We’ve looked at Mission and Adaptability. Individually they’re each required to create a great culture. But, we also looked at them as a pair. The top of the chart says “External Focus” meaning that these two quadrants look to the outside world. They are not focused on things internal to the organization but are focused on the future with Mission and on the customer and industry needs and changes with Adaptability.
Today we’ll begin focusing on the third quadrant, Involvement. As a preview of things to come, you’ll notice that the left side of the chart is labeled “Flexible”. This means that the two quadrants on the left side of the chart, Adaptability and Involvement help create very flexible organizations. We’ll talk more about that when we look at Involvement in summary.
Like all of the other quadrants, Involvement has three subsections:
- Empowerment
- Team Orientation
- Capability Development
There seems to be an abundance of “Engagement” surveys in the market place today. I believe the root of these was based on the research of the Gallop Organization. Their premise is that the more employees are “engaged” the more productive they are; leading to a more successful organization. I agree with their premise.
I also agree that the Denison organization’s focus on empowerment, team orientation, and capability development direct the company and it’s employees to specific areas of engagement that have the greatest impact. It’s not just engagement for engagement’s sake but focused engagement by empowering people, equipping them with the right capabilities and helping them work as united teams.
There is a lot to learn in this quadrant and as with the others, it’s easy to declare but difficult to implement. Doing so will help you create a great corporate culture.
