Are you fired up to go to work? Do you feel like you play an active role? Or do you feel like you just go to work, do your job, and get paid? Are you engaged as an employee? If your answer is “No,” you are not alone.

What helps to create an effective company is employee engagement. Engagement for an employer is having more connection with employees than just what it says on their job descriptions. Relationships between employers and employees matter.

Employees need to feel plugged in and more involved. Give them space to breathe and express their passion. Employers should create a positive culture that encourages engagement. Don’t stifle your employees. They should be excited about what they are doing. They want to be a part of something.

A business owner or entrepreneur starts out as the hero for starting something. They attract people who want to follow them. Not only do they do what they are told, but they come up with new ideas.

Then the entrepreneur/business owner is able to move from being the hero to being the host. Rather than them leading every step of the way, they let their employees take on some of that direction.

Then, other people are “pushing the ball.” That can be scary, but also a relief!

About Mark:

Mark is an author, consultant, speaker, and founder of Host Leadership. For the past 25 years, he has brought new ideas to the world of management.

Host Leadership focuses on the leader as the host to produce an effective mindset for engagement, performance, and results.

Challenged Issue:

Only 13 percent of employees worldwide are engaged. How can you, as a business owner or entrepreneur, engage your employees? That is vital to the success of your business!

Mark’s Actionable Tips:

* Think of yourself as a host, not a hero. You will entertain and receive guests (employees). You create a space for them to breathe, have freedom, and enjoy themselves.
* Balance stepping forward and stepping back. Don’t always be the one to do something. Let others step forward and do the work. This lets other people become engaged.
* Invite and influence rather than direct people. Describe what is happening, why the employee you invited should be there, and a choice to the employee whether they attend.

Top Quotes:

* “You wonder how the world manages to keep going. But it does.”
* “Engagement is such a crucial thing.”
* “What are we all trying to do here?”
* “Engagement is...what’s this relationship…that helps us connect…that helps us make the most of what everyone is bringing?”
* “Employee engagement is the secret sauce that makes everything else work.”
* “If you want people just to be sheep and do what you tell them to do, well fine. But I think that’s not going to be building your business.”
* “There are other ways that ideas and input can come into my business. And it can be through these people I am getting to know and trust.”

Guest Links:

* Host Leadership (hostleadership.com)
* Host Six New Roles of Engagement (http://hostleadership.com/book/)

Resources:

* University of Bath (http://www.bath.ac.uk/)
* The Essential 14–Day Guide to Cutting Your Working Hours and Increasing Your Impact (https://www.excellence-expected.com/cwh/) 

Key Timestamps:

* 00:50 Challenged issue
* 01:08 Introduction of guest
* 02:00 Getting results and engagement
* 02:54 Guest’s background and Host Leadership
* 05:27 Engagement