Robyn Reilly in a recent Gallup Business Journal article discusses 5 ways to improve Employee Engagement.
Engaged employees are rare. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. New Zealand has one of the highest levels of engaged employees among the countries surveyed, at 23%. Australia’s engagement rate is similar, at 24%. But both countries fall short of the United States, where 30% of employed residents are engaged at work.
Engaged workers stand apart from their not-engaged and actively disengaged counterparts because of the discretionary effort they consistently bring to their roles. These employees willingly go the extra mile, work with passion, and feel a profound connection to their company. They are the people who will drive innovation and move your business forward.
The article goes into insightful detail and definitely worth a read however for the nature of this blog post we have listed the following 5 ways Gallup suggest to increase Employee Engagement.
1. Use the right employee engagement survey. Any survey data must be specific, relevant, and actionable for any team at any organisational level. Data should also be proven to influence key performance metrics.
2. Focus on engagement at the local and organisational levels. Real change occurs at the local workgroup level, but it happens only when company leaders set the tone from the top.
3. Select the right managers. The best managers understand that their success and that of the organisation relies on employees’ achievements. But not everyone can be a great manager. Great managers care about their people’s success. They seek to understand each person’s strengths and provide employees with every opportunity to use their strengths in their role. Great managers empower their employees, recognise and value their contributions, and actively seek their ideas and opinions. It takes talent to be a great manager, and selecting people who have this talent is important. Whether hiring from outside or promoting from within, businesses that scientifically select managers for the unique talents it takes to effectively manage people greatly increase the odds of engaging their employees. Companies should treat the manager role as unique, with distinct functional demands that require a specific talent set.
4. Coach managers and hold them accountable for their employees’ engagement. Gallup’s research has found that managers are primarily responsible for their employees’ engagement levels.
5. Define engagement goals in realistic, everyday terms. To bring engagement to life, leaders must make engagement goals meaningful to employees’ day-to-day experiences. Describing what success looks like using powerful descriptions and emotive language helps give meaning to goals and builds commitment within a team.
Leaders in the best companies strategically align their employee engagement efforts. They find ways to communicate engagement’s effect throughout the year and share best practices across the organisation. They use every opportunity, touchpoint, and communication channel to reinforce and recognise the organisation’s commitment to employee engagement.
If employees truly are a company’s best asset, then leaders and managers should make caring for them a priority.
Have a read of the full Gallup Business Journal here.
Very Insightful, In today's post covid era employee engagement is very necessary as it helps to balance the mental health of the employees.
A healthy relationship between employees and employers builds a business persona and increases company growth and productivity. Employee engagement is one of the effective ways to keep yourself one step closer always in achieving your goals.