Heartist Journey 2026
Workshop 6 recap
Presented by
Rafał WitczakAcademy Trainer · Learning & DevelopmentEngagement is built on strengths, not just on fixing gaps. Working in small groups and changing tables between rounds, participants shared moments when engagement felt easy, helped each other with real cases, and turned their best practices into reusable Engagement Playbooks. The top drivers from the room: passion, appreciation, freedom to act, managers’ trust and teamwork.
The main messageEngagement does not come from one-off projects. It comes from daily leadership behaviour. Find what already works in your teams, write it down, and help others copy it.
The five engagement drivers from the room
8 short parts, in order. Swipe to see them all, and tap one to go there:
Part 1 of 8
Rafał started with one idea: engagement is built on strengths, not just on fixing gaps. Classic engagement work starts with surveys and what is broken, and people become defensive.
This workshop did the opposite: find what already works, turn it into a plan, and share it with peers.
Part 2 of 8
Four ideas guided the session. Start from positive stories (appreciative inquiry). People learn fastest from successful peers (social learning). Good practices grow when a group writes down how it works (communities of practice). And people share more when they get something back (social exchange).
Part 3 of 8
Each person remembered a moment in the last 6 to 12 months when engagement felt easy and worked well. Tables of four or five shared their stories, and a host wrote down the behaviours, rituals and tools.
Each table then finished the sentence “If we did more of …, engagement would naturally improve.” The same answers came from every table: passion for what we do, appreciation of work done, freedom to act, managers’ trust, and teamwork.
Part 4 of 8
Participants changed tables. One person shared a real goal and a real struggle. The group first asked questions only to understand, with one strict rule: no advice yet. Then everyone brainstormed concrete actions.
Part 5 of 8
In small groups, participants turned their best practices into Engagement Playbooks. Each one has seven parts: practice name, context, steps, roles, tools, success measures and common pitfalls.
All playbooks were photographed, so other hotels can reuse them.
Part 6 of 8
All playbooks went up on the walls. Everyone walked around and put dot stickers on the best ones. Rafał then grouped them into a few themes, as first “How we work best” principles for everyone.
Part 7 of 8
Everyone left with three commitments: one practice to try in the next 14 days, one measure to test, and one partner from the room.
The plan after the event: share all playbooks in one place, a short partner check-in after 14 days, and a 30-minute online exchange with the whole group after 21 days.
Part 8 of 8
The group was open, active and creative. People from different countries and hotels shared successes and challenges, and felt part of one Heartist community. The shared conclusion: engagement grows every day through trust, recognition, teamwork, autonomy and connection.
Engagement World Café
Start with what works: “When did engagement feel easy, and what made it possible?”
Context (3 min), then questions only with no advice (5 min), then concrete solutions (7 min).
Name, context, 3–5 steps, roles, tools, 1–2 success measures, pitfalls to avoid.
Put all ideas on the wall, vote with dot stickers, group the best into themes.
One practice, one measure, one partner. Check in after 14 days.
“Engagement is built on strengths, not just fixing gaps.”
“Recall a moment in the last 6–12 months when engagement felt easy and effective. What made it possible?”
“Help every Heartist feel they belong.”
“One change, one conversation, one commitment at a time.”
QWhat would make engagement better in our hotels?
AEvery table finished the sentence “If we did more of …”. The answers: passion for what we do, appreciation of work done, freedom to act, managers’ trust, and teamwork.
QWhat did participants take home?
ATheir own playbooks, one practice to try in the next 14 days, one measure to test, and a partner from the room to check in with.
We wrote this recap from Rafał’s workshop summary and his slides. Quotes come from the slides.
