Why:

• Truly engaged employees are likely to be your agency's best source of new ideas. They also are more productive, get better results, and operate more safely than less engaged employees.
• For the millennial generation, engaging work is a top priority. Aviation Week’s annual survey of young professionals found that millennials place a premium on challenging work that makes good use of their skills.

How:

• Enable them to make progress in meaningful work.

• Ensure that each employee understands the mission and how his or her work relates to agency’s mission.

• Provide opportunities to develop autonomy, mastery, and purpose. See Dan Pink's talk on motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc\

• Make work more fun to change behavior for the better. See The Fun Theory: http://www.thefuntheory.com/

  • Example: turning a staircase into a live piano resulted in 66% more people than normal choosing stairs versus escalator.

• Monthly lunch and learns where team members present on different leadership topics and areas related to their technical expertise

• Create an open space with moving tables and chairs where people can meet informally, have lunch or come together without having to search for a meeting room.

• "Chats with Charlie" - regular opportunity for two-way conversations with agency leaders to answer employee questions

  • 18F has something similar called "Team Coffee and Check-In", once a month

  • NASA: "New Supervisor Lunch and Learn": new supervisors can interact and ask questions of other supervisors. This type of forum is helpful for problem solving, communication, and increased collaboration within the supervisory ranks.