What are the key factors for employee engagement?

A lot has been said about purpose and how people engage with the WHY? Of the strategy of companies, besides the What. Simon Sinek has great Ted Talks on this. Everything you need to engage people is making them part of the whole objective, having a sense of belonging and depicting the whole picture of what’s being pursuit at a company level and how they contribute to that from their positions

Employee engagement hinges on various factors that contribute to a motivated, committed, and fulfilled workforce. A well-defined company mission and purpose instill a sense of direction and meaning. For instance, Patagonia's commitment to environmental sustainability aligns with its employees' values, fostering engagement. When employees align their personal values with the organisation's values, it enhances their commitment. For example, a healthcare worker feeling aligned with a hospital's mission of community service.

From my experience, showing the employees that they are part of the company future and development which usually provides them of a sense of belonging, job security and potential advancement have proved to be very effective in increasing employee’s engagement. Of course , financial incentive vs targets and KPIs achievements ices the cake.

You'll get engaged employees when they feel that the tasks they are undertaking are valuable and playing a key part in the company's growth. The company's vision should be simple, easy to understand and run through every strand of the business.

In my experience, having clear values and purposes for the organization impacts both employees and customers. It makes the employee more loyal to the company and encourages ethical behavior in business. It gives the whole business idea a sustainable reason rather than making money only. This impacts the customer on a way or another, and getting his satisfaction will be a fixed priority.

In this regard, as leaders the job is not only to delegate and empower your team members. You must share with them and co-build the strategy. Your team needs to know exactly what are the main business targets, the department's targets and their own and in that way, they have to be certain about their role on how to achieve those objetives. Then, and only then, you can be certain and confident that the actions your team members are taking are 100% aligned with your company's goals, because they understand them, share them and are part of a whole. That's the way of building purpose from within your position, commitment and autonomy.

Autonomy and empowerment is nice to hear but my view is to see the timing of giving it! Giving too early or too late or giving fully... are all dangerous ! One must observe how the employee is progressing with work and how concerned he/she is towards successful completion of work and then slowly allow the person to self manage. However, one should be cautious while giving absolute empowerment as it can lead to over confidence and disconnection from overall goals of the organisation.... someone still needs to steer it in the right direction !!

It's important for employees to be given the ability to make decisions independently, and room for them to figure out what works and not. Giving them breathing room is essential for hitting learning outcomes.

Autonomy and empowerment are rooted in initiative. Initiative fosters focused thinking and innovation. Autonomy and empowerment creates self accountability and accountability to the organization. You hired staff because you judged them as a force to advance organizational values and results. Autonomy and empowerment allow for more than tasks to be completed. Let your staff demonstrate that to you.

Big Believer! In autonomy and empowerment, it takes time for leaders to let go, but nothing gets an employee more engaged when they feel they are adding value to the ultimate vision. Well, it won't happen at all levels, this mostly works with senior leadership and managerial levels. and when they are engaged the teams that follow them get infected.

Feedback is a continuous process and not a one time or periodic exercise.Managers should remain invested in the growth of employees. Once purpose & goals are defined and communicated clearly, it is important to provide feedback in an unambiguous/ empathetic manner on a regular basis.

Set short term and medium term goals and provide regular Feedback and also recognition. I believe in monthly feedback that will help the employees to stay focused on the right activities and continuously contributing to the bigger picture.

It's important to define what feedback is and what it isn't. When feedback is coming from managers, it needs to be clear, specific, and actionable. Managers also need to recognize how their feedback may land with individuals from different backgrounds. Feedback can be food for thought or directive, but it should always be actionable. Saying something is wrong without providing context or examples of what right looks like is not helpful and serves only to breed distrust. Trying to force someone to behave in opposition to their own authenticity is not based on feedback because it's not actionable for the individual receiving it.

