Employee engagement is the hottest buzz-word in the world of management right now. But exactly what is it and why is such a big deal? The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® a U.S. group made up of top industry leaders describe employee engagement as ‘A heightened emotional connection that the employee feels for his or her organization that causes him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work.’ Why it’s significant is engaged employees create loyal customers who in turn create greater profits.
A new major study suggests that most employees are moderately engaged at best while a quarter of workers are actively disengaged only 1 in 7 employees are fully engaged in their jobs and willing to go the extra mile for their company and no wonder. Over the last several decades companies across the country have loudly proclaimed to the public ‘Our employees are our greatest asset!’ The problem is that was nothing more than lip service. Behind the scenes employees worried about the security of their positions, felt overworked and stressed because of company cutbacks and increasingly difficult to reach goals, and were demoralized by ineffective leaders or micromanagers attempting to control staff externally rather than inspiring them to excel.
As a trainer, the question I get asked more than any other is ‘How can I create engaged employees?’ Well, the truth is, you can’t. Engagement comes from self-motivation and that can only come from within. What you can do is create an environment where motivation can flourish.
First realize that engagement cannot be artificially created by contests or other so called motivators. It’s not lack of pay or more unappealing working conditions that created disengagement. Much of it comes down leadership behavior and that means you!
The number one factor affecting motivation is how an employee feels about their relationship with their manager. Coworkers and team mates also greatly influences an employee’s engagement level. Other common factors impacting employee commitment are whether they feel listened to, are stimulated by their work and see opportunity for growth.
The good news is employee engagement isn’t rocket science; it boils down to communication, creating an atmosphere of learning and leading by example.
Communicate with your employees – This is not just the passing of information but an actual 2 way dialog. Employees who consider themselves to be engaged with their jobs feel that their managers listen to them not just tell them what to do.
Keep learning alive – Involve your people and value their input. Contrary to popular belief people love change in fact they almost can’t get enough of it. Do what you can to keep your staff fired up and their jobs interesting.
Lead by example – As stated earlier lip service with no follow-through is a motivational serial killer and you can’t micro-manage anyone into feeling anything but contempt. Walk your talk and your employees will do the same.