Holistic Employee Engagement

Holistic employee engagement is really about creating a positive influence on peoples behaviour.

This goal can be achieved through many of the following means:

1. Support them emotionally, within the context of workplace communications
2. Provide guidance and positive feedback for performance enhancement
3. Recognize good work publicly and openly
4. Demonstrate a commitment to honouring their views and opinions—ask for their perspectives and act on their workplace needs and wishes- what is needed to do their job
5. Work one- on -one in positive collaboration with employees on their work
6. Avoid too little or too much guidance
7. Avoid detailing to extreme measures about their respective projects
8. Avoid unconstructive feedback by addressing only the issue at hand—not all their past transgressions at once or vague comments that do not address specific work behaviours and performance..
9. Do not hold grudges—move forward each day in your attempt to engage them holistically

Building and Nurturing Harmony in the Workplace

Dr. Ian Prattis , founder of Friends for Peace Canada, who is a Zen teacher, speaker and writer about the well-being of the planet . He is a writer of articles for Guidelines to Recreate Our World based on the teachings of Zen.

He believes the source of peace in the world is a peaceful mind.

This also applies to the workplace. To create positive and collaborative workplace culture , you have to work on transforming the seeds of fear, anger that may be germinated by working on cultivating peace within its inner core.

Sometimes, such an environment can be nurtured simply individuals being a peace within themselves. Peace happens one step , one person, and one mind at a time. Yes, it can take internal work to achieve this... Some people can work towards this through meditation, Tai Chi, and Qi Qong and other programs that are starting in some workplaces to reduce stress and negative environmental issues.

Yes, it is possible to change the human mind set..

Emotional Intelligence and leadership role

The key to success is good leadership . Good leadership from many perspectives is the ability to handle your emotions and the emotions of others.

This ability encompasses being able to process other people's emotions-- to perceive, use and understand and regulate emotions.

Perceiving emotions is considered to be a critical attribute for leadership in the 21st century.

In a management/ leadership role, there has to be a strong emphasis on communication and emotion is a form of communication.

Therefore, a person's emotional intelligence is strongly connected to a person's leadership strength.

As the author: " A Year in Serendipity: A Journalling
Workbook"http://tinyurl.com/serendipityjournal , I recommend this journal as part of this journey to developing your emotional intelligence for your leadership role.

Creating a positive workplace culture

In your workplace behavior and interactions,try to honor your life and the lives of others each day.

You will find that by doing so, you are creating and nurturing a positive workplace culture that motivates and engages.

Goal setting and achievements

For goal setting and achievement re your work projects, do a photo collage to inspire and motivate yourself, especially when facing a challenging situation.

Place it in a prominent position and it will be imprinted on your mind... You will find it quite effective as a visual reminder and energizer, I am sure.

Dealing with Conflict

What you may understand intellectually, you may not understand emotionally. It is important for you to know this , particularly when dealing with conflict in the workplace.

So it pays to monitor “your emotional temperature” in such situations.

Do not forget the importance of the personal touch in our Digital Age

In the 21st century, we have a growing concern among communication specialists that the power of the human touch is being lost in our Digital Age in sharing an experience and story telling.



While facts and figures often will put listeners to sleep, a story/ an illustration from real life can motivate them to action.



Author Annette Simmons says, The missing ingredient in most communication is humanity.



Remember these words: In the high tech era, the human-personal touch is even more important in making the connection that makes a difference in the workplace and in the world.

Work relationships in our digital world

In your work and business relationships, it is important to think of them – not as a thing in and of themselves, but as part of a larger process.

This is particularly significant in our digital world with its emphasis on open platform, interactivity and global venue.

Honour this fact by considering and respecting different cultures, and different technological points of view.

Cultivating an engaged workplace culture

Whether you are an employee or an employer, there are four things needed to cultivate a productive and meaningfully engaged workplace culture.

1- Trust
2- Credibility
3- Honoring and respecting the individual-- no matter who they may be
4- Reciprocity

The significance of reciprocity in human management capital

A key skill in the 21st century is human management capital . As we progress into this new decade of social media and web-based collaboration, it is really about developing relationships of reciprocity—both online and in-person. Fostering partnerships become the cornerstone of any successful business or organization.

**** We always need to keep in mind that the key component of holistic and authentic relationship management is reciprocity- encompassing honouring and respecting the individual. ****

A Mantra for the Workplace

The reflection I wrote below is something I try to live by in all aspects of my life everyday. Possibly, you too can contemplate and exemplify it in your daily workplace.


"The depths of your beliefs about the world, yourself and others determines your pathway in life. The world and you , in essence, become what you believe."

Time- honoured tips for business relationship success

Some time-honored tips for business relationship success:

• Don’t focus on being right but on having the best results
• Leave the ego at home
• Embrace the ideas of others
• Remember that cultivating the right environment makes a difference and being genuinely listened to— it is not just about compensation
• Under promise and over deliver
• Go beyond their expectations
• Acknowledge and practice the true art of reciprocity
• Commit random acts of kindness

Repect and honor the individual and their back story

As Dale Carnegie would say.. learning is an active process. We learn by doing. In our interactions, try to understand the other person’s point of viewpoint.

It is much easier to find fault with people, then to praise them.

It is human nature to talk about what we want, than what the other person wants.

Respect and honor the person through trying to understand their back story( what situations and factors brought them to where they are now).

Reflective task for the New Year-- 2010

As we continue into the new year of 2010, it is important to reevaluate your interests, values, leadership abilities – to take an introspective look at where we are in our professional and personal lives..

There are various sites that can help us in this reflective task. . Some of these are free and others are not.


Here is one for online assessment and testing. This one looks at transformational, transactional, and people management competencies.

: www.myskillsprofile.com

Listening and Holistic/ Organic Communication

Listening is the one key ingredients of holistic/ organic communication. It involves and embraces all the senses as well as the heart , mind and spirit in reaching out to build a bridge unifying all parties. But, to achieve this goal, get ready to do some hard-core active and totally engaged listening.