UHV workshop to address employee engagement
When Donald Jirkovsky first started in a leadership position, he often walked around asking employees questions, but as better technology became available, he spent more time in front of a computer.
“I started noticing the morale was changing,” he said. “I finally sat down and asked why. I was told that I didn’t engage with my employees as much as I had before.”
Jirkovsky, owner of Lighthouse Development Resources, a Victoria coaching and professional development company, will be the presenter at an upcoming University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center Lunch and Learn workshop.
Employee Engagement will be from noon to 2 p.m. July 29 in UHV University North Room 110A, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The cost is $10 with advance registration or $20 at the door. Lunch will be provided.
The workshop will explore how businesses owners and managers can create employee engagement.
“Getting your team to feel empowered can greatly improve the overall results of a business, but it doesn’t happen overnight,” UHV SBDC Director Joe Humphreys said. “We’ve put this lunch and learn together to provide some guidance about how to bolster engagement. These strategies could lead to a happier and more productive workplace.”
Jirkovsky said he will start by explaining employee engagement and what it is.
“A lot of times, people aren’t aware of what employee engagement involves,” Jirkovsky said. “Having engagement is important for the organizational culture of a workplace.”
Jirkovsky also plans to talk about what leads to employee engagement and share techniques to increase employee engagement.
“Too many times, managers or leaders start delegating, but they never really engage employees to make them part of the decision making,” Jirkovsky said. “When leaders lose touch with their employees doing the frontline work, lack of communication usually becomes an issue.”
The UHV SBDC offers assistance on starting, growing and financing a business; contracting opportunities; and recovering from disaster. Most of its services are free to area small business owners in Aransas, Bee, Calhoun, DeWitt, Gonzales, Goliad, Jackson, Karnes, Lavaca, Refugio and Victoria counties. It is part of a nationwide small business assistance program serving the small business community and federal, state and local governments.
To register for the workshop, call 361-485-4485 or email sbdc@uhv.edu. Advance registration will end on July 28.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