Continuous feedback mechanisms allow employees to receive guidance, correct course, and feel valued. For instance, regular performance reviews or ongoing feedback sessions. Recognizing achievements and efforts in a personalized and meaningful manner boosts morale. Examples include public acknowledgment, awards, or a personalised thank-you note for exceptional work. Providing avenues for skill development, promotions, or advancement aligns with employees' aspirations and encourages commitment. Allowing employees the autonomy to make decisions and contribute ideas fosters a sense of ownership and engagement. A supportive workplace culture, inclusive policies, work-life balance, and a sense of psychological safety foster engagement.

Care personally, challenge directly and celebrate publicly. State how you operate to your team well in advance, so there are no surprises when providing feedback. How you word feedback is important. Think about what you're saying and how it can be interpreted. You as a leader should be receptive of feedback from your team; everyone should be learning.

This totally depends on your company’s culture, but anyway you can make a difference. Keeping open line of communication with your team and other members of the company is crucial to really understand what’s going on, what needs to be addressed and builds confidence among people that you are open, available and listen to everyone, despite their position. Some companies with more hierarchical cultures might encounter difficulties achieving this, since is not a common practice, but YOU can make a difference

This is the key to a successful team. Good teams rely upon one another to get work done. Breaking up cliques and siloes is important, as is humanely reorganizing when needed. Cooperation is key. If one person could do it, you wouldn't need a team.

While good relationships in a workplace are just like good fuel for an engine in a flying plane, they promote team psychological safety and the sense of belonging; poor relationships and communication on the other hand drain energy, both mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Strong relationships and effective communication foster a sense of belonging, trust, and collaboration among employees. When individuals feel heard, valued, and connected, it enhances their engagement, job satisfaction, and overall commitment to the organization. Open communication channels also help convey expectations, provide feedback, and align everyone toward common goals, reinforcing a positive work culture.

The employee engagement is a way to drive their full potential . An active and engaged employees are more innovative and productive as our brain gets rewired appropriately by engagement. Engagement is a two way street where people values and respect each other’s opinion ! The ultimate way to rejuvenate and foster relationships professionally and personally is to have formal gatherings and get together where there is huge scope of strengthening professional relationships It’s a great way of connecting the dots which often gets missed out during mundane tasks and formal office environment. As a leader , it’s important to know your team as a larger picture through which you can leverage their best of abilities and talent which are unique !

As a team leader, you have to be sure your team has a good life balance, not only because we work with humans, but also because it's healthy for the business' sake. If you have a team member who's struggling with some personal issues, you can be almost sure that his/her performance won't meet standards. Is your job as a leader to know your team, their problems, their "human side" and provide with proper space to solve those issues, while keeping the work balanced through the whole team.

I propose that the term "well-being and balance" encompasses a multitude of aspects. Well-being encapsulates various dimensions: physical, mental, psychological, and financial. It involves a convergence of elements such as fostering purposeful connections, receiving recognition, empowerment, nurturing healthy work relationships, and actively engaging in continuous learning and development—all contributing to an individual's well-being. It's imperative to acknowledge that our work serves a purpose, yet that purpose doesn't define our entire life. Life's fulfillment lies in striking a harmonious equilibrium among oneself, family, neighbors, friends, and society.

In my experience, some companies' culture is more focus on work life choice, instead of work life balance. I wonder, if your home life is in need, how to focus on work 100%? A good answer will separate you from a leader that people choose to follow, than merely a manager.

A good leadership team always ensures that their team maintains a good work-life balance. It is absolutely necessary to have a supportive work environment, ensuring a safe and comfortable working relationship, so that you get the maximum productivity from your team and subsequently decrease the attrition rate. People desire a fulfilling and healthy work environment.

El equilibrio entre la vida profesional y personal se impone actualmente a otras variables más valoradas en el pasado y que, sin dejar de ser importantes, ocupan otro lugar inferior en el orden prioritario de los empleados que valoran dedicar más tiempo a la familia o en general disponer de más tiempo a diario de libre disposición.

