When people are financially invested, they want a return.
When they are emotionally invested, they want to contribute
- Simon Sinek
Here's a simple definition from Google - "Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work".
And Forbes.com - "Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals".
Here's what it looks like:
A cursory google search will turn up loads of links on the topic, including definitions, how to do it, things to watch out for and so on. And this article is not really about those things. This article is about what managers can do to drive engagement.
While we're at it, I would like to clearly state that Employee Engagement has nothing to do with fun activities (birthday celebrations, festival contests, annual day events) run by HR and / or line managers every month / quarter. These are stress buster activities, nothing more, nothing less. For those who think that these fun activities are employee engagement, ask yourself - "How many candidates will join my organization or take back their resignation because we are running these fun events?"
In my experience of twenty years in HR across different industries, Employee Engagement comes down to the relationship between the manager and his team. This is applicable to for all departments including HR. Employee engagement is not the responsibility of HR, but the responsibility of anyone who leads a team, irrespective of organization level or delegation. When you come to think of it, it's also the responsibility of those who don't have teams, but work across the organization. HR can provide a framework of Talent Management (Hiring, Performance Management, Rewards, Learning), but the actual work has to be done by the manager personally.
Why the manager?
The manager has to set goals for the team, ensure discipline, manage and monitor performance regularly, provide effective feedback, groom and develop his team members, and ensure goals are met.
So how does the manager drive engagement in his team ? (the term "he" is interchangeable with whatever term you like)
- He has to know his team, beyond their resumes.
- He has to let the team get to know him / her - beyond the designation.
- He has to develop a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.
- Define the goals
- Monitor and manage performance
- Enable them to understand and use their own motivation in their work.
Some may say - Who has time for all this? It seems a lot of work, and it definitely does require substantial investment of time from the manager. Unfortunately, there's no shortcut from this time investment. There is of course, the Situational Leadership Model by Dr. Paul Hersey (Center for Leadership Studies) which can help the manager do all of this.
Here's an image of the model:
The #SituationalLeadership model will enable you to:
- Allocate the appropriate task to the correct employee
- Adopt an appropriate management style with each employee (not a one style fits all approach)
- Get employees to participate in the planning the execution of the department's work.
- Identify high performers
- Manage low performance
- Develop the capabilities of the team members
For Situational Leadership to succeed, the manager must know both his own Strengths and Weaknesses, as well as those of his teams. A tool such as the #CliftonStrengths or the #PRISM Brainmapping Professional (or DISC, FIRO-b, etc) is necessary as a precursor to ensure that the team becomes an engaged, smoothly-oiled unit. A few reflective questions to start could be :
- "What do I need from my team?"
- "How do I support my team so that they deliver what I need from them?"
Of course, Team Coaching and Individual coaching will also help, along with regular conversations which treat the employee as a person and not just an employee.
Want to know more? Leave a note here, or write to me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com to set up a call. I can also be reached at +919820155778 for a conversation.
