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Thirty-seven percent of employees simply want recognition according to a study from O.C. Tanner. They simply want to be recognized for good work and do work they enjoy which should in turn drive engagement and ultimately work productivity? Is cracking the productivity and engagement code that easy? No, it isn’t. Workplace engagement is a lot like seeing the Loch Ness Monster. It seems almost unachievable, but my podcast guest shows us it’s something that can be achieved. More importantly, he gives us a good roadmap to aligning our processes and efforts to drive maximum employee engagement and workplace productivity.

Episode 62: Thinking Differently About Employee Engagement & Workplace Productivity with David Sturt (@david_sturt)

David Sturt is the author of Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love. He’s the EVP at O.C. Tanner. David has lots of great insights into getting the most productivity and results from our workforce. He believes that the idea of results equal better outcomes is broad and higher engagement equals better performance. In this competitive and growing economy, this is more important because of increased competition.

Technology can help ful that appreciation due to its place in the social engagement and recognition, however, keep in mind that not every appreciates appreciation and communication in this way. It’s an individualized process which is key.

One of my favorite insights from David was his thoughts on differentiation in the workplace. Innovation can only happen when people step outside the box and try something new and different which is for most including myself is uncomfortable, risky, stressful and scary. Question is how do we encourage this thinking when we have been programmed often to avoid innovation because of the our views on failure and our feelings about risk.

David has a great TedX talk on about driving creativity by talking to strangers (link below). I asked him about it as I seem to make fast friends and make connections in the most random places like the checkout line at the grocery story. David says talking to strangers to push your boundaries. It allows you to open to random conversations whether its bus, plane or grocery store line with strangers. You can be more deliberate through research, social media and referral networking. Be sure to listen to the podcast as David Sturt provides so much information I can’t possible include it all in this podcast summary and transcript. You connect with David Sturt on LinkedIn.