and "lift up your mouth corners." Furthermore, "employees will receive a printout of their daily smile, which they will be expected to keep with them throughout the day to inspire them to smile at all times."

What are they thinking? Seriously.

Would you feel more engaged if you were treated this way at work?

Have you ever worked for a company that justified terrible behavior under the false banner of "engagement, loyalty, or collaboration?"

Unfortunately, we've probably all experienced some silly company policies that attempt to control and "encourage" our behavior. The truth is that it is insulting to everyone that is subject to these latest management fads (ironically, the executives that came up with the latest plans are often immune from the policies).

Maybe the real solution is too simple . . . or too hard . . . or simply too daring, courageous, or too unconventional, but let me put it out there anyway: TRUST, RESPECT, and RECOGNIZE.

TRUST that your employees will do right by you.

RESPECT them for their opinions and abilities.

RECOGNIZE that they are professional adults that simply want to achieve their dreams of a better life -- just like you.

You may be thinking, "What about those that abuse the trust? What about those that don't deserve respect or don't act like professional adults?"

My response: How much time to you spend worrying about the small percentage of non-performers as opposed to the amount of time you spend with your best producers? Are you losing great talent because you focus on the wrong things and maybe even the wrong people?

Come on! Instead of treating our employees like the latest lab experiement, let's make work a great place to be and our employees will naturally be more engaged and happy to be there.

Now that is something to smile about!