The movie Unstoppable. A great lesson in employee engagement.
If you haven’t seen the movie Unstoppable you might not want to read this post yet. If you have seen it or are not going to see it keep reading.
My favorite part of the movie was at the very end……. when they told you that the Corporate Jerk lost his job to the woman who really understood train operations. I also couldn’t help but laugh at the apparent CEO’s golf game being interrupted as tragedy was about to happen at his company. This is the stuff that employees assume is happening anyway; why not have some fun with it? This is the stuff that decreases employee engagement and makes for a lousy employee experience.
Leaders often forget that those running their business know more about the day-to-day of what is working and what is not. Unstoppable had a little bit of fun with that one.
- Let’s not include vital people in making decisions; by vital I mean the people actually doing the work.
- Let’s not give people information; just tell them that this is the decision and you don’t need to know why. It’s that old “I’m the mommy; that’s why” syndrome.
- Let’s put profits and stock prices ahead of what is right.
When I talk with prospective clients I ask them a couple of questions. First I always ask them if they are ready to include everyone in the process of building and growing the business. The second question I ask is what they and their group are going to do immediately after spending an hour, half day or day with me. If you can’t answer those questions I’m not the guy for you. Lip service doesn’t work for me – and I know it doesn’t work for employees.
Doing the right thing and including the right people will always be the best choice you can make. Inviting the unusual suspects to participate in planning meetings, product development sessions and crisis management has benefits that will live on forever. It will not only engage employees and get them talking about their “cool employer” but it will label you as an industry leader. Isn’t that what most businesses want anyway?
So the good news learned from Unstoppable is that those who saved the day were recognized; and that does happen in the real world – from time to time. I’d like to see and hear about more of that. The unrealistic part is that most employees in any organization would not rebel against management; but instead put their tails between their legs, take the verbal hand slapping and obey their marching orders. Maybe the workplace needs to be more like the movies?
But here’s what I’m really wondering this morning. It said that the woman was promoted to VP of Train Operations. The next screen shows Corporate Jerk and it says “which used to be Corporate Jerk’s Job.”
It never said that Corporate Jerk was fired however……….
