10 Keys to Employee Engagement

Tired of uninspired employees? Want the secret sauce to employee engagement? Do you want to improve your customer experience?

Only 15% of employees are engaged worldwide according to studies. This is a disaster. This result creates lower sales, productivity, customer service and morale. It costs companies billions of lost revenue and profit. Management careers are cut short, but it doesn't have to happen to you. Besides, employees deserve much better and it's not hard to turn it around, really. If you have the "heart" for it. Employee engagement is not a survey or action plan; it's a partnership.

Few companies seem to take employee engagement seriously:

• During a leadership training which included 25 leaders from a retail organization, I found that none of them had written plans for their teams,
• In a manufacturing company I came across, no management or sales training had been done in five years,
• A high-tech company that contracted with me thought coaching was a term meant only for sports teams.

All of this means little communication with employees about goals or expectations, minimal involvement or buy-in about how to achieve goals, employees sliding into comfort zones, shoddy teamwork, and no accountability to accelerate results. In other words, it was "same old, same old" every day. Talk about a boring environment for everyone. That's why employee engagement suffers in so many companies. Too many managers lack the know how and the will to truly partner with employees.

Ten keys to employee engagement are:

1. Set goals and plans with employees. Include them in developing team and individual goals. You create buy-in and commitment if you do it right.
2. Do regular training. The best companies do 60-70 hours per employee per year. Enhance your team's competence and they will perform better and like it.
3. Communicate, communicate and communicate. The three times are for emphasis. Do this on a personal level by improving your listening skills. Do this on a team level by conducting effective meetings. Do this on a one on one level by learning to connect with each person. You will create a more open and credible working environment.
4. Coach like a superstar. Elite athletes and entertainers have coaches. Why don't we coach our employees more? See my 8 Steps to High Performance Coaching. Every employee needs coaching to achieve his or her best.
5. Manage with flexibility. The adage, