Involvement and Influence

When staff and faculty feel they have meaningful input into their work, they’re more likely to be engaged, to have higher morale, and to take pride in their organization. This, in turn, increases their willingness to make an extra effort when required. Job involvement is, thus, associated with increased psychological well-being, enhanced innovation, and organizational commitment. 

If staff and faculty don’t believe they have a voice in the organization, they’re likely to feel a sense of indifference or helplessness. Job alienation, or non-involvement, is associated with cynicism and distress, greater turnover, and burnout. 

• staff and faculty are able to talk to their manager about how their work is done; 
• staff and faculty have some control over how they organize their work;  
• staff and faculty's opinions and suggestions are considered with respect to work; 
• staff and faculty are informed of important changes that can impact how their work is done;  
• the organization encourages input from all staff and faculty on important decisions related to their work. 

It’s also important to understand discussions about potential change can either raise expectations or create fear. For these reasons, leadership may have to keep the discussions confidential until there’s a decision to act.  

As a leader, it is important to foster an organizational culture where individual staff and faculty members have some level of responsibility, autonomy, accountability for their work and should avoid micromanagement of their teams. Feedback should be able to be provided in both directions, with there being (as appropriate) top-down and bottom-up input on work related decisions. When changes are made in the workplace, it’s important to communicate the reasoning behind decisions, and to encourage participation from staff and faculty whenever possible. Once a decision is reached, staff and faculty should assess how those changes can best be integrated into their jobs.   

For example, when there is a change in work processes, ask staff and faculty to provide feedback on its effectiveness and ways in which it could be improved. For interested managers, Express Coaching is an on-demand & customized fashion service to support leaders find solutions. 

The objective of the collaborative conversation activity is to focus on what areas you want more involvement and influence.