How to Stir the Pot and Actually Engage Your People
The workplace has changed, but many of our habits haven’t. Even after a global pandemic reshaped how we live and work, companies still fall back on familiar routines — even when they no longer serve us. This is especially dangerous when it comes to employee engagement.
Gallup’s research has long highlighted that a majority of employees are disengaged at work. While the numbers fluctuate, the core truth remains: when people aren’t connected to purpose, culture, or leadership, performance suffers. Innovation slows. Good people leave.
And still, many leaders respond with the corporate equivalent of a shrug: “Well, that’s how we’ve always done it.”
The Comfort of Familiarity Can Be Costly
We like what we know. Routines feel safe. Processes become traditions. But without reflection, those patterns can calcify into liabilities.
We’ve seen it happen — in companies like Kodak, once a giant in imaging technology, that clung to legacy models even as the digital world passed them by. They didn’t lack talent. They lacked curiosity and the willingness to challenge old norms. They failed to stir the pot.
Stirring the Pot: A Leadership Imperative
I once read an article Go ahead, stir the pot by Jason LeClerc that used the metaphor of stirring the pot during a family holiday gathering. Everyone’s in the kitchen, things are heating up, and someone finally says what everyone’s thinking. That moment of tension can spark something useful — clarity, connection, even transformation.
In business, stirring the pot means asking uncomfortable questions. Why are we doing it this way? Is this still working? Are we listening to the people closest to the work?
Engagement isn’t a perk or a program. It’s a product of culture — and culture is shaped by what leaders say and do every day. If we want employees to care, contribute, and innovate, we have to make space for their voices. That starts with a willingness to disrupt comfort zones.
The Power of Purpose and Clarity
Millennials and Gen Z now make up most of the workforce. They don’t want lip service. They want clarity, transparency, and purpose. If you answer “Why?” with “Because that’s how we’ve always done it,” you’ve already lost them.
Instead, start by taking stock:
Where are we right now — really?
What assumptions are we holding onto that may no longer be true?
What do we want the future to look like — and who needs to be part of that conversation?
One tool I recommend for this is PESTEL analysis — a strategic framework that helps assess external factors: Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Environmental, and Legal. While it’s typically used in marketing, I’ve found it equally powerful for organizational risk assessment and engagement. It invites teams to look up and outward — to anticipate change, not just react to it.
Engagement Is Built on Communication
You can’t engage people in a direction they don’t understand. Strategic planning isn’t just about charts and forecasts — it’s a communication tool. It’s a way to articulate vision, align teams, and create shared ownership.
Employees engage when they feel seen and heard. When they understand the “why” behind the work. When they believe their input matters.
So stir the pot. Shake up the assumptions. Invite dialogue. And above all — communicate clearly and consistently. That’s how engagement grows. That’s how cultures evolve.
LEARN MORE
For more on developing a culture of engagement, especially concerning working remotely, schedule a short call on my calendar HERE.
