Leadership Lesson: Employee Engagement
July 14, 2015
In order to be a more effective leader, you must think, inspire, energize, connect, and act like a leader. Here is a quick tip to help escalate your success as a leader by keeping employees engaged:
Employees often perform at higher levels when they truly enjoy and care about their jobs, the people and the company they work for; this is what is commonly referred to as “engaged” employees. Work that truly allows a person to express their unique talents each day holds more purpose for them. An employee who is engaged is more likely to be loyal to your company. Long tenure alone is not a true indicator of real employee engagement. Individuals on your team carry their own unique abilities as well as personal drives and motivations. It’s a good idea to take the time to uncover and acknowledge those drives and motivations. Connecting at this level with your people will build trust and foster stronger relationships. In the same vein, recognition should also be highly individualized in order to be most impactful.
An employee who is engaged is more likely to be loyal to your company.
Try this:
As a leader, be mindful the next time you plan to reward and recognize employees for a job well done. Pay close attention to the work and progress made by your employees and ensure that you reinforce good work in a timely manner. Deliver appropriate rewards in a more personal way. First of all, tell them specifically what they did to earn the recognition, secondly try to individualize the reward by learning ahead of time what is most meaningful to the person. No matter what preference of reward, employees never tire of hearing a verbal thank you from the boss for a job well done. Following these simple steps will increase the likelihood that employees will remain engaged in the future.
“There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow.”
-Jack Welch