Extreme Employee Engagement

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Gallup is an international leader in measuring and analyzing employee engagement. They have measured this for over two decades, across 49 industries and in 73 countries. They have found that teams with higher engagement-

• Produce substantially better business outcomes
• Treat customers better and attract new clientele
• Are more likely to remain with their organization (Gallup estimates that replacing an employee can cost 150% of their annual salary. Deloitte estimates it can cost up to 1.5 to 2 times their annual salary)
•  Are healthier and less likely to experience burnout. Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and ineffectiveness in the workplace, and by chronic negative responses to stressful workplace conditions. While not considered a mental illness, burnout can be considered a mental health issue.

Engaged employees work with passion and feel a deep and profound connection to their company. They consistently bring discretionary effort to their role. These are the employees that go the extra mile, work with passion, drive innovation and solve problems. These employees focus on their strengths and when there are problems, develop solutions.

If employees are truly a company’s greatest asset, then caring for them should be a manager/leaders top priority.

Each person, each employee comes with a unique set of beliefs, gifts, talents, goals and life experiences that drives their performance, personal goals, personal success and well being. People have unique innate qualities that lead them to excel in particular ways. Each person is unique in their talents, strengths, situational experiences, hopes, dreams and personality. They are a “human being” not just a “human doing”. 

The 2019 Gallup poll in the US showed that 52% of workers are in the ‘not engaged’ category. They are psychologically not attached to their work and company. They will put in time with no passion and energy. They show up and put in the minimum contributions to their job.

Employee engagement is determined by:

• Feeling clear about your role
• Having the opportunity to do what you do best
• Having opportunities to develop and grow
• Having strong co-worker relationships
• Having a team with a common purpose or mission

These are all factors that managers/leaders can directly influence. Managers create the conditions that promote the positive behaviors of employees (or the exact opposite) within the relationships they establish. They are either an engagement creating coach or an engagement destroying boss. They are responsible for 70% of the variation in a teams engagement. World wide there are only approximately 15% of employees who have managers that enable engagement. The majority of the global workforce is not engaged; they lack the energy and passion for their jobs. They are uninspired and lack motivation. They are “checked out”.

Engaged employees do not need or even want a boss, but if there is an empowering relationship they will seek out advocacy, advice or assistance. “Coaches individualize, bosses generalize.” Studies show that organizations that focus on creating high developing cultures succeed. People see their impact on the organization and their customers. They have opportunities to develop their strengths and have a sense of purpose.

For an organization there are key performance outcomes directly connected to high employee engagement:

• Customer ratings
• Profitability
• Productivity
• Turnover
• Safety
• Shrinkage (theft)
• Absenteeism
• Lower safety (and patient safety) incidents
• Quality (defects)

So it seems obvious that what an organization needs is a highly dedicated, engaged workforce. What kinds of things contribute to developing this?

• Employee surveys that are real and actionable
• Employees are empowered to make a significant difference in their job, leaders seek out ideas and opinions and value their contributions
• There are clear processes, systems, products and customers
• Employees are experts on themselves and their teams so will have the best ideas to deliver improved performance, business innovation and make a better workplace
• Great Managers/Leaders understand the employees strengths and provide opportunities for them to use those strengths in their roles
• Engagement is woven into daily activities to make it a part of the workplace DNA; in the day-to-day experiences, goals and commitments, turning work experiences into ones that are fulfilling and motivating

These are the 12 Elements  to develop an engaged workforce ( from 12 Elements of Great Managing)

Employees:

• know what is expected of them
• must have the right materials and equipment
• are matched to what they do best, aligning with their unique gifts and talents
• receive positive feedback, recognition and praise
• are a member of the ‘tribe’ with personal connections and caring
• get and give mentoring, encouraging development for themselves and others
• have input, they will work harder at something that is at least partially their idea
• are connected to the corporate mission; “We believe…..”
• are accountable for their work ethic, commitment to quality and their work (no free loaders)
• have social bonds, friendships and affiliations within their teams
• receive frequent advice and encouragement with a focus on their strengths and not their weaknesses (versus an annual performance appraisal)
• they have an opportunity at work to learn and grow, there is a high potential to thrive and flourish, they can see progress and personal improvement.

Basically their leader should function from the ‘teach’ aspect to find and activate talents, fuel employee development and engagement, and coach to star performance. The employees they develop will solve complex problems, build superior businesses, for high performance teams and create a joyful place to work.

If you need some tools to help to tap into your employees talents, gifts and passions (from the Passion Test) and learn how to align your employees with your business (from the Passion Test for Business) contact me for more information. Re-engage your staff, re-energize them and you will recap the benefits in business success. These processes were a huge eye (and heart) opener for me. 

My top passion consistently over time is “to teach, train, mentor, coach, support”. Over my life I have been in many different jobs, different occupations, working for different employers and when I look back, no matter what my role at the time, when I have been able to incorporate and align my passions to my job, I am happy, engaged and energized.