In last week’s blog post we took a look at the impact of disengaged employees on organizations. Dissatisfied workers simply don’t care as much as their satisfied colleagues – their performance, efforts, and concerns about company or customer well-being are marginal. Disengaged employees cause corporate income, earnings, and profits to suffer to the tune of $500 billion each year.
Engagement Through the Organization
Leaders who recognize the importance of engagement have a substantial advantage. Enthusiasm skyrockets when they create a positive environment, promote helpfulness, value their staff, and provide the resources necessary for success.
Adopting a philosophy that puts people first strengthens engagement, provided it’s backed by actions. Your people need to see signs that you value them. Convey this by giving them the tools they need to do their best work. Do they need additional manpower or funding? Are better supplies or equipment required?
Do your people have the direction and plans they need to ensure projects are completed successfully? Are procedures and policies thoroughly communicated, and is training adequate? Do people know exactly what to do—and why they’re doing it? Without these baseline provisions, people feel lost, frustration builds, and disengagement flourishes. Frustration leads to resentment and low morale when leaders fail to implement solutions.
Never forget that people need adequate skills to accomplish the tasks you’ve assigned. Only then can they be confident in their abilities and enjoy success. Doing good work compels people to continue on the right path. As they reap the rewards of a job well done, they continue to grow and can make greater contributions to the organization. They’ll look forward to new challenges and opportunities. It’s your job to provide them with the tools they need to advance.
A culture that fosters empowerment and accountability motivates people to find their own solutions and make a difference. Enhance this by giving people as much authority as their abilities allow. Let them suggest improvements to their processes, and authorize them to implement as many as feasible. This gives your people a greater sense of ownership—one of the greatest professional motivators.
Leaders who establish an excellence-oriented mindset provide these basic organizational benefits so their people feel valued and achieve short- and long-term success. Caring for your people raises their level of engagement by building strong bonds of trust, thankfulness and respect.
If you’d like help implementing some of these ideas to foster engagement within staff, I’m happy to help. As always, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached here or on LinkedIn.
