IAM2828 – The Importance of Engagement as a Core Business Strategy

The Hidden Drivers of Output

While most organizations focus strictly on KPIs like productivity and results, the actual drivers of these outcomes often go much deeper. In this episode, we sit down with Nancy, a founder who helps companies tackle the underlying causes of absenteeism and rising health care costs. We explore how employee engagement is directly connected to the performance you see on the surface; when that human connection is missing, everything else begins to slow down.

Engagement as a Core Business Issue

Disengagement isn't just a “soft” cultural concern—it is a core business issue that directly impacts your bottom line. When energy drops and motivation declines, results inevitably suffer, a reality that is felt acutely by builders working with small but mighty teams.

When people are truly engaged, the benefits compound: performance improves, retention rates rise, and overall business costs decrease.

Engineering Human-Centered Performance

The core takeaway for any leader is to prioritize the “Human and People Pillar” by recognizing that people impact every aspect of overall performance. Awareness is the first step toward recovery. Ask yourself: “What signals tell me my team—or even myself—are becoming disengaged?”. Recognizing these signals early allows you to address disengagement before it affects your greater business goals and outputs.

Previous episode: https://iamceo.co/iam2827-why-diversity-strengthens-innovation-and-growth/

• Blue Star Franchise: bluestarfranchise.com
• Browse the Franchise Inventory: bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
• Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
• Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Transcription:

Gresham Harkless 00:00
In episode number 43 of the I Am CEO Podcast, I spoke with Nancy, who's a founder, helping organizations address absenteeism, disengagement, and rising health care costs. What really came up during this conversation was how engagement directly connects to the performance that you see and the performance that we want to have in the people that are in our organizations. But if that input is not necessarily positive, what happens is people, employees feel disconnected, disengaged, and ultimately everything else slows down.

If you're building something meaningful, you're in the right place. This is the I Am CEO Podcast. I'm gresh, and for over a decade I've had the honor and the privilege of Learning directly from CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners just like you on how to build. After recording more than 1600 episodes, one thing has become clear. Success isn't about following someone else's blueprint. And as I like to say on the show, if you run your own race, you can't lose. Even when we feel the journey should be a straight and linear path, what I've come to find out is success is a lot more like a plate of spaghetti. So in this special segment and episode, I'm starting to curate and share some CEO hacks and CEO nuggets that I've been dying to share. Drawn from thousands of episodes with phenomenal guests that have provided awesome value on the show, but also my 10 years of business experience as well too. These lessons are designed to strengthen the foundational principles that every business is built on and guided by a simple equation that we always go back to with our content. Visibility plus resources times connections equals success. This is practical wisdom you can apply almost immediately, so be sure to check out the show notes for more resources and next steps on how to level up. And of course, enjoy this special episode of the I Am CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 01:54

Many organizations focus on output, performance, productivity, results. But think about it. Those are important KPIs. But what actually drives these outcomes goes much, much deeper. In episode number 43 of the I Am CEO Podcast, I spoke with Nancy, who's a founder, helping organizations address absenteeism, disengagement, and rising health care costs. What really came up during this conversation was how engagement directly connects to the performance that you see and the performance that we want to have in the people that are in our organizations. But if that input is not necessarily positive, what happens is people or employees feel disconnected, disengaged, and ultimately everything else slows down. Think about how this comes out. It could be energy drops, motivation declines, results ultimately suffer. And especially for builders that are working on small but mighty teams. You can definitely feel this impact. Here's really what I want you to kind of take away. Engagement isn't just a cultural issue. It's a core business issue. If you have this issue where there is the disengagement or there's the absenteeism, it's going to affect the greater business and the greater outputs that you put out, the KPIs that you're trying to target and hit. It's natural when people are engaged. Performance improves, retention improves, cost decreases. And where does this come up naturally? The human people killer. Because we don't want to forget about that human part of business. Here's something worth asking. What signals tell me my team or potentially even myself are becoming disengaged? That awareness of what's happening matters tremendously. Why not? Because it just affects you or the person or whatever. It is something that crosses all aspects of the business. This was a phenomenal episode that you have to check out. We talked around engagement, health and how people impact ultimate, ultimate and overall performance.