ARTICLE

In Greek mythology, Atlas is the god who bears the weight of the world on his shoulders. He personifies the qualities of endurance, patience, and stoicism. He is the indispensable linchpin that keeps the cosmos on its axis and functioning according to plan.

In short, Atlas is the quintessential middle manager — the overburdened and often unsung hero of the organization that ties heaven (the C-suite) and earth (the workforce) together.

Consulting on employee engagement initiatives has made this comparison strikingly clear to me.  In most companies, driving employee engagement is still a bottom-up process. Virtually all of the responsibility and accountability for nurturing and motivating employees is laid on the backs of front-line managers.  They have to meet with their teams, identify issues, develop action plans, follow through with individuals, and document progress. Plus, do their day jobs.

The practice is based in reality – you do have to measure and take action on tactical items unique to individual teams and departments. But there are huge issues intrinsic to employee engagement that emanate from higher levels in the organization, such as those related to organizational culture, compensation and benefits, developmental programs, or mission and values.  When these structural or strategic issues are in play – and they always are, to some degree – company leaders need to step up and become meaningfully involved.

If this doesn’t happen and managers feel the weight of the entire initiative on their shoulders, then the organization will not achieve the business outcomes it seeks from its employee engagement initiatives. And managers will quickly burn out, joining the ranks of the not-engaged and disengaged they are trying to rehabilitate.

Sharing the burden with middle managers requires a more holistic employee engagement philosophy and structure. It should provide relevant feedback and best-practice actions to managers with near real-time speed and funnel key high-level insights to senior leaders along with strategic recommendations on what they can and should do to assure maximum engagement. When this happens, no one becomes overburdened — and the organization can maintain high energy levels around making meaningful workforce change.