We Need More Engagement Around Here

Margot is the CEO of a regional health maintenance organization (HMO) with twenty-five local offices serving business and nonprofit organizations. The competition for business has become more intense in recent years as organizations continue to look for ways to reduce cost for medical insurance, yet still ffering medical insurance to employees. A particu- lar concern is that a given company might shift to another HMO if that health care provider can offer lower costs.

Margot expressed her concern at a meeting with the management staff in these words, “I think our HMO could provide better service and lower costs if our employees put in more effort. A lot of the employees I have seen are so laid back, and almost indifferent. They don’t seem to have a sense of urgency.

“I don’t think that by simply downsizing the company we will reduce costs. Having fewer work- ers to accomplish our important work would just make things worse. We would get less work accom- plished, and the quality would suffer.”

After listening to Margot, the vice president of marketing, Jerry, commented: “Margot, you might be right about some of our employees not being totally engaged in our work. Yet I cannot understand why. Taking care of people’s health is one of the most important responsibilities in the world. We often increase life spans and save lives.”

Cora, the director of human resources, said: “Jerry, from your point of view, you are correct. Health care is a noble undertaking. Yet when a per- son is seated at a computer for eight hours proces- sing claims, he or she might not feel like an angel of mercy.”

“We can speculate all we want about how well our employees are engaged and motivated, and what we should do about the situation. I propose that we get some data to work with so we can learn more about the nature of the problem fac- ing us. I suggest that we hire an HR consulting firm to conduct a survey about employee engagement. It could prove to be a good investment.”

Margot said with a smile, “Here I am concerned about our costs being too high, and Cora makes a suggestion about spending money.”

Cora retorted, “Margot, I am talking about investing, not spending money. If we could boost our level of employee motivation 10 percent, we would get a tremendous return on investment.”

Margot, Cora, and the rest of the executive team agreed to hire a firm to conduct the survey. Four months later, the survey was completed, and the results presented to management. The consul- tant, Ken, focused on the data presented in the accompanying Exhibit as the key finding of the survey. He said, “Folks, here is the meat of the survey. Let’s discuss what calls for action are revealed by the data

Leadership Case Problem Questions 1-3

1. How bad is employee motivation and engagement as revealed by the exhibit?

2. What actions can management take to increase motivation and engagement?

3. To what extent might employees at this HMO not perceive their work to be meaningful?