In last week’s blog post we talked about the importance of fostering a sense of partnership amongst employees. Nothing extinguishes engagement more than feeling controlled, used or disrespected. True partners are included in decisions, plans, and discussions. They are stakeholders and will more readily buy in when there’s a personal investment.
Engagement Through Personal Connection
While providing resources and information enhances relationships, it takes more to strengthen them – it requires a personal connection with people and an investment in their lives. The most successful leaders demonstrate a genuine caring. Employee engagement reaches only moderate levels without it.
As Swindall states in Engaged Leadership: Building a Culture to Overcome Employee Disengagement, both leaders and employees contribute to workplace disengagement. Employees generally start their jobs with enthusiasm but lose it over time after chalking up negative experiences. Employees cannot be expected to make the initial efforts to correct problems. Leaders must initiate improvements and oversee organizational health.
Relationships drive engagement, which, in turn, drives productivity and success. Leaders must therefore be the relationship initiators and encouragers. If you care about people, your natural inclination will be relationship driven. In fact, personal connection is so critical that it takes the top spot among the 10 key factors influencing employee engagement, as listed by organizational behaviour experts Dan Crim and Gerard Seijts in “What Engages Employees the Most OR, the Ten Cs of Employee Engagement”.
Connecting with employees and getting to know them has powerful benefits, conveying value and appreciation. Your staff senses your support and understanding as the relationship grows. They respond with trust, loyalty, and effort. The employee gets to know your character, forging a tighter bond. A leader conveys caring by being interested in an employee’s life, family, and aspirations.
Strong relationships permit the frank sharing of concerns and ideas, leading to joint ownership. Both parties better grasp the other’s world. Greater accountability and transparency lead to higher engagement for both parties, and a greater sense of unity. Following up on your commitments is the final step in showing people you can be trusted to take care of them.
Effective leaders don’t show bias or partiality among employees. All people should be treated equally, under the same set of rules, with equal considerations, consequences, and rewards. Favouritism destroys unity, while fairness is a great trust-builder, enhancing employees’ perspective and engagement. Employees also look for a leader’s flexibility when their personal lives are challenging. Offer it if you can. Working from home, taking time to attend to a family situation, or being left alone while on vacation are important considerations that greatly enhance attitudes and engagement.
Leaders who accentuate positive results build a powerful culture. Find tasks your employees are doing well and point them out. Two of your most powerful words are “thank you.” Use them frequently.
Encourage and motivate people to learn, grow, and take on more. Your support through their seasons of growth is essential. Recognizing and celebrating their accomplishments will greatly raise their engagement. A leader’s success is the compilation of their people’s many achievements. Everyone benefits.
The leadership mindset needed to build employee engagement involves a number of natural steps, all of which can be learned and executed. The basic premise is to make underperforming employees better and good employees great, building on who they are and what they’re truly capable of doing. Start with those who will best spread their positive attitudes to their coworkers, assisting your efforts to raise the bar. The goal is to bring out the best in everyone.
I wish you all the best of luck with engaging your employees! If you would like some additional guidance through this endeavour, I am happy to help. As always, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached here or on LinkedIn.
