Employee Engagement: The building blocks

I take the view that little things really matter.

Over the course of my career, working with senior leaders and people managers in a variety of organisations, employee engagement has been a consistent challenge. Whilst it is now well recognised as an important factor for business success, many leaders raise concerns that they don’t know HOW to measure or improve employee engagement. Whether your organisation is big or small, whether you have HR expertise on hand or not, there are initiatives that can be done simply, cheaply, quickly – but effectively.

In writing “50 Top Tools for Employee Engagement” I noticed three common threads which form the building blocks for effective employee engagement, whether large or small, profitable or charitable, whether leaders are experienced or new to management.

Asking

One of the myths that surrounds leadership is that as a leader you should know all the answers. After all, isn’t that why you got promoted? But isn’t it more useful to hear what your employees think, know and suggest than to enforce your pre-determined opinions? Your employees are the ones closer to the task than leaders are; closer to the customer, experiencing the challenges of process or equipment first hand and spotting opportunities, big and small. So why not give them the chance to tell you what they are hearing, seeing, experiencing and sensing? This can be as simple as getting out and about to ask people – it really doesn’t have to be complicated, and there are no specialist skills required in having a chat to the people whose ideas really matter.

Listening

It’s all very well asking, but if you’re not then going to take any notice of the suggestions and recommendations made, there is no point. A critical factor in engaging with employees is really listening to their feedback. Hearing means you are receiving it, but listening suggests that your brain actually processes the information it hears. Far too often leaders hear what their people tell them but they don’t process it, and they don’t act on it. You need to ensure the feedback you receive is listened to, responded to and wherever possible, acted upon. How you choose to respond will be important – straight rejections of ideas or suggestions may well discourage future feedback. Where possible, explain the rationale for not following up. Asking for revised, similar or alternative suggestions will demonstrate that you have listened and appreciated your employees’ inputs.

"A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others." John C. Maxwell

Trusting

We trust our employees with our most valuable assets – our customer relationships, our products, our people, our money. However, there can be a reluctance to empower employees just in case it goes wrong – for example a reluctance to engage openly with customers in case your employee makes a promise they can’t deliver. But if you want to encourage a greater level of engagement among your employees you need to trust them. Enable and empower them to take their contributions further - to make changes, evaluate impacts and to really demonstrate their commitment to the changes they recommend. Leaders should focus their go/no-go decisions on the positive opportunities, the potential for great results, and the great learning experiences for all involved, rather than governing and making decisions based on what might go wrong. Manage the poor outcomes by exception, rather than assuming them to be the norm. Focus on the positives. 

Employee engagement is often over complicated, but by effectively utilising these three building blocks you can make a great start in understanding what engagement means to YOUR employees. 

In business, we have to take some risks, and this is just as true when we consider employee engagement. The excitement, energy and commitment that can be harnessed by asking for and listening to their suggestions, and by trusting them to make things happen, can be extremely valuable.

Debbie Mitchell's Top 3 in 3 is designed to bring you key learnings, insights and tools from her workshops and research, easily digestible in just three minutes. For more information on "50 Top Tools for Employee Engagement” visit https://bit.ly/dcm1Eng