So what happens if your managers don’t want to follow the staff engagement system?

Jason had decided that it was  his managers that were accountable for lifting the level of staff engagement, not David his HR guy.  He had also decided that if his managers didn’t want to take David’s advice (David being an expert in this area), then that was fine with him.  David was still accountable for offering his advice, or giving it if asked, just not for whether his advice was followed.

Sounded nice.  But I had a couple more questions.

“When we were talking about what leads to staff engagement last week” I began, “we agreed it wasn’t just individual actions of managers, it was also related to the systems and processes your managers work in”.

“Mmm hmmm” Jason offered, a smile starting.

“And you said it was David who put together these systems and processes”.

“Mmm hmmm”.  The smile continued.

“And you just said that if your managers don’t listen to David’s advice on staff engagement, then that’s fine with you because it’s not him that’s ultimately accountable, it’s the managers”.

“Mmm Hmmm”.  The smile dropped a little.

“So what happens if your managers don’t follow David’s system?”

The smile disappeared.