How to create a winning employee engagement strategy in four 'easy' steps.

Employee engagement took a huge blow during the Covid epidemic with the rise of the Great Resignation. In the US alone, the US Bureau of Labor reported 47 million quit in 2021, topped only by more than 50 million in 2022.

Whether its the great resignation or simple the great pause. Covid gave everyone a breathing space (a socially distanced one mind) to revaluate where they were going and whether this job and that boss is really doing it for me.

But before we lay the blame at the feet of the ever unpopular virus we should ask - what was happening before lockdown madness? Well according to Harvard Business Review this trend of quitting jobs is part of a long-term growing trend going back to the noughties (2000 - 2009).

In Japan the ‘salaryman’ is both admired and mocked in equal measure. But even in Japan a culture steeped in duty and loyalty there are rumblings of people starting to question the status quo. We live in unprecedented times and expectations are rising around the World both for customers and our employees.

Senior eyes look towards HR for the answers so what can be done my HR colleagues?

Based on years of running employee surveys I can tell you employees needs can be boiled down to three key things:

1. Sense of Purpose - feeling of autonomy and control.
2. Healthy & Inclusive Culture - where values on the wall reflect the reality.
3. Opportunities to learn and grow - tailored to individual aspirations and development needs.

It can sound easy but in truth few organisations are getting it right.

So let me humbly share with you a personal perspective on how these needs can be fulfilled within a company. Any engagement strategy must address the four enablers of engagement:

• Strategic Narrative - the story of your organisation, where you are, where your going and most importantly my role, to give me meaning and purpose.
• Does the narrative/story provide a clear vision for the future and my role in it?
• Does the culture reflect the story? We’re open and transparent and then silent when people leave. Mmm maybe not.
• Do the values reflect the reality of the culture? We’re passionate on diversity and inclusion but then only pay lip service to it.
• Engaging Managers - ‘people leave managers not organisations’ has become a truism, yet common sense is not always common practice. The manager is the company for many employees for good or bad, its why leadership training is a billion dollar business get it right and you fly baby. Get it wrong…and I fly baby!
• Great managers invest the time to support their teams and create a healthy culture committed to developing their people.
• Do your managers balance the tasks of the job versus focusing on their teams?
• Do they treat their people with respect by really listening to them?
• Do they coach them and help them grow through stretching them?
• Employee Voice - showing a willingness to listen to employees with compassion and interest, providing the internal communication channels for feedback to be collected and responded to.
• Do you provide constant methods for employees to share how they are feeling? Annual employee survey alone will often make people feel unheard and disengaged. Tick the box!
• Employee survey results do you act upon the results and do the employees agree with the actions?
• Do the employees feel its safe to speak up or do they fear some adverse reaction? Whatever you do don’t tell HR! We have a trust issue people!
• Integrity - perhaps the most important. Employees are giving up their precious time for this organisation. They need to believe in it, they need to trust it and they need to be growing within it. Only then are the three drivers of engagement met.
• Are organisational values reflected in the daily behaviour of managers?
• Do employees trust their individual managers and the senior management team?
• Is your organisation transparent with the bad news as well as the good?

So there you have it the four enablers of engagement, the true power comes from the interaction of these elements creating a positive virtuous circle. Use the four enablers to build an organisational culture that provides meaning in people’s lives, in a healthy inclusive culture. Then with this firm foundation employees can flourish and grow and play their part in enabling their organisations to succeed.