Since the origination of the term “employee engagement” (widely attributed to Jim Clifton of the Gallup organization), there have been numerous academic and industry studies undertaken to reveal the keys to this elusive employee characteristic – and for good reason. When achieved, this holy grail of human capital management results in significant increases in productivity, profits, employee retention, safety, customer satisfaction…the list goes on. So why did I end my last article with a promise to write about team engagement?
Because it turns out that the factors with the greatest impact on whether or not employees personally invest in their jobs are their immediate work group experiences – that is, relationships with their supervisors and coworkers, the quality of the teamwork, and whether they feel like they are making a valuable contribution to purposeful work. Isn’t “personal investment” what leaders are seeking when they talk about employee engagement – the individual investment of time, energy, and attention that makes the difference between “adequate” and “spectacular” results?
So what’s the “recipe” – what can team leaders or department directors do to foster employee engagement in their teams and departments? The standard business answer to questions about changing employee behavior is often, “Incentivize them to work harder!” Unfortunately, that’s almost always the wrong answer, as Daniel Pink outlines in Drive. In fact, financial incentives often backfire by inhibiting the discretionary effort and motivation they are intended to promote. Instead, the factors that most contribute to employee engagement are experiential and relational: clear performance expectations; opportunities for growth; being treated with fairness and respect. Easy peasy, right? If so, why are only 33% of U.S. employees engaged at work? Results are similar in the UK.
As leaders, we may console ourselves by thinking that there’s something wrong with the employees themselves. We might think “our organization doesn’t pay enough to attract the best and brightest.” Or considering a particular employee with complicated home issues, we might tell ourselves “people are just too distracted by their personal lives.” Except these same “mediocre” employees are often accomplishing amazing things outside the workplace, and often for no pay! My own experience is that apathy is often a coping mechanism. As a nurse once told me, “I quit caring because if I cared, I’d be too mad every day to do my job.” I’ve seen the same coping strategy employed by engineers, technicians, managers, and maintenance crews in high-tech, automotive, and tech start-up companies. When employees feel their contributions aren’t valued and/or they are being asked to do less than their best work in the service of uncertain or uninspiring goals via broken processes, they check out.
The real opportunity here is for leaders at all levels is to look in the mirror and ask yourself:
- Am I communicating clear performance expectations, AND do my employees have similar expectations? Might they aspire to even higher performance standards than I’ve envisioned?
- Am I making the most of my team members’ strengths? Do I even know what their strengths are?
- Do I treat my employees with the same level of respect I expect from them? Do I promote respectful treatment among coworkers?
- Are the goals my team is pursuing worthy of their best effort?
- Am I engaged in my role as a manager?
Take your time. These questions are easier to ask than answer. And if you find yourself answering “No” or “I don’t know,” consider what’s getting in the way, what keeps you from saying Yes? Is it your own beliefs about your role as a manager? Or maybe your perceptions of what the organization expects of you? At the same time, think about the times when you “got it right.” What made those times possible? How might you create the conditions for positive experiences more often? Then consider talking about these questions – and your answers – with a trusted peer or one of your most trusted direct reports. Start small – one question at a time, one confidante at a time. Let your thoughts percolate.
Btw, I agree with those who have commented in other forums,“Managers can’t be solely responsible for motivating workers. Employees, too, have to bring something to the party.” At the same time, it is team leaders, department directors, and managers who have the formal authority to influence the conditions of work that determine whether employees feel like “minions” or “partners.” Besides, the only people we can change is ourselves. This is another inside-out job: If you start by changing yourself, and those who are able will change in response.
One path to engaging employees as partners is acquiring the language and tools for recognizing individual and collective strengths and organizing the team’s work to best use those strengths in the service of team goals. In the next post, I’ll discuss strengths-based management as a foundation for greater productivity without burnout. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out posts by my pals at Helios, Institute for Healthcare Excellence, Michelle McQuaid, and the Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry – fellow crusaders on a mission to simultaneously improve productivity and the workplace experience.
NOTE: References for the papers and reports reviewed for this post are available upon request.
