Employee Engagement Lessons from the Dog Park

My black lab, “Jack”, looks forward to spending Sunday afternoons at the dog park. It is a treat for both the owner and the dog. Yesterday, it was raining in Cincinnati, yet there were still a lot of people at the facility. I wondered what compels people to come out and stand in the cold rain to watch their dogs play; beyond their basic love of dogs. I put on my business hat and pondered what key learnings would apply to business. After much reflection, it came to me. As business leaders, how can we create an environment in which people are excited to come to work, even on difficult days, and fully engage their natural talents?

Jack and I visited a new dog park this weekend. Upon entering facility, there was a sign that provided guidelines for using the park. We stopped to read the sign and observed other dog owners and their pets. Our goal was to identify both the written and unwritten guidelines for the park. This prompted me to think of new hire orientations and on-boarding. As business owners, we need to communicate our expectations to new employees upfront. It is important that new employees learn both the written and unwritten policies and procedures. In addition, we need to help new employees develop positive working relationships throughout the organization. When performance expectations are clearly communicated, employees have a greater opportunity for success.

As leaders, it is critical that we identify employees’ natural gifts and talents, and place them in roles which allow them to freely utilize their strengths. There was a beautiful greyhound at the dog park. He was standing quietly in group and did not interact much with the other dogs. His owner threw a ball to the far side of the park. The greyhound took off running to fetch the ball. He broke into a beautiful, fast stride around the park. The other dogs in the group followed, but the greyhound leaped out in front of them. It was beautiful to see the greyhound striding with such freedom, grace and confidence. Employees inherently want to do good work and feel a sense of accomplishment. We need to look for opportunities and create an environment which unleashes their natural talents.

Another interesting observation was related to learning and knowledge acquisition at the dog park. There were several mini communities that formed. Dogs and owners would cluster around one group for an activity such as a game of tennis ball toss and fetch. One dog started the game while the others watched. The other dogs joined in after a few tosses. After the dogs progressed in their knowledge and mastered the tennis ball game, especially the “teaching” role, they would move on to a new and more challenging game such as Frisbee toss and fetch, and become a “student” again. While the dogs were learning from each other, the owners were sharing their lessons learned in training their pets. As business leaders, we need to search for opportunities to create “learning communities” in our organizations, which fosters relationships and facilitates the lateral transfer of knowledge. Every person has life experiences from which learning can be derived. Additionally, we need continually assign challenging assignments that empower and foster growth in our employees.

Employee engagement can be cultivated through a number of methods. When employees are fully engaged, they can propel your business forward and help you to leap ahead of your competition.

Chrissann Ruehle is Co-Founder of Black Lab Ventures, LLC. A human resources management consulting business, Black Lab Ventures focuses on on-boarding, training & development, performance management, and health & wellness initiatives. Our signature service, called Culture Branding, is a form of employer branding designed to help companies attract top talent and retain employees they already have. For small businesses, we offer our HR Start-Up Kits – a simple and affordable method to achieve an HR presence. We also offer full service packages for mid and large-sized companies, and function as a complement to their HR departments so they can focus on their core business.

For more information, please visit our website at
http://www.blacklabventures.com/ or feel free to call us at 513-443-2365.

Cultivating an “EE Thumb” for Growing Employee Engagement in Your Organization

During this time of year in Ohio and many other areas throughout the country, gardening enthusiasts are busy planning their gardens. Gardening enthusiasts use the term “green thumb” to describe a person who is a gardening expert. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines this term as “an unusual ability to make plants grow”. As leaders and managers of our organizations, we can learn from the gardening pros and apply those same concepts to growing employee engagement in our business. We can develop an "EE Thumb".

The economic recession has taken its toll on employee engagement in many firms. Merit increases and bonuses have been suspended.  Budgets have been severely reduced. Employees are feeling the strain and pressure to perform. Today, many leaders are asking what they can do to re-energize, empower, and super-charge their teams.


What can we learn from gardening pros?

1. Gardeners focus on selecting the right plot. Leaders should assess their business model to determine: a. whether they are in the right business or not, and b. identify additional opportunities to expand their business.


2. Gardeners audit the soil. Leaders need to assess their processes, people and technology to ensure they are creating an environment that fosters growth in people and ideas.


3. Gardeners create a plan and they work the plan. If leaders wish to fully engage their employees, it is critical that they create a plan. Success requires planning, patience and persistence. Employees crave recognition and praise.


4. Gardeners ensure their garden receives a sufficient mixture of sun and rain. Leaders should celebrate company successes and dedicate sufficient time to learn from mistakes and failures so the company can continue its forward movement. Leaders need to create a positive environment in which employees are encouraged to grow and learn from problems.


5. Gardeners dedicate time for weeding. As leaders, it is critical that we routinely monitor engagement and search for opportunities to weed out destructive processes, procedures or negativity in the firm.


By developing a game plan and implementing systematic processes, leaders indeed will develop an EE-Thumb for growing employee engagement in their firms.

Chrissann Ruehle is Co-Founder of Black Lab Ventures, LLC. A human resources management consulting firm, Black Lab Ventures specializes in providing organizational development, onboading, training and development, health and wellness solutions, in addition to our Black Lab Culture Branding services for businesses. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.blacklabventures.com/ or feel free to call us at 513-443-2365.