In the earlier posts of this series, I shared that Corporate Executive Board research shows that only one out of ten employees are both engaged and aligned with organizational strategy. I explained how communicating an organization’s Inspiring Identity and increasing Human Value in the organization’s culture are actions leaders can take that will improve employee engagement. The third way is to increase “Knowledge Flow.”
Knowledge Flow exists in an organization when everyone seeks the ideas and opinions of others, shares their ideas and opinions honestly, and safeguards relational connections. An organization with a high degree of Knowledge Flow is one where people have the character strength of humility and realize that no one has a monopoly on good ideas. They seek to learn from their colleagues who have diverse experiences and thinking styles. They understand that they may not like what they hear from colleagues but need to consider it anyway because their co-workers may be right. Finally, because differences of opinions exist and debate will at times become heated, they are quick to safeguard relational connections by apologizing when needed.
A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, did a marvelous job creating a high degree of Knowledge Flow. He liberally shared information, frequently met with employees and challenged them to get the tough questions on the table and share their opinions and ideas about how to solve them. He encouraged open and frank discussions, and was a careful listener who considered what employees said. Within two years of becoming CEO in 2000, he turned the company around, won the confidence of employees, increased employee engagement and retention, and boosted productivity and innovation. Procter & Gamble became so profitable, its stock price increased 75 percent.
In an organization with a high degree of Knowledge Flow, employees feel kept in the loop and that they have a voice in decisions that affect them. Few companies do this well. The lack of Knowledge Flow is another reason why the overwhelming majority of employees are disengaged. It doesn’t have to be this way. Human resource leaders can persuade the leadership team to embrace and implement values and processes that increase Knowledge Flow. Here’s a link to an article I wrote that lays out specific actions you can take to increase Knowledge Flow.
photo:degreezero2000
Michael Lee Stallard (www.michaelleestallard.com) speaks and teaches about leadership, employee engagement, productivity and innovation. He is the primary author of Fired Up or Burned Out and has spoken at leading organizations including Google, NASA, and GE. This is his second career. In his first, he was chief marketing officer for the private wealth management businesses at Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab.
