Meridian Coaching & Consulting Blog

Employee Engagement-Quick Tips For Leaders

Engaged employees are more productive, committed and reliable. Your behavior, as a leader, is the single most important factor in determining the level of employee engagement or disengagement. Here are some tips on how to best influence the development of an engaged culture.

In a stable organization that thrives on employee involvement and commitment, success is based upon the depth of the relationships with both internal and external customers, rather than the profits from an individual transaction.  This type of organization has the ability to integrate the head (thinking), heart (emotions) and hands (action) into the culture of the whole. It has the ability to sustain its’ success in the marketplace. Without this level of commitment from your employees your ability to achieve your financial and performance goals will be severely compromised.

Four tips on how to build effective networks to help sustain an environment of collaboration and engagement

1. Help those who help you.  Understand and apply the Currencies of Exchange for collaboration.
2. Focus on preserving the relationship.  Look for opportunities to foster trust & expand cooperation; and avoid competition & exerting your authority:
3. Be honest about what you’re doing and what you need.  Learn to tell the truth without blame or judgment, and avoid manipulating people.
4. Dig your well before you are thirsty.  Build networks and foster relationships before you need them.  Be sincere in what you do.  Otherwise, over time people will question your integrity.

When you jump to conclusions or make assumptions, it can often undermine your efforts to engage your employees. When you make a judgment about a situation, you want to make sure it is anchored upon accurate information.  Avoid making assumptions by using this quick device to help separate Facts, from Opinions, Attitudes and organizational Myths.  This is called the F.O.A.M. analysis. For example, Fact-the temperature is 69 degrees Fahrenheit, Opinion-it is cold in here, Attitude-I’m freezing to death, Myth-“they” keep it cold in here to keep us constantly moving.

Here are three behaviors that will help you build and sustain an environment of engagement

• Flexibility:  Avoid becoming attached to your initial course of action.
• Focus on Outcomes: Remember that you are here to get results not to enforce compliance.
• Collaborate: People who enthusiastically seek opportunities to work with others get the same behavior in return.

There is a substantial amount of data that documents a link between positive business performance and employee attitudes. Those companies that actively promote a high level of employee engagement outperform those companies that do not.

One of the ways to promote employee engagement is by creating an atmosphere of trust. Frontline managers are the key to your organizations success or failure in this critical business activity. In order to achieve positive results, managers must maintain a “give to get” attitude.

One of the best strategies is the use of currencies of exchange. Here are three currencies of exchange that are available to every manager.

Task Related Currencies: Be a resource to your employees. Give them access to information about what is going on and be willing to lend a hand when needed.

Personal Currencies: There are many ‘personal currencies’ available to a manager; but, perhaps the most powerful is personal accountability. Accept responsibility for your decisions and your actions by treating mistakes as learning opportunities.

Position Currencies: As a manager you have the ability to network within the organization on a larger scale than do your employees. Use that knowledge to connect your employees with people they need to know.

Here are three tips that will dramatically increase the level of engagement of your employees.

Employee engagement is a process that starts with you, not your employees. To be successful, you need to develop a high sense of self-awareness and the ability to manage yourself in ways that are situationally appropriate.

In today’s fast paced, high pressure work-a-day world, many managers say something like..”It is just easier if I do it myself”. They then proceed to do just that, increasing their own workload and marginalizing the efforts of their own employees. To positively manage your own attitude, make sure that you:

• Focus on the results. This not only means to stay of the ‘how’ but it also means that one of your jobs is to develop the capabilities of your team. Letting people fail is a good way to help people learn.
• Promote what is positive – give credit where credit is due. Pay attention to what people do well and you will create a positive ‘can do’ attitude where people are encouraged to learn and develop solutions. This doesn’t mean you should not create accountability, it actually means the opposite; but, if all you do is criticize, people will learn how to hide their mistakes or shift blame.
• Give immediate feedback. Feedback is two way communication. It is the opportunity to share opinions and find solutions. Too many managers think should be the province of the annual personnel revue. It’s not. It should be a daily occurrence.

If you are concerned about attracting and retaining the best employees for your business, this article is a must read.

http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/Are-Your-Employees-Getting-Ready-to-Bolt.aspx?pcode=XA9U&CMP=NLC-MovingAhead2010&wm_tag=email&spMailingID=2871528&spUserID=NDc1MjMyMjczS0&spJobID=83415486&spReportId=ODM0MTU0ODYS1

Power is never given. It can be taken and is in a world where completion reigns supreme. The problem is that you only get to keep it until someone else takes it away from you. Power can be created and is in a collaborative world where everyone matters. When power is mutually created, it grows and spreads – empowering others along its trajectory. This is the essence of engagement. It is called dependent co-arising.

Leaders want their employees to care as much about the business as they do.  The best way to create that kind of accountability is to build the level of employee engagement.  The best tool leaders can use to achieve that level of engagement is by building trust.

There are three keys to building trust.  The first is congruity – in order to get trust you have to give trust.  It is almost impossible to gain the trust of others if you do not trust them.  The second is reliability – you need to follow through and be consistent.  You must walk the talk.  The third key to building trust is transparency.  It is nearly impossible to build trust in an atmosphere where there are secrets.  Leaders frequently make the mistake of using information as a source of power.  A trusting environment is one where people know what is happening and why.

Be results oriented as opposed to process oriented. In other words, remain flexible and open to new ways of accomplishing what has to be done. Avoid becoming too attached to your initial course of action. Innovation and engagement are encouraged when you promote diversity, flexibility and openness.