How do you model employee engagement and wellbeing?

I try to lead by example If you want to instill values of engagement and wellbeing in your organization, start by embodying them yourself. This means prioritizing your own well-being, seeking a healthy work-life balance, and pursuing continuous personal and professional growth. When employees see their leaders taking breaks, using vacation days, and investing in self-care, they’re more likely to feel it’s okay for them to do the same.

Building trust is the most difficult challenge in the 21st century with the fragmentation and upheaval from our recent past. There are societal forces that drive fear at the individual level to chip away at trust. I like the work of Charles Feltman who has identified four elements of trustworthiness: care (win-win outcomes), reliability (keeping commitments), sincerity (words matching actions), and competence (know what you are doing). It is important for all stakeholders to feel valued, hold themselves accountable, see actions that support the vision, and execute a plan competently. To be successful in all four is a tall order, but you can work on the areas where there is the greatest challenge and make a difference.

Companies create model like E=MC*2, EEE, they come up with fancy names to engagement model and try to force fit with the oranisation. its ok to keep it simple, what is that you want to resolve, it may change every year, how can one model be usefule for years and decades, keep it simple, flexible, modify with the need.

Every organization must ask this one simple question: “Are we building our work culture around employee competition or employee connection?”. You can’t have both. If we are building a culture around employee competition, then it is OK to continue putting a major emphasis on efficiency, contribution, and consistency. On the other hand, if we are building a culture around employee connection, then we need to start putting a much bigger emphasis on measuring ‘Belonging’ and how everyone supports each others’ unique individual strengths. We also need to standardize the way we measure ‘Belonging’ inside of an organization so we can benchmark where we are, identify how to improve, and celebrate progress.

As the average tenure trends down for employees (now closer to 2 years than 5), companies can have a hard time seeing the ROI in investing in employee learning & development. But employers can rethink traditional training models and offer more agile development opportunities to upskill their employee base while increasing retention. Stretch assignments with mentors, modular learn-as-you-go development pathways, and a focus on A.I. tool exposure are all great ways to do this.

Value emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence (EQ) plays a pivotal role in understanding, empathizing, and connecting with others. Leaders with high EQ recognize their own emotions and those of their team, and can navigate interpersonal dynamics effectively. By valuing and displaying emotional intelligence, you can better gauge the mood of your team, address concerns proactively, and build stronger relationships. By demonstrating empathy and compassion, you can create an environment where employees feel understood and supported, bolstering both their engagement and wellbeing.

As a leader, strike a balance between prioritizing task completion and building relationships with your followers. The simple rule of thumb is, invest in your followers as human beings and value them rather than seeing them as task completing monkeys