Fighting Off Engagement on the Annual Shoe-Buying Trip

You know a business term has really gained traction when it enters everyday life – even if it then begins the slow plummet into meaninglessness through excessive use.

So for instance my wife might decide (with good reason) ‘You’re just not engaged with what I’m telling you about your hoovering’. 

Engagement is so key to what HR currently seeks to achieve that it’s consistently near the top of issues quoted by Leaders as disturbing their beauty sleep. It’s so widespread a term that not only does it have its own Government report, it already means different things to different people – everything from an evidence-based, performance-defining approach such as at Standard Chartered and easyJet, to an excuse in some organisations to get people to work even longer hours – a kind of mindless shorthand for ‘HR are here – look busy.’ 

I came across a great example of genuine engagement during my reluctant annual visit to buy new shoes (padding of to visit HRDs takes its inevitable toll). My record for this visit is seven minutes, from walking into the store to purchase; I am not one of the fortunate few for whom shopping is a pleasure in itself.

I’m a little wary of promoting brands, after all this could have been a one-off; let’s call this mythical store ‘Sparks and Mensa’, to keep things neutral. 

Quickly picking a suitable pair, I couldn’t find an Assistant, so resorted to bothering the gent staffing the changing rooms. His face fell. The guy was genuinely distressed he couldn’t leave his post and help. He rang his line manager, in between crestfallen apologies, and she shot over and proceeded to help everyone in sight, behaving as if she genuinely enjoyed helping customers.   

As a race, we’re wary of enthusiasm, and rightly so, because it often has designs upon us; but if freely given (and that’s the key, of course), we relish its worth to organisations as the most explicit symptom of engagement.   

Engagement itself has certain physical and emotional attributes we all recognise, even as this makes it more difficult to quantify, or transfer – a certain directness of purpose, a certain focus, a certain determination to get things done.

Clutching my new shoes, I waved an appreciative hand in Changing Room Man’s general direction. “Very helpful guy.” Sometimes when you feed back something positive, the line manager looks at you as if you’re unhelpfully deranged. While this may or may not be the case, I do so prefer it when people at least pretend otherwise. But Changing Room Man’s Manager beamed. “I’ll make sure he gets that feedback. Bob’s great – don’t know what we’d do without him!”

Engagement in individuals is one thing. Scaling it up, and spreading it, is quite another (a third person on the till was just as helpful and positive). Was it just the store? Is the management there particularly good? Maybe they were all just having a good day? Or is it ley lines, and West Croydon (quite against appearances) is the mystical home of instinctive engagement?   

A code worth cracking. As for me, I’m quite looking forward to next year’s visit now. Hell, I might even try on more than one pair.