Cultivating Continuous Employee Engagement

"We'd like to address our lagging employee engagement scores. We think they're too low and we want to be an Employer of Choice in our industry."

Mmm. Yes, and let's talk about that.

As someone who has led engagement initiatives for large organizations, I've witnessed a common misconception. 

Engagement is not a one-time event or swag-filled extravaganza. It thrives on ongoing listening, validation and action from every leader in the organization. 

Here are some tips for leaders to have an engagement turnaround:

Micro Engagements Are Powerful Secret Sauce

Every engagement with employee is a chance to build trust and demonstrate you care about your employee's experiences within the organization and their personal success. These micro-engagements lay the foundation of trust, which is the core of every relationship.

Listen with Empathy, Validate Sincerely

This isn't just about saying, "I hear you." It's about showing that their thoughts matter, contributing to a workplace where everyone feels heard and valued. Is there a forum for suggestions or challenges to be heard? Are those suggestions validated? Implemented? How might you engage employees to help solve the sand-in-the-gears issues you're facing, together?

Measure What Matters in Engagement

Link engagement goals to outcomes, challenging leaders to exceed industry averages. Make engagement a performance measure, just like financial metrics. One leader I worked with was so adamant about addressing employee engagement, he made being in the top quartile and improving year over year a performance measure for every executive incentive plan. It worked. This large, 60,000 person organization with 700 locations around the world went from second to last place to top quartile in 24 months. 

Bottom Line - Be Committed to Engagement

It can take some time, but consistency is key. Be committed to becoming an engaged leader.  When engagement become a cornerstone of your leadership style, the benefits are profound. When employees feel valued, heard, and connected, it translates to higher morale, improved collaboration and increased productivity.