Employee Engagement @ Workforce

Many corporations are experiencing transformation mode, where leadership is about enabling the full potential in others. It’s about allowing employees to be their authentic selves so they can leverage their strengths and unique perspectives.

Today’s leaders must constantly focus on the growth of their teams and strengthening the capabilities of individuals that can make the team more effective; this creates an environment of continuous innovation and initiative. Think of your employees as an innovation lab. As such, employee engagement should always be abundant!

Leaders need to let go and guide their employees to mature within new and expansive roles and responsibilities. Employees want to feel valued and challenged; they want to be trusted and given the freedom to explore and learn within the job. Employees that stretch themselves to grow and take on more advanced assignments especially should be given the opportunity to further accelerate their advancement.

The bottom line is that leaders must continuously create new opportunities for their employees – or their workforce will not be innovative enough.

If you are not engaging your employees to create great teams, you are being irresponsible to the organization and the people you serve. 

Whenever we dictate a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ we risk having less room to adapt or change when necessary. As an additional consequence, in rules-based organisations, the workforce is unlikely to learn to take ownership, to think and act responsibility or to be accountable for themselves.

Organisational openness offers tremendous upside potential – empowered employees, free-flowing ideas, more creativity and innovation, happier customers, better results. So organisations that have pursued openness have recognised the need to truly understand their culture, involving the workforce in defining it and then recalibrating controls to allow for increased openness. Delivering on their need for meaning and impact, this will increase loyalty too.

• Get the hiring process right

Employee engagement starts with the recruitment process. It’s better to find employees who are aligned with your organizational mission than it is to change their motivation and values once they have their feet under the table. Be on the lookout for candidates with a sense of purpose, interest, and passion, use the recruiting process to discover a candidate’s interests and check their profiles

• Empower to discover potential

You will never know what an employee can accomplish unless you stop micromanaging and start empowering them to discover their full potential. Put them in situations that will build their confidence and strengthen their self-trust.

Empowering employees sounds simple, but it requires a leader to let go, step back and observe.  It demands a confident leader that is willing to allow their employees to fail, then help them pick up the pieces and rebound. Employees engage when they are empowered to explore endless possibilities.

• Put them in a position of influence

Beyond empowering employees, put them in a position of influence to see how they react and engage in their new role. Stimulating engagement is a two-way street: it’s not just how employees gravitate towards their leaders, but how others gravitate towards them. Allow your employees to discover their own potential and put them to the test. Witness how they lead and collaborate with others. If you micromanage employees too much, they disengage. Employees want to feel trusted and valued for the independent decisions they can make and the impact they can create.

The most engaged employees are those whose leaders have confidence in them; who trust that they can always be depended to deliver when called upon. Employees are most engaged when they feel a sense of responsibility towards their leaders and the example their performance sets for others. This is accelerated when they are placed in roles of influence and responsibility.

• Detect the most positive capabilities in people

Stop spending time being overly critical of what your employees are not doing right and identify what they are naturally gravitating towards – that which gets them excited. Throw their job description out the door and focus on those areas your employees enjoy contributing to the most and build a plan that utilizes their most positive capabilities to create the outcomes you desire.

Everyone wants to enjoy what they do at work, so allow employees to engage with the business in ways that generate the results that you require, while giving them the flexibility to navigate and explore how they can best contribute. See well beyond the obvious. Expand your leadership lens to detect what matters most to your employees and allow them to flourish.

• Share your success to build their momentum

Rather than enjoy your leadership success alone, share it with your employees and allow them to experience it with you. The wise man forfeits his fortune when he does not trust himself. Sharing your success with your employees and making them feel an important part of your accomplishments is a sign of trust that organically creates engagement.

Employees want to support their leaders – even more so when a leader is transparent enough to share not only their success, but also their vulnerabilities. Employees don’t need leaders that always have to be right (or perceived as perfect) – they want leaders that open themselves up enough to share their journey with them. Genuine collaboration drives engagement and creates an environment of significance for everyone.

• Be consistent and have their backs

Leadership is about having each other’s backs – especially those of your employees. Employees disengage when their leaders play mind-games and are inconsistent with their approach and style. Employees are vulnerable these days – not really knowing who to trust, rely upon or follow.

• Appreciation for their Efforts

Employees who are known and appreciated by their manager, co-workers and key stakeholders are more likely to feel engaged in their jobs and positive about the organization. Research suggests that the ratio of positive to negative/critical statements over time is around 3-1 for any relationship to flourish and for people to be at their best. Managers has to ensure an appreciation, creating positive work environment where people feel their contribution is valued and contributes to the bigger picture. Tolerating reasonable mistakes, ensuring they don’t get blown out of proportion and are used as valuable learning experiences.

• Stop unknowingly creating tension

Leaders unknowingly create tension with their employees when they expect them to behave like they do, rather than encouraging them to be their authentic selves. Opportunities are everywhere, but few leaders have the eyes to see them. When employees are encouraged to be themselves and not what others want them to be, they will begin to embrace an entrepreneurial attitude that wasn’t previously being leveraged – thus stimulating engagement.

Tension is created by leaders who don’t take the time to engage with their employees. When an employee feels that their leader doesn’t care – or is disingenuous about their career and future opportunities, they may begin to shut down and grow bitter. Employees respect leaders that allow them to use their most natural skills and characteristics. Employees are most engaged when they don’t feel confined to an environment of limitations and constraints. Be more aware of what your employees need and stop unknowingly creating tension.

• Build a culture of collaboration

One of the pillars of employee engagement is collaboration. Encourage employees to share knowledge and ideas, use your talent to unleash latent creativity and help the organization to foster innovation and growth while meeting customer needs.

Some organizations lack the culture of openness and trust that enables effective engagement; organizational leaders tend to be more at ease discussing customer relationships rather than discussing relationships with employees.

The relationship between employee and manager directly affects engagement levels. If you can improve this your employees will be more comfortable, effective and productive. Trust is the foundation of working relationships and facilitates communication and collaboration; it’s essential for creating an environment where innovation and creativity flourish

Who wants to engage with a leader that doesn’t have their back?  This is why leaders lose top talent all the time. They just assume their employees will be loyal to them – rather than recognizing that retaining top talent requires leaders to always be looking out for their best interests.  Leaders must communicate and become more emotionally intelligent to stimulate employee engagement.

“The most important element is having strong leaders, who are not engaged. Without competent managers, everything else falls apart.”

Relationships replacing Rules

What other advice would you add to this list? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts in the comments below.

Thank you for reading my previous posts Want to Double Your Employee Loyalty?, Transforming Talent Acquisition, How To Hire Right Employees, Leaders With High Moral Character Always Use, Inspiring & Developing Organization Healthy and 6 People Who Should Follow A Company.

Please leave your comment below as your insights are greatly appreciated and a learning opportunity for everyone reading this article.