Workforce engagement offers numerous advantages, such as increased efficiency, heightened productivity and enhanced employee retention. As a leader, your influence in the organisation plays an essential role in keeping your staff highly motivated and engaged.
Here’s everything you need to know about the role of leadership in fostering workforce engagement, as well as actionable leadership strategies.
The Importance of Workforce Engagement in Your Business
Also known as employee engagement, this refers to a workplace where people feel connected to their colleagues, work and the company. When employees are passionate about their work and helping out one another, they are willing to contribute to your organisation’s success.
The effects of workforce engagement extend beyond contentment and job satisfaction. Engaged employees are more productive and committed to meeting goals. They are more likely to stay in the company, which improves workforce stability.
It matters for people in your organisation because it improves work and customer relationships. When people are more satisfied with their job, it can positively influence those around them.
Role of Leadership in Workforce Engagement
Being a leader in your organisation extends beyond hiring new talents and guiding your team toward deadlines and milestones. Here are some of the roles of leadership in employee engagement.
Maintaining Open Communication
Creating an honest, two-way communication channel creates a safe environment for your employees to thrive. When your staff trusts you, they are more likely to feel secure and valued.
It gives your workforce a space to feel heard and understood, which nurtures transparency and openness in your team.
Setting a Vision
Having a clear vision guides your employees toward goals and success. You set the destination and chart a map to get there. Your goal should be achievable and entail clear directions. It should also provide a sense of purpose on how the staff can contribute.
As an effective leader, you should clearly communicate the vision to the team to make it a collective aspiration. Knowing how their roles contribute to the success makes them more likely to feel a sense of responsibility.
Empowering Employees
Many forget that part of their job is to mould people for the better. As an effective leader, you should always push your team to be better every single day. Learn from the wise words of Steve Jobs, who once said, “My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”
A strong workplace community helps build a sense of belonging. When you keep happy employees, they feel more positive about representing your organisation to customers. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction.
Giving Recognition
Workers seek validation, no matter what industry you’re operating in. These people want to know that their hard work and contributions are valued. According to EY Global, around 75% of respondent employers at companies worldwide reported feeling excluded at work. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to reduce feelings of workplace exclusion and recognise hard work to boost morale.
When you acknowledge a great job, you reinforce positive behaviour. Employees who feel recognised are more likely to perform at a high level.
Managing Conflicts
Issues may arise at any moment. In fact, around 9.7 million employees experience conflict at the workplace in the U.K. every year. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to manage and address problems promptly and constructively. Employees who feel you can handle issues well feel more comfortable voicing their concerns. This helps reinforce the value that everyone is heard and respected in your organisation.
5 Strategies for Fostering Employee Engagement
Here are some tips a leader like you can employ to boost workplace engagement and morale.
1. Provide Training Programmes
Invest in training workshops and programmes for your employees. As individuals acquire new abilities, they become more proficient in their responsibilities. When they feel supported, this can lead to higher employee morale, retention rates and chances of getting closer to your company goals.
You can hire an outside consultant, invite guest speakers to a seminar or invest in online training software to make training more accessible and convenient to your employees, allowing them to complete programmes on their own time.
2. Creating a Positive Workplace Culture
Develop a work environment that’s inclusive, supportive and free from discrimination. Doing this creates a space where everyone feels respected, regardless of race, gender and other characteristics. You can also create a positive culture by encouraging employees to share their opinions.
3. Champion Inclusion
According to the Construction Industry Council, only 5.4% of construction employees are from an Asian, Black or ethnic minority background, as compared to the U.K.’s population, which has a representation of 13.8% from such minority ethnic groups. Make it a goal to ensure that your teams comprise people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Solicit opinions from various individuals to create more inclusive decision-making.
Moreover, you can also implement inclusive hiring practices. For instance, the construction industry is more male-dominated, with only 9% of U.S. workers being women. If you embrace inclusivity in your team, you are better positioned to know more about your customers and create products and services that meet their needs.
4. Launch Team-Building Activities
Leaders who actively invest in engagement activities encourage a more motivated workforce. Team building activities help break down barriers and silos in the organisation, fostering a sense of camaraderie. When employees feel they’re part of a supportive team, they feel and perform better at work. If you want to build a culture where people are more inspired and engaged to excel as one team, ensure to make team-building sessions a part of your goal this year.
5. Learn How to Lead and Follow
Model positive habits to encourage your team to do the same. Take regular breaks, promote work-life balance, eat healthy snacks and do actual work with the group when needed.
Most importantly, remain open to learning. Kristina Blahnik, CEO of Manolo Blahnik, also suggested this to fellow leaders, “Be as curious as you can be and always learn and be vulnerable as you’re no better than anyone else,” she said in an interview with Walpole.
Your employees should feel that you’re one of them but still someone they can call for advice and guidance. When you lead and follow, your staff will feel comfortable seeking support when needed.
Effective Leadership in Today’s Work Environment
As companies shift to flexible work settings, leaders must adapt or learn other strategies addressing their workforce’s social and mental well-being. A 2020 study shows that working remotely positively affects work engagement, allowing employees to balance work and family-related commitments. However, many individuals still feel lonely despite the benefits of working from home.
Here are some modern strategies to combat work loneliness:
- Set virtual meetings: Encourage your team to meet virtually to maintain social connections. These meetings can be informal, where you can discuss nonwork topics like food and hobbies to mimic casual interactions in a typical office setting.
- Organise online events: Set time for virtual parties, such as game nights, happy hours and team-building tasks.
- Provide mental health benefits: Ensure your company’s health care plan covers mental health issues and your employees use this benefit.
- Encourage employee development: Push your employees to grow and be successful in your team. Pay for their training or reward good work to empower them. Giving people a chance to upskill will boost their confidence at work.
Future-Forward Leadership Strategies
Many companies utilise artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) ability to automate work processes to boost productivity and employee engagement. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to use the power of technology to promote job satisfaction and increase engagement in the workplace.
Here are some future-proof strategies you can implement to make your team happier:
1. Upskill and Reskill Your Employees
Aside from inviting a resource speaker to your office, you can leverage AI in your strategies to give your team growth opportunities. Accenture, in partnership with SkyHive, used an AI engine to develop a personalised learning experience. The technology is used to identify gaps and equip employees with necessary training.
2. Automate Repetitive Tasks
Automation tools enable you and your team to streamline mundane, repetitive tasks. It removes manual intervention, allowing your staff to focus on more critical and creative aspects of their work. This time-saving strategy will help reduce burnout and work-related stress.
In 2015, AT&T implemented process automation to reduce tedious manual data entry tasks for its service delivery group. The company has over 3,000 automation bots and received a twentyfold return on investment in 2022.
3. Practise Proactive Risk Management
AI algorithms can observe patterns that indicate possible risks, such as high turnover rates, low productivity and employee burnout. With the help of AI tools, you can intervene with targeted solutions to retain valuable talent. Zoom uses large language models (LLMs) to help employees keep better track of meetings, schedule follow-ups and write emails to reduce workplace stress.
Ready to Become an Effective Leader?
There’s no perfect leader, but there are many ways to be a great one. By knowing the roles of leadership in fostering healthy workforce engagement and implementing the discussed strategies, you can unlock organisational success.
Author: Rose Morrison – Managing Editor, Renovated
Photo credit: Ivan Samkov
