On our recent Reset Show, we were joined by the fabulous Sheila Parry, who was talking about her PRIDE model and how it can help to tackle toxic cultures. If you would like to know more about Sheila’s PRIDE model be sure to catch up on the Reset show here. In summary though, the model is a very practical approach to building engagement and high performance, ultimately to make work better for everybody which is absolutely something we at People Lab can get on board with.
The model identifies five core conditions – Purpose, Reputation, Integrity, Direction and Energy, that need to be in place.
One of the principles of the model that really resonated with me, is the idea that nothing happens at work unless employees ‘turn up’ physically and emotionally. Of course the organisation should do everything in its power to design and activate great experiences, which deliver engagement, but what is often overlooked is the role of personal responsibility – we too have a choice about how we show up for work. Let me explain my position…
Experiences don’t just happen to us. Our mindset plays a critical role in how an experience impacts us. To date EX, as a practice, has felt very ‘done too’ employees. But an individual’s mindset, and personal responsibility, has a role to play, which is often under-represented in EX design. Let’s consider for a moment the nature of experiences. It is fair to say that many experiences are subjective, different people will have different subjective experiences dependant on their individual mindset. Our subjective experience is unique to us, given it is produced in our mind. This is why our personal mindset, and psychology, has a critical role to play in the overall EX.
What is fascinating is that our mindset doesn’t only influence how we feel about, and interpret an experience, but it can actually change the outcomes of an experience as well. A study from Kirsch et al (1999) illustrates this – it involved a group of blindfolded students who were told their arm was being rubbed with poison ivy. All of the students’ arms reacted with symptoms of poison ivy, however the plant used wasn’t poison ivy at all, but a completely harmless plant. Then, on the students’ other arm, the researchers rubbed real poison ivy, but told them it was a harmless plant. Even though all of the students were allergic, only a few of them came out in a rash. While this study is no longer considered ethical, it does demonstrate that the expectation of a positive outcome, or indeed a positive experience, makes it more likely to arise. This is referred to as “predictive encoding”. If we prime ourselves to expect a positive outcome, what we are doing is encoding our brain to recognise the outcome when it does in fact arise.
But just how do you define the right mindset to support a better experience? While we can’t answer this question exactly (yet), a recent study by Leadership IQ has revealed those traits required for ‘self-engagement’, which we believe will contribute to the right mindset for an enhanced EX. In their study of over 11,000 employees, they gathered insight on what they termed ‘Self-Engagement ‘ i.e. their optimism, resilience, proactivity, assertiveness, and ambition. Their model of self-engagement involves what they call 18 Outlooks, and in summary reflects the extent to which employees have personal control. The questions were designed to understand the role that employees themselves play and included items such as:
- I expect that more good things will happen to me than bad things
- The tough times I’ve had in my career have helped me to grow and improve
- I find something interesting in every task/project I do.
It’s no surprise that their findings demonstrated that our mind-set at work plays a significant role in the way we experience work and subsequent levels of engagement. What was interesting though was that the research found that often self-engagement is more critical than other engagement enablers, such as the role of the line manager.
The research found the following elements all played a significant role in explaining engagement at work:
- Optimism – the study found that having an optimistic outlook explains 30% of an employee’s inspiration at work. This finding makes sense when viewed through the lens of positive psychology. We know that an optimistic mindset can protect against a downward spiral, as well as reduce levels of anxiety.
- Having an ‘Internal Locus of Control’ – this is when an employee believes that they control their successes and failures, and it is not down to luck but hard work. The study found an internal locus of control explained 26% of an employee’s inspiration at work. Again, this result is not actually that surprising: studies have demonstrated time and again and that people with a high internal locus of control experience more career success, better health, less anxiety and lower stress.
- Resilience – being resilient e.g. coping well when things get tough, explained 25% of an employee’s inspiration at work. We know that resilience is a key skill for overall wellbeing so it makes sense that it would play a role here. Being resilient means being able to bounce-back from setbacks, and cope when things don’t go the way you had hoped.
- Assertiveness – high assertiveness was found to explain 23% of a worker’s employee engagement. Being high in assertiveness means being able to communicate effectively, and clearly express needs, views, and boundaries. Research has found that assertiveness is often correlated with higher levels of self-esteem, and healthy assertiveness skills can even reduce conflicts and aggressiveness in the workplace.
- Meaning in your job – finding something interesting in the work you do, explains 24% of an employee’s inspiration at work. People who find meaning in their work are more inspired and more likely to stay with their employer, more likely to give their best effort at work, and more likely to recommend their employer to others.
The elements outlined here can all be developed and taught – they are not fixed. Developing this type of mindset will positively influence the experience you have at work. In summary, we can support employees to develop their mindset and self-engagement which will have a positive impact on their experience, which has got to be a good thing!
If you would like to find out more about the role of personal mindset in employee engagement and experience, or how to develop individual mindset then why don’t you drop us a line, we’d love to hear from you.
