How Thriving Employees Drive Engagement, Purpose & Growth at Work

Cuando estoy en Nueva York, rara vez echo de menos bajar hasta el río Hudson y pasear por el tramo en el que se produjo la más extraña de las imágenes: un avión comercial aterrizando impecablemente sobre su superficie helada. 

El 15 de enero de 2009, poco después de despegar del aeropuerto de LaGuardia, el vuelo 1549 de US Airways chocó contra una bandada de gansos. Los gansos fueron succionados por los motores gemelos del avión, lo que provocó un fallo total de los motores y la pérdida de empuje, por lo que el capitán del vuelo 1549, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, tuvo que enfrentarse a una crisis extrema y a diversos retos. 

No sólo tuvo que mantener el avión bajo control, sino que también tuvo que decidir rápidamente si podían hacer un aterrizaje de emergencia en un aeropuerto cercano - o encontrar otra alternativa para hacer aterrizar el avión de forma segura en una de las regiones más concurridas de los Estados Unidos de América. 

Back home in Bengaluru, recently, a student of mine, who heads Talent Management for a reputed organization, called me with a not so strange request, considering her job role - What suggestions do I have to help her manage talent in her organization? Attrition rates were spiralling and important projects were negatively impacted! 

I spun her a curveball - What are your incumbent talent management strategies? Well, she said with some asperity, we do the following: 

1. Pagamos bien a la gente 
2. Tenemos flexibilidad en el trabajo y trabajamos desde casa 
3. Les damos una prima anual 
4. Los llevamos a fiestas TGIF (Thank God for Its Friday) 
5. Tenemos actuaciones de entretenimiento internas 

Fantástico, dije, pero ¿se sienten vivos sus empleados? ¿Se sienten llenos de energía y rebosan entusiasmo al venir a trabajar? El silencio fue ensordecedor. El hecho es que los empleados se comprometen e implican sólo cuando prosperan. 

Para prosperar hay que estar vivo y creer que se está vivo. Para ello, los seres humanos deben ser creativos y tener la autonomía necesaria para ejercer esa creatividad. Y lo que es más importante, el empleado tiene que creer que su contribución no sólo es útil, sino que tiene un impacto. Esto explica por qué algunas profesiones tienen empleados muy comprometidos: las Fuerzas Armadas, los Servicios Médicos y Afines, los Profesores. 

Al final, la gestión del talento no es sólo cuestión de dinero, fiestas o actuaciones de entretenimiento. Tiene que ver más con la creatividad, la innovación, el impacto, el aprovechamiento y la capacidad de verse a uno mismo bajo una luz positiva. Por último, un empleado necesita estar vivo y próspero para seguir comprometido. 

I eventually told my former student - Ask your employees if they feel alive and whether they are thriving? Do they like to come to work? That should take care of talent management! This is easily done by using employee satisfaction surveys or during exit interviews. 

Thriving employees are less susceptible to stress and burnout - and are much healthier, overall. When employees are thriving, they are not satisfied with the status quo and behave proactively to impact their job environment in ways that enable more thriving amongst their peers.  

When employees thrive, they feel alive, energized, and committed and are constantly looking for opportunities to make a difference. They not only drive themselves but their peers too – they have a vitality that is hard to miss. Importantly people who thrive also have a great thirst for learning and try to alter the incumbent and grow all the time. Growth is sustainable because the person is learning fresh skills and competencies at every turn. 

A great example of how people who thrive work and live is the brilliant Capt. Sully Sullenberger, air force veteran and commercial pilot. Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born January 23, 1951) is an American retired Air Force fighter pilot and airline captain. The act of safely landing his stricken aircraft in the Hudson and saving the lives of his passengers and crew is often described by aviation experts as a sheer genius and the act of an inspired person.  

Sully thrives. Sully's story is one of dedication, hope, and preparedness, revealing the important lessons he learned through his life, in his military service, and his work as an airline pilot. It reminds us all that, even in these days of conflict, tragedy and uncertainty, there are values still worth fighting for—that life's challenges can be met if we're ready and prepared for them. Capt. Sullenberger, thought of only one thing in life – flying. It was his dream, his life and his hobby! 

