Stop Trying To Engage Your Team...

Say what??? Are you for real???

According to the 2023 Gallup Poll, an "engaged team member" is defined as someone who finds their work meaningful and feels connected to the team and organization." They go on to add that "an engaged team member feels proud of the work they do and takes ownership of their performance. They go the extra mile for their teammates and customers."

Employee engagement or, better said, Team engagement is what we all strive to achieve. It is arguably one of the most difficult ventures to take on in business. The 2023 poll found that only 31% (USA data, not global. I should also note it is DOWN YOY by 2 pts.) of the those surveyed are truly ENGAGED at work. That number is incredibly scary when you consider the population of your team. Less than 1/3 of your team is truly engaged. Leaving 69% of your team not engaged (52%) or actively disengaged (17%). They estimate a total cost of this “disengagement” to be roughly $8.8 TRILLION (globally).?

If this is true, why should we STOP trying to engage the team?

Well, the answer here is simple:

Any effort you put toward team engagement is void if you don’t start with foundational elements first.

As a Coach, I see the efforts put toward “employee engagement” and I see their results. The typical go-to “solutions” to increasing team engagement include ping pong tables and a margarita machines, an escape room outing, or, most recently, just moving desks around the office. These things are great (maybe not the moving desks) for building community. Don't get me wrong, community is an important aspect of your team. But, it does not equal team engagement.

To truly increase your team engagement, here are a few things that must be in place FIRST to ensure your team will want to be fully engaged:

1.????Have a CLEAR VISION! A BIG GOAL can be a unifier to the business and to the team. Set a goal that is both quantitative and qualitative. Be sure it is motivating, inspiring and BIG.

2.????Be certain of WHAT DIFFERENCE you want to make in the world. Purpose is one of the three things Daniel Pink writes about in his book, Drive. Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose are those things that can connect a team member to the organization and encourage engagement. No one wants to be JUST a "number" within a business, they want to make a difference. You wanted to make a difference. That is why you started the business. Why not align those two?

3.????Have a PLAN to achieve both the purpose and the vision. Clear annual and quarterly goals that are communicated to the team will help define priority and drive execution.

4.????Document your way of doing things in a PLAYBOOK. A football team does not go on the field without a plan and path to the win. Why do you? Having a playbook will ensure that everyone knows the outline of how to achieve the intended results. Playbooks also create autonomy. Once this playbook is in place, implement a training and practice schedule to ensure adoption.

5.????Make sure BASIC NEEDs are met. It goes without saying that basic human needs should be met at work. Safety, Security... These needs also include resources, training, access to technology and, of course, fair compensation, work hours and incentives. (For great insights on compensation planning, read Scaling Up’s Compensation Book!)

Once those things are in place you can begin to work on the TWO MOST IMPORTANT KEYS to team engagement :

1.????Develop your MANAGERS! Anyone who your team reports to needs a development plan to become the Leader, Manager, Coach and Communicator the teams deserve. This is the main task of any CEO and businessowner . In all the surveys and all of the research this is the one thing that stands out as of the utmost importance. Develop your managers into those who will not only communicate the vision and ensure that the intended results are achieved in every aspect of the business.?

Development Plans should include:

a.???Leadership skills

b.???Management skills

c.???Effective coaching and development of team members

d.???Effective communication skills

e.???Meeting the basic needs of team members

f.?????Problem solving skills

g.???Company SOPs

2.????Open the LINES OF COMMUNICATION with the business. ?After nearly 600+ Full Day Sessions with Leadership Teams, I can tell you Communication is the biggest challenge in business. The act of telling someone what the expectations are, the changes that have been made, or how well they are doing is forgotten more times that it is remembered. Lack of communication creates divides within people and teams. Those divides are filled with so much drama and negativity. When the lines of communication are open, everyone is on the same page, rowing in the same direction. This is what the teams want! When communication is open trust can foster! When trust is there, respect is too.?

Final thought:

If you truly want an engaged team, START with these seven solutions. Once in place, these foundational elements will ensure a successful journey to team engagement. There is a lot to this journey. It doesn't stop with vision and purpose, but these are imperative to ensure success overall. And, while the margarita machine will be fun, it will be so much better to have a team who is bought into the vision, executing the strategy as planned and having financial results trending to where they should be! When that happens, maybe the team can go to Cancun for those margaritas!

About Heightened Leaders

Heightened Leaders exists to help you develop TRUE Organizational Health?. Once in place, growth and scale are possible. If you want to learn more about Megan Alarid, founder and Strategic Business Guide with Heightened Leaders or the results we help to provide, go to www.heightenedleaders.com. ?

Want to read more about the Gallup Poll - https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx

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