The learning and development course should be addressed following the 70-20-10 rule, where 70% of the skills are learnt by the daily exercise of your job and the interaction with other areas, receiving feedback, asking valuable questions. 20% of the learning process is done by informal learning, what you read on different articles, posts, newsletters. The remaining 10% is achieved by formal training, i.e: Classes, courses, job training, workshops. Therefore, you must be aware and lead your own learning process, not relying just on corporate courses, formal university classes or workshops, but you need to stay updated and upskilled with other sources of knowledge. After all, it's mostly up to you!

Executives should give employees ample time in their working schedule to take L&D courses, instead of asking them to sacrifice their evenings or weekends. Next, consider your method of content delivery. You can't just email out access to an on-demand LMS course library and hope employees learn new skills. My recommendation: Use a school-like class structure, instead of individual virtual learning modules. Taking classes together can foster accountability and drive discussion, which drives deeper learning, engagement, and skill-building.

Learning and development are top two tools of leaders who are building their teams. I like empowering my leadership team by assigning them more responsibilities. While this provides them an opportunity to step up, it is not enough for them to become successful. I use my weekly team meetings to share my vision, brainstorm issues with my leaders, and train them to become good leaders. This strategy has been quite effective because of several reasons. My leadership meetings facilitates the alignment in my organization and acts as a training environment. As we brainstorm issues together, I empower my team to set the department direction with me. Empowerment, ownership, growth opportunity, and personal development strengthen their engagement.

Alongwith all these factors, every emoloyee must get respect for the work. Each employee contributes to the organisational goals and being respected for it touches the emotional chords. Emotional connect does have a significant impact on the quality of work. Also a congenial work environment leads to better engagement at workplace.

Great leaders know the value of continuous growth of their team as well their own. They support and encourage talent development as well as practice mentoring of their team members. Additionally they offer opportunities for formal courses etc.

One that seems to be overlooked here is the work itself. In my experience, I've seen three factors that will undercut employee engagement: 1. Undervalued work. The further we get from impacting the core mission we signed up for, the less engaged we become. We need to prune low-value work ruthlessly. 2. Inefficient work. If we can see better ways to accomplish the goal but are prevented from making these improvements, our excitement can quickly wane. Empower people to make improvements. 3. Overcapacity. Even if the work is mission-aligned and efficient, it is all too common that we have too much. A leader who doesn't address this risks burning out their team and destroying morale. Have high standards, but be realistic.

Effective reward system including tangible (Extrinsic) and intangible (intrinsic) rewards, all needs to be well defined and formally written.

In my experience, key factors for employee engagement revolve around fostering a sense of personal realization in the professional realm. This includes ensuring employees are proficient in their assigned responsibilities, allowing them to excel in their roles. Equally important is recognizing the significance of comprehensive compensation, addressing both economic and emotional needs. Striking a balance between competence, recognition, and well-rounded compensation creates a workplace where employees feel valued and engaged. #EmployeeEngagement #ProfessionalRealization

Another element is the decision-making process. What is equally important to the OUTCOME of decisions is the PROCESS. For this, employees must consider the process to be 'fair'. A fair process is one where: - Engage: Engage people in decisions that impact them. They are allowed to share their inputs and these are seen to be valued. - Explain: Employees understand why decisions have been made (clarity, openness, and transparency). And it is also made clear how decisions impact them and what is expected of them. - Evolve: Identify, admit, and improve on any mistakes or new learnings from the decision. This does not require decisions to always be in an employee's favour. But if 'fair' this does lead to higher engagement and satisfaction.

Whilst employee engagement is one way to engage, I think engaging the families of employees is more effective. If the families are engaged and are happy, the employees would stay longer in any company. Some examples could be : 1. Celebrating family day (can be a full day event for families of employees) 2. Inviting families during the reward and recognition ceremony 3. Arrange family picnics 4. Launch online competition for kids of employees 5. Launch surveys to take feedback