Facilitating Employee Engagement

How do you monitor your employee engagement? ?????

Gallup reported the first decrease in employee engagement in over a decade. In their report, they described that the leading factors in this decrease were in, clarity of expectations, having the right materials and equipment, and the opportunity for workers to do what they do best. Although these may seem like simple fixes, many organizations struggle to even start the conversation.

So where can you start?

Its probably easier to start this discussion by pointing out negative signs that suggest employees in your group may not be engaged: increased absenteeism, turnover, harder to fill positions, decrease in employee job satisfaction, and increases in health issues, safety violations and lost work time. All of these are objective and can be measured. All can have a negative impact on your group’s results. ?

Employee engagement, by definition, is the employees’ commitment and belief that what they are doing is enjoyable and valued. This perception can be fragile. One mistake is that leaders view engagement as a cultural issue. Nope! It’s a people issue –keep in mind employees’ behaviors and beliefs define culture. As a leader, your employees’ perceptions will influence the team’s perception of culture.

I published a book called Why People Stay and Why People Go. In this book I provide leaders with a model for exploring core drivers that influence the employee engagement equation through a model called triangulation theory. Though there is no one theory that can define all the drivers and elements, the purpose of triangulation theory is to help leaders ring fence a thesis of where to focus for employee engagement.

Triangulation theory suggests there are three core drivers that collectively influence engagement:

• Organizational maturity – how developed are the people, process and product/services. ?Variables that can influence this: leadership capacity, quality of communications, quality control, useful feedback and performance management model for developing and retaining a workforce;
• Cultural reality – what is the organization really like to work in not what leaders claim based on an annual employee survey but what the majority of employees are saying to each other and believing. Some examples are employee level of respect and trust for their managers, levels of fear, and level of co-operations;
• Employee job satisfaction (external and internal). External examples are employee’s satisfaction with their pay & benefits, working conditions, and organizations brand. Internal examples refer to the employee’s internal satisfaction which is defined by employee’s personal sense of achievement, interest in role and perception in regards to recognition. ?

All three drivers are synergistic and are interdependent. The employee engagement equation formula for facilitating employee engagement depends on each of the above three drivers and the leader’s commitment to understand their role in facilitating and supporting each driver.

Positive tactics leadership can facilitate to support the employee engagement equation within their group:

1. Be aware of where the above three drivers are with in your group. There are no short cuts for finding the facts. Employee engagement surveys, employee feedback, negative signs, peer or manager feedback may be sources to gather facts.?
2. Once you have the facts the next step is to develop your action plan and implement. If you do not have resources internally ask a peer, HR or an external for ideas on what you can do to improve or maintain your teams’ culture that will influence your employees’ engagement levels.
3. Put your plan in writing as to how success and gaps will be measured – be Vigilant!?
4. Self –evaluate your key core competencies that will impact your ability to impact employee engagement (i.e., communications, influencing and leadership). If you have gaps get trained or coached.?
5. Commit to monitoring your group’s engagement levels and when off track do not be dismissive and rationalize. Be proactive and explore what you can now do to facilitate to employees they are really important, valued,?part of something meaningful and respected.
6. Pay attention to your speak. Count how many times you praise good work compared to correct. Put the praise on the top line and divide corrections bottom. Keep this number in positive. ?
7. Accept employee engagement is a dynamic process there is no goal line as it’s a moving target requiring constant attention, commitment and action.?

This Fall we are launching a new program alongside the release of my newest book?No Regrets.?It will include a 60 mins virtual presentation called?Returning to the Workplace with No Regrets?as well a program handout and 300 hard-copies of my latest book. For more information on this program click here:?https://billhowatt.com/no-regrets-book-launch/ ?, or reach out to?[email protected] . The first five organizations that book this program and provide a 50% deposit before August 31st, 2022 will save $4000.00.