3 Must-Have Keys to Engaging Employees

Keys to Engaging Employees
Many leaders and managers talk a good game when the subject of improving employee engagement comes up, but how many are really serious about putting in the time and effort to make sure it happens?

The Definition of Employee Engagement
Simply put, engaged employees advocate for their company, give more discretionary effort, and intend to stay at the company.

Why Employee Engagement Matters
First you should know how much it matters. Studies show that engaged workers are over 40% more productive and effective than their unengaged counterparts. Now wouldn’t that make enough of a difference for your senior leadership to sit up and take notice?

3 Keys to Doing Employee Engagement Right
We believe there are two keys to getting employee engagement right:

• Being strategic, and
• Involving managers
• Creating accountability

1. Being Strategic
   When it comes to engaging employees, being strategic means that you have identified not only what engagement will look like but what role it will play in your business and people strategies. For engagement to drive performance, you need clear linkages between the way you want your workers to behave and your strategic priorities.

   In other words, engagement should not be an HR tactic, but a company and leadership strategy for success.  Once the strategy is clear, use a customized engagement survey that will help pinpoint the engagement areas and actions that matter most.

2. Involving Managers
   Managers hold the keys to improving the engagement of their teams. You must actively involve them in understanding the survey results and in designing the actions required to improve employee advocacy, discretionary effort, and intent to stay.

   Then teach managers how to effectively follow up on engagement actions, earn the trust of their teams, communicate the importance of engagement, listen and give constructive feedback, and hold regular meetings to track, share, and monitor progress.

3. Creating Accountability
   Finally, you must hold managers accountable for the level of engagement of their team. They need to know you are serious. Reward managers who increase engagement and have proportionate consequences for those who do not .

The Bottom Line
We know that when managers don’t follow up, their team loses 6% of their engagement in just one year.  Smart leaders know the keys to engaging employees.  They periodically check with all employees, see if managers are sharing and reviewing engagement results with the team, and hold people accountable for executing action plans to improve engagement.

If you want to learn more keys to engaging employees, download The Top 10 Most Powerful Ways to Boost Employee Engagement.