Engagement & Impact Outcomes
One of the comments we often hear from those working to bring about change in their communities is that the work needed is significant, and they need more hands on deck. In short, most of the work tends to fall on one or two people, which can then lead to these individuals feeling frustrated and burned out.
This is why we recommend creating a committee and filling it with people ready and able to commit time and effort to a particular role. These efforts require long-term and sustainable support to ensure we see improvements later down the line. However, even with a team, it doesn’t always go to plan. And things take far longer than you imagined often because people drop off or disengage. When that happens, it’s essential to consider ways to bring them back and keep people excited about the work. The more engaged team members are, the more you can accomplish without frustration and burnout.
The resources in this roundup highlight opportunities to build engagement and nurture membership wellness and support. Looking to the corporate world as one model that we can build from, we can gain insights into what practices you might adapt to help your CAC function at its highest level. While the CAC model might not operate as a traditional organization (with employees and staff), the resources below apply to all leaders working with others to make lasting change.
Resources and Articles to Read on Engagement & Impact
The following articles provide an overview of the relationship between engagement and impact as a leader.
- The Top 20 Potential Problems with Employee Engagement: This article outlines the top issues or barriers affecting employee engagement, such as the lack of definition of engagement and incentives for deepening engagement. These barriers can serve as launching points to begin identifying gaps to focus on in the workplace.
- Why Microsoft Measures Employee Thriving, Not Engagement: This article highlights the notion of “thriving” as a good measure of employee wellness.
- 10 of the Best Employee Engagement Ideas (With Examples): This article presents a simplified plan to keep employees motivated so they find success in their roles.
- Good Examples of Employee Engagement: This article offers specific examples for fostering engagement by tapping into individual strengths.
Tools and Toolkits on Engagement & Impact
The following tools and toolkits address engagement and overall impact as a leader.
- Engagement Toolkit for Managers and Leaders: This toolkit offers a guide for engaging employees with the best practices outlined by the Harvard Corporate Leadership Council (CLC).
- The Employee Experience Toolkit: A Powerful New Tool for Engagement: This University of Washington toolkit outlines how to engage in conversations to learn about the employee experience, with specific questions to guide discussion and tactics to navigate challenging dialogue.
- Employee Engagement Toolkit: This toolkit was developed by the United States Department of Commerce and notably offers activities with specific instructions on how to facilitate learning about the employee experience.
Webinars and Podcast Episodes on Engagement & Impact
The following webinars and podcasts address employee engagement and leadership.
- This is What Makes Employees Happy at Work: This TEDx talk provides a succinct overview of the benefits of employee engagement and how to begin fostering those relationships through building trust.
- Employee Engagement Strategy: Getting to the Roots of Your Employee Experience: This webinar provides an in-depth look at employee engagement in the realm of human resources, breaking down major topics in cultivating an organizational culture around a system of open feedback and improvement.
Thank you for all you do to create healthy Parkinson’s communities. Please reach out with ideas for future resource roundups or educational content!
If you have questions, be sure to reach out to us at communities@dpf.org.