Employee Engagement - More Than A Buzzword (When It's Understood)
Misunderstandings of Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement (EE) - An incredibly popular yet widely misunderstood concept in the corporate word. Perhaps its popularity is what makes it misunderstood so greatly. The more people talk about EE the more the misunderstood concept is passed on from one person to the next. The actual truth of what EE is is never discussed and thus people continue on thinking they know what it is without even knowing the half of it.
Nowadays, engagement is understood as if it were simply Employee Satisfaction. The conversation and thoughts around it do not go much beyond that. Are my employees happy? How are they feeling? Do they like it here? But none of these questions truly relate to engagement itself. An employee might like where they work but never be completely engaged. Companies assume they can improve the workplace by focusing on Employee Engagement, but they can never truly define just what Employee Engagement is.
So that should be the goal then, right? How do I truly ENGAGE my employees? How do I help them perform at higher level? How do I increase productivity? How do I grow our company's bottom line? Or better yet, how do I help my employees to increase our company's bottom line? An engaged employee is one who performs with more creativity, determination, and success.
Custom Engagement
Engagement cannot be given simple definitions. What one company needs for engagement to happen could be completely different than another. For example, company A might be struggling with employees who lack initiative and grit while Company B might be having issues with their employees being late to work or completing projects passed due dates.
Company A could improve engagement by focusing on things such as relationships with managers, approval of leadership, or communication because all of these aspects relate directly the employee's work or to those in charge of the employee's work. By increasing the understanding of how managers and leaders work and communication is viewed by employees, the company can make adjustments so that the employee feels more comfortable and heard. The employee would find more initiative and grit as they come to find that their company is improving the skills of those in charge and they would be more prepared to work harder for those whom they trust and understand more fully.
Company B, with issues with employees being on time or completing work on time, would take a route that relates more to the employee and what might be causing them to be behind. Company B could look at aspects of engagement such as commitment to the organization, the overall work environment, and even if they feel that they have support in the workplace. Essentially, the employee needs to feel that they are excited to go to work and that when they are there they are part of a team who cares about them and pushes them to be better. Creating an environment of high expectations can be difficult but also more rewarding than one might expect. However, without knowing if the employee feels committed and if they find power in their physical workplace and workplace relationships, the company's leaders would not be able to adjust accordingly.
Employee Engagement and Business Strategy
EE then is not a matter of just how the employee's like their workplace, but how they are actually acting in the workplace. Are their projects lackluster? Are they consistently behind on projects? Do they lack the determination needed to make something great happen? Managers need to be aware of how their employees might be lacking so that they can customize their EE improvement to what the company's business strategy. EE cannot be separate from the business strategy as EE without a true goal is nothing more than employee satisfaction. One cannot assume that because they have Food Truck Fridays their employees are engaged. They might be happy, but that does not mean they are engaged. Instead, company's must find what is needed to take the next step in their company's growth.
Employees are what make companies grow. Engaging them through a focus on company strategy should be every company's goal. EE can and should be customized to each workplace's needs and goals. The strategy of the company must be fully recognized and understood so as to help recognize what needs to change to meet that strategy. Once leaders know what they need, they can focus on helping their employees build the necessary skills and motivation to push the company into a new era of growth and opportunity.
If you remember nothing else, remember this: Engagement is more than satisfaction. Engagement is the productivity and grit of your employees.
People Enabler | Change Experience Designer | Psychological Safety Evangelist
5 年I agree with Chase Cragun. I would argue autonomy is one of the key elements of helping an employee feel engaged with their work. I've gained interesting insights regarding autonomy and engagement from two books: Outward Mindset by The Arbinger Institute and Linchpin by Seth Godin. In Outward Mindset, the authors discuss that often in business many employees either plan or execute work; rarely do they get to do both. If employees are able to plan AND execute their work they're likely to feel more like an owner, a creator, or a founder--AKA they'll likely be more engaged. When i've felt the most engaged at work, it's when i've had the opportunity to plan projects/initiatives and then participate in executing them.? In Linchpin, Godin is obsessed over the idea of employees becoming artists--meaning that they're creating, not just taking orders. In my experience working, the times that someone tells me what to do and how to do it is draining and it burns me out. I get into no sense of flow by following orders or instruction. But when I have the opportunity to create something, to be an artist with my own craft, that's when I loose track of time and feel completely rejuvenated even if i've been "painting" metaphorically for hours.?
Corporate Gifting | CEO/Founder at Spoonful of Comfort | Customer Retention
5 年Great post. Employee engagement is also directly tied to retention, which ultimately lends itself to company growth. Thanks for sharing!?
Sr HR Lead at Owens Corning leading HR strategy and transformation
5 年Dylan, I enjoyed learning more about your perspective on Employee Engagement & how you perceive this topic to be viewed in Corporate America. I appreciate your interest in this topic, a topic that has significant value. I agree with you employee engagement is much more than a happy workforce, although a happy workforce is much more likely to choose to be engaged. From my perspective, for an employee move toward being fully engaged, the following are some things they need(Note: not intended to be a comprehensive list): 1 - Clearly defined mission statement that positively impacts something the employee can get excited about - the employee is not just coming to work to do a job, rather to be apart of something larger than themselves. 2 - Leadership who has earned trust/respect & cultivates an environment where failure is embraced & overcome (Psychological Safety) 3 - Autonomy: provide employees the ability to make decisions that impact the success of the team or company Again these are just a few topics & not a comprehensive list, although from my perspective extremely important in Employee Engagement. Thanks for providing a forum to share & learn from others!
Sr Org Effectiveness Leader Google and Tesla Alum
5 年In theory this would be ideal. Here is some food for thought: Spending time with leaders in corporations or working in a corporation would provide a different lens for how you might tackle this topic - what is ideal versus what is realistic. Is there an organization or team size this article would apply to? Where exactly would you encourage a leader to start versus an organization? What's the role of the employee in their own engagement? To assume every employee will optimize at full engagement potentially means that a leader or org needs customized engagement plans, which isn't realistic at scale. The example of company A and B, could be combined issues or realities for company C. Company Cs reality (A+B) could be company Ds reality and then some. I'm intrigued on how you might modify the article or evolve the article for scaling or larger organizations? Also, for a smaller organization - engagement initiatives may correlate with monetary investment. What if a smaller organization doesn't have the funds for the investment? Is there a recommendation or thought there? I've spent a lot of time thinking and working through this in organizations. Interested to hear what you think.