Gallup has done polling of employees over the years and the overall level of disengaged employees remains constant even through the pandemic and now through our recovering economy. Disengaged employees exhibit the lack of soft skills so prevalent in the workplace today. Soft skills include things like punctuality, work ethic, critical thinking and problem solving, skills that are not learned by studying textbooks or online content.

Gallup says that only 36% of employees are actively engaged in their work while 44% are not engaged and 20% are actively disengaged. Imagine ten athletes on a rowing team in a race. Four are actively rowing using proper technique, engaged in the objectives of the race, to win. Four more are not really doing anything to help win the race, just kind of slapping the water with their oars, and two athletes are paddling backwards. How much of a challenge would this present to winning the race?

In business, with all the competition today, it’s easy to imagine how improving employee engagement could help with the overall health of a business. Although in past lives, I’ve had employees that really performed well, it’s only been in the last few years that I’ve begun to figure out how employee engagement works. 

Few Regrets 

I have few regrets. I don't regret marrying and starting a photography business immediately after graduating from Garden City Community College (GCCC) in 1976. I don't regret having several "careers" over the last forty-plus years. I don't regret waiting until about 1990 to go back to school, while working full-time, to earn my undergraduate degree in Business Management from Newman University in Wichita. Most of the work I've done in these "careers" has involved either starting something from nothing or creating organization and systems out of chaos. I learned many, many lessons over the years; many of them the hard way. Today, I believe the pieces of this life have come together to make me a good fit to be a Fab Lab director.

Two Regrets

Indeed, I can think of only two regrets. One is that I quit playing the electric bass when I left GCCC and the other is that for many years after graduation, I didn't read books. I took up the bass again about four years ago. I thoroughly enjoy it although playing weekly in the church band is about all the time I can carve out for it in my world today. A few years ago, I began reading again, not two or three books per week as some I know, probably more like one or two books per month. I read a variety of books, fiction, and non-fiction about a variety of topics, but a majority has to do with individual entrepreneurs that have started small and become successful. Many others have to do with how we can do a better job of preparing youth to be successful and make positive contributions to our world.

CaptiveAire Started Small

I just finished a book that covers both. In "Entrepreneurial Life" entrepreneur Robert Luddy chronicles the upstart of what is now known as "CaptiveAire Systems, Inc." He started the company in 1976 with only $1,300. The company has grown to be a global leader in the manufacture and sales of commercial kitchen ventilation systems. This company became successful by a relentless focus on customer service while lowering costs. He has used the lower cost of manufacturing to offer customers more value, rather than just padding his pockets.

In 1997, using knowledge acquired through CaptiveAire and his observations of the shortcomings of public K-12 education, he began the process of opening a charter school in North Carolina named "Franklin Academy" after Benjamin Franklin. Since then, he's been involved in the creation of "Saint Thomas More Academy" and "Thales Academy."

Shared Outcomes

Leadership and management at CaptiveAire are outcome based and so the philosophy of the charter schools has also been outcome based. In the book, he lists 15 of these outcomes that are communicated repeatedly to the students. Teacher performance is measured by these outcomes. 

Here are few of my favorites.

• Unfailing Integrity compels a person to follow a strong code of ethics and honesty in all situations.

• Astute Problem-Solving leads one to identify the solutions to a problem, evaluate the likely outcomes, assess risk, and choose correctly.

• Competent Technical Skills allow individuals to join modern technological industries and navigate modern life.

• Dreams and Aspirations to Change the World help us remember that directed efforts bring us closer to our goals.

• Traditional American Values and Entrepreneurialism drive a leader to build and sustain a thriving economy.

• Self-Reliance creates confidence to depend on one's own powers and resources to meet all of one's needs.

• A Cooperative and Contributive Team Member knows how to collaborate to achieve successful results.

• A Strong Work Ethic links perseverance, reliability, and honesty.

These and the other 15 outcomes in the book should be adopted by business and industry as a means of professional development and advancement of their employees. Training programs and initiatives should combine these outcomes with whatever specific business or technical outcomes are required for a given employee. These outcomes would go a long way in solving the dreaded "soft skills" problems experienced by so many employers today.

Jim Correll can be reached at (620) 252-5349 or by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of Fab Lab ICC or Independence Community College. Archive columns and podcasts at www.fablabicc.org.