On her website, www.engagedhr.com, Denise Lloyd regularly posts on a range of HR topics and also provides links to related articles.

In Newsletter 7, she references an article by Margaret Heffernan on the three key components of making people happy at work: fair treatment, strong community, and professional growth.  Separate and distinct from either “employee happiness” or “employee satisfaction”, in Newsletter 6, she defines the term “employee engagement” as follows: “Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.  The engaged employee actually cares about their work, they will do more than is required, they go above and beyond and all of their efforts lead to better business outcomes.  This is called Discretionary Effort – they don’t have to give it to the business but they do because they want to!”

The Employee Engagement Style Profile from Kevin Kruse’s book, Employee Engagement for Everyone, provides an analysis of the triggers that make individuals feel fully engaged at work.  There are four primary drivers of engagement:  Communication, Growth, Recognition and Trust.  Knowing which of these items motivates you the most will enable you to partner with your manager to maximize your happiness and emotional commitment at work.  Find the profile at kevinkruse.com/profile

Denise Lloyd’s most recent focus is on networking and social media in the workplace.

Talking about the value of networking to job retention and development, Denise provides a link to a recent Globe & Mail article www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/networking-tips-to-land-or-keep-a-job/article8011403/  that points out, based on our experience of the last few years, how important it is to make sure that we keep our job search and job retention skills honed at all times.  If networking is not a skill that we feel we have developed adequately, how do we get started?

Networking should not be about being fake, or attempting to curry favour with superiors by flattery.  It is all about building genuine relationships.  It is about taking an interest in somebody else, and it’s about giving as much as you get.

Target your effort: Your starting point for building networks should be your professional peers, but think also of the business contacts you have in your daily life, particularly service industry professionals with whom you come in contact.  They often have extensive networks themselves across a wide variety of businesses with whom they come into regular contact and may well know of job opportunities coming up in your community.

Become community-minded: Volunteer your time.  “Become involved in local foundations and offer to speak to community groups on topics related to your expertise… don’t wait to be asked.  Offer your talents for the good of others. People will see your work ethic and the way you interact with other people.  They’ll then feel comfortable recommending you for a job in their circle of influence when one becomes available.”

Don’t try to virtual network:  Don’t try to connect to people through social media until you have been introduced in person.  “Once you meet somebody, locate him or her on Facebook or LinkedIn and e-mail or send a text message.  Even in the 21^st century, people like to get to know each other face to face.”

Learn from that schmoozer:  Learn and remember the names of people you meet.  Show a genuine interest in the person and encourage them to talk about themselves.  “It’s all about being positive, confident and caring.”

Follow up:  “Once you make a connection with someone, follow up….with the intent of adding just as much value to that person’s life as he or she would add to yours”

Bottom line:  “…take a step back to the 20^th century, get out into the world and meet people.  Join groups, attend events, volunteer your time and do all of it because of your sincere desire to give as much as you get.  It won’t happen overnight, but meeting people is the best way” to develop your professional network.

Another related link Denise Lloyd gives is to http://socialmediatoday.com/asnood/1358026/social-media-first-impressions which talks about how, in social media, as in life in general, we normally have a 10-second window to make a first impression.

Get the little things right: People search and find you, they take a look at you and think, ‘”You look okay”, so let’s go further.  [Beyond a professional-looking style to your presentation,] do they see that you are active on your pages?  Do you share content that is inspiring useful or valuable?  If you don’t wow them at this point, they leave, and never come back… Even worse: have they spotted some potentially offensive updates?

When someone lands on your social feeds, their opinion about you will be made at that very moment.  If you fail to make a good impression at this point, then you may have lost them forever… As an individual you may not care, but years down the line it could come back to bite you when a future employer makes a decision based on your past social comments.

From a business or brand point of view, how much passing traffic can you afford to lose because of the way you look?  Gaining trust and loyalty from our networks and connections is the goal of every business.  You may not like the fact that you are being judged, but it’s a reality that has to be accepted in today’s world.”