Research indicates that people who are thriving invariably do better at work, their performance is more sustainable and they display greater acts of organization sustainable behaviour; that is, they are ready to travel beyond the normal call of duty in getting a job done. OCB is a rare trait these days where selfishness and short-sightedness permeate the workplace.  

What is it that enables thrivers to do so well? It is found that invariably they have personal missions of excellence, are better team players and create solid bonds with their team fellows and value relationships at work and very importantly are extremely resilient in the face of hardship and difficulty.  

People who thrive, more often than not, have high levels of self-efficacy and confidence and can deal with the rigours of work with panache. It is said that Capt. Sullenberger displayed great clarity of mind and icy calmness in landing his plane on the Hudson.  

The confidence of a person thriving brings passion and calmness and allows them to make decisions' that are more often than not right. 

Statistics around thrivers are staggering – they miss fewer days of work, are healthier, visit a doctor less, collaborate better and communicate more clearly and the important point is that they are vastly superior problem solvers.  

Thrivers create more of their kind at work and are great leaders as they signal vitality and passion to their subordinates and peers. Thriving is infectious and creates employees who are engaged and consistent high performers.  

People who thrive have an innate ability to prioritize their goals and, in an emergency, jettison the least important ones while zeroing on the most important, a critical trait for high performing and engaged employees. This is called goal sacrificing! Sully valued the concept of goal sacrificing.  

He instinctively knew that goal-sacrificing was paramount on Flight 1549. "By attempting a water landing," he says, "I would sacrifice the 'aeroplane goal'—trying not to destroy an aircraft valued at $60 million—for the goal of saving lives." At that critical moment, he was right in his decision making. 

So, my student shot back at me, what makes an employee thrive? Well, the answer is obvious but rarely understood and followed – healthy personal habits, regular and nutritious meals, sound sleep over eight hours, regular exercise and getting breaks from work to re-energize which includes decluttering the mind. Organizations must create a culture and nudge their employees towards leading healthy lifestyles. 

Thrivers also have meaningful jobs and it is an open secret that it is the quality of the job that keeps employees engaged. The well-researched job design model looks at four questions that high-performers ask in delivering great results. 

1. ¿Qué recursos controlo directamente dentro de la organización para realizar el trabajo? (ámbito de control) 
2. ¿Qué medidas se utilizarán para evaluar mi rendimiento? (ámbito de responsabilidad) 
3. ¿A quién debo influir para alcanzar los objetivos de los que soy responsable? (ámbito de influencia) 
4. ¿Cuánto apoyo puedo esperar cuando pido ayuda a otras personas? (alcance del apoyo) 

In having engaged employees and managing them organizers must create an environment which is conducive to innovation, autonomy, a free-flow of ideas and have an enabling culture that is conducive to learning. However, the stable business environment and captive talent pipelines in which such practices were born no longer exist. It's time for a fundamentally new approach to talent management and organizations need to create new paradigms in managing their talent in what is turning out to be an extremely complex and changing world where uncertainty is a norm.  

Carefully selected employees who are then mentored and coached need to be retained, not by pampering them but by painting and presenting challenges that pique interest and keep employees excited.  

Unfortunately, mundane, TGIF gigs are passed and do not work anymore. As Herzberg would say – go for the motivator and not the hygiene factor! Ensure that your scarce talent feels alive. 

How Empuls empowers thriving employees 

Empuls addresses every critical element mentioned in the article through a holistic, AI-led platform, to ensure employee wellbeing: 

Just as Sully made a decision that prioritized human life over equipment, organizations must pivot from superficial engagement to deeply human, thriving work cultures. And Empuls makes that not only possible—but scalable by prioritizing employee wellness. 

If you'd like help mapping this mindset into a strategic engagement plan using Empuls, just schedule a call!