Meghan Barrett
3 min read
As a lifelong learner, I’m fascinated by both people’s personal and professional stories, why they love the work they do and what continues to inspire and motivate them.
Most recently, I had the opportunity to chat with George Dixon, a Senior Employee Engagement Consultant here at Reward Gateway, to get a little more insight into his world and how he strives to make the world a better place to work each day.
Who is your idol, and why?
My personal idol is definitely my dad. He always seems to get everything right. No matter if he has experience in the space or not. I look up to him in many ways, but especially how he retired early to give something back to the world.
He’s been a Samaritan now for the best part of eight years and to this day, I still remember the night he came home after his first suicide call. He gives people so much and asks for nothing in return. If I can grow up to be like that man, I think I'll be proud of myself.
What is your personal mantra?
Pass on a smile, share the knowledge and never look back on mistakes – only learn. Say yes to something and work it out afterwards. Sometimes this gets me in a pickle, but usually it then involves a bit of problem solving, which I like. This can be used in both social and work lives.
I’d say I’m a bit of a 'yes' man.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you bring with you?
My sand wedge, a golf ball and my guitar.
What has made RG different than any other company you’ve worked for?
The people – without a shadow of a doubt. They actually call me the "boomerang employee" because I left and came back. The people at RG are what make it so special. We are all aligned. Nobody turns up to deliver the bare minimum and everyone gives it their all (with a few exceptions, as always).
Plus, if you don't know Glenn Elliott yet, my advice is to get to know him. Learn about him, read about him and listen to him. He knows a lot about the world of employee engagement.
What has been your career highlight so far?
There really isn’t one standout highlight, the whole journey has been incredible so far. But if I had to pick one moment, it would have to be my first day back at the RG London office in January of 2015. The moment I walked in the door, I knew I’d made the best decision of my life so far.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing HR today?
Having a voice at the table. The number of times I’ve heard organizations say, “we can’t invest in engagement technology right now, we haven’t hit our number or engagement isn’t a priority.”
I know for sure, this isn’t coming from HR, it’s coming from other powers – finance, leaders and others. So, the natural instinct is to increase training, apply more pressure and make cuts.
If you haven’t read them yet, I highly recommend reading Build it: The Rebel Playbook for Employee Engagement by Glenn Elliot, Founder of RG and Debra Corey, Group Reward Director at RG, as well as CRAVE: You Can Enhance Employee Motivation in 10 Minutes by Friday, authored by RG's President of Employee Engagement, Gregg Lederman.
Plus, I've got loads more recommendations for good HR reads, just pop me a message on LinkedIn and we can chat.
I can speak from experience, I wouldn’t come to work each day and deliver 110% if I wasn’t such an engaged employee. I’d go as far to say, when RG bleeds, I bleed.