A lot has been said and written about what Employee Engagement is, it’s importance and the drivers thereof. In this blog I will not cover that, but rather highlight some of those critical yet often muted insights in many conversations.
Enabling and achieving employee engagement is without doubt key to success on the journey to the desired employee & customer experience. Research shows that there is a very strong link between employee experience and customer experience, which leads to innovation, sustained productivity, a strong brand reputation and growth.
Research also shows that engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave. The Great resignation is becoming a concern for most organization and hence employee engagement remains a priority for most organizations, the question is are we focusing on the things that matter the most? Are we mindful of what it means to be human- how our language, emotions and body provides intelligence that through coaching can help us as individuals and organization produce learning that generates change which ultimately may lead to increased engagement? I mention both individual and organization as they are both jointly responsible for increasing engagement for themselves and others.
From my observation, the dominant narrative seems to be what the organization, the manager, leader (leader with position) can do to improve employee engagement. I believe that it is time to change the narrative. We all know that motivation and commitment is more powerful when it comes from within. Therefore, to create and build an organization of fully engaged people requires the best from all people – it should not only be the responsibility of People Leaders. We are all human beings and our whole being matters, and as such only the individual has control of their personal life and how that can influence work experience and vice versa. As an individual I have a responsibility towards self and others. So, every person should be asking themselves the question – what can I do to engage MYSELF and others, taking into consideration the well-known drivers of engagement and one’s role within the organization.
I would like to share some questions that we need to be asking ourselves. I trust that these will result in learning that generates change which ultimately may lead to increased engagement, if taken seriously and is followed by the right action.
Individual Contributor– Given the VUCA times we are leaving in, how aware are you of what is really going on with you internally? Your wellness is an increasingly important aspect of your experience at work.
How could this (VUCA) be impacting your work experience?
Do you consciously and consistently observe your thoughts and the assessments you are making?
What is important to you that is not being taken care of?
Human beings continually engage in ‘concernful’ activity, everything we do is oriented towards taking care of what matters to us. What concerns are not being met? If these are not addressed, it leads to a ‘breakdown’. As life and Ontological coaching is teaching me, mastery in life is in dealing with breakdowns.
How committed are you to your work, your team, your organization and why? What is the responsible thing to do? An example of ways to make you feel engaged at work, 5 Ideas to Help You Feel More Engaged at Work – Engagement Multiplier.
People Leaders– do you understand the impact of the turbulent times and what the people need the most? What do the choices you make support or negate an engaging workplace?
Do you understand how you are impacting employee engagement and how you plan to impact it positively? Engaged managers and leaders build engaged teams.
How are you contributing to the creation of a culture where people are encouraged to take responsibility for their own engagement? An environment where, people know and feel that first and foremost they are cared for as human beings and are encouraged to learn and grow from their mistakes.
Do you listen, understand and provide clarity on what is required of individuals and teams under your care, support and reward them accordingly?
Do you respect the dignity of others and therefore allow them to think for themselves so they may contribute to both individual and organizational success? Employees empowered and coached to make decisions are more likely to make high impact decision that help move the needle in organizations. Empowerment leads to increased engagement.
Engaged people also ensure that they grow and improve their work consistently helping the organization achieve sustainable innovation and growth, a goal that all serious organizations aspire to achieve.
The power of employee engagement lies within us, and requires all to play our part!
First and foremost, the corporate world needs to introspect whether they want to talk about Diversity only ‘to appear right’ or they truly believe in ‘being right’. If it is the latter, then diversity alone is meaningless, we need to be inclusive in our approach. For example, even if we hire a diverse workforce, what is more important is how ‘inclusive’ are we towards people with different gender, abilities, thoughts, beliefs, viewpoints, ethnicities and many more. Without inclusion diversity has no relevance. Therefore, before we even make diversity as an initiative in corporates, there is a need to have an inclusive mindset. How many of us are willing to accept a person who is with ‘special abilities’ as a Manager , or for that matter from a ‘different gender’. Do we welcome different viewpoints from our peers or our team members or do we stereotype them? How true are our intentions towards taking initiatives around diversity? The leadership needs to first and foremost have genuine and true intentions towards diversity and inclusion and win the trust of the entire organization by ‘walking the talk’. To my mind, this is the STEP ONE and needless to say that STEP ONE is the most difficult one and is the biggest milestone. Once this milestone has been achieved, the rest of the journey becomes a lot more seamless. This journey can be instrumental in the organization turning from ‘Good’ to ‘Great’.