PEOPLE
LEADERSHIP
AND EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT
Align is more than
BY DAVID PIERCE, CERTIFIED PETRA COACH
Regular one-on-one meetings with each
AN ENGAGED employee is a productive
employee. Surveys conducted across team member that include a discussion
multiple industries estimate the average about personal matters is one way to foster
employee is engaged less than 30 percent of appreciation and recognition. We all need
the time. The “under-engaged” workforce is a to be needed and appreciated, and when
huge crisis in companies today, and leaders we are, our engagement grows. If we think
often fail to understand the magnitude of about some of the people from our past
this problem. Even worse, they fail to accept who we hold in high esteem, like teachers or
responsibility for increasing engagement employers, it’s likely they took a personal
with their teams. According to Gallup, interest in us and we were therefore much
“managers account for at least 70 percent of more devoted to them and our role in the
variance in employee engagement scores relationship.
A third driver for increased engagement
across business units.”
is a desire to know what is expected
So how does a leader improve
engagement levels within their teams? In of you in your position and objectively
measuring performance. We have a saying,
order to increase engagement levels, we
must understand the drivers that influence “It’s impossible to hit a target if you don’t
know what it is.” We all want to know if
engagement.
we’re doing what’s expected. Having key
One driver is that employees want to
know and believe their job has a real impact performance indicators (KPIs) that measure
on others. They need to know who they how we’re actually progressing versus set
are serving and how they are positively expectations is critical to the effectiveness
impacting them. If leaders can create an of this driver.
Every employee should be able to answer
emotional connection between the job and its
the question “Have I had a good day?” based
impact on others, engagement will increase.
Another driver is the innate need to be on quantitative measures. There are a few
requirements for creating meaningful KPIs:
appreciated. Appreciation in this sense
is more than an occasional “thank you.” they must be relevant to the job, they must
be under the control of the employee, and
It involves being recognized on a more
personal level by leadership. We all know they must be measured on a timely basis
(daily or weekly). In most cases, with well-
it’s impossible to separate our work life
from our personal life. If we are dealing with structured KPIs, the employee will actively
a personal matter at home, it impacts us at seek ways to meet or exceed the established
work. Or if the boss frustrates us at work, objectives with little outside assistance that
we may go home and take our frustrations will, in turn, increase their engagement.
Leaders who are committed to using
out on our families. Leaders need to be
genuinely interested in their team members these drivers to make the jobs of their team
as humans and be intentional about creating members more rewarding and fulfilling will
opportunities to foster these relationships. increase employee engagement and create a
workplace that everyone wants to be a part
Knowing something about our team
members’ lives outside of the workplace of.
walls can be invaluable.
3
just software. It’s a
proven system for
growth.
The habits you
develop using Align
create a company
culture focused on
Transparency
Accountability
Open Communication
Strategic Execution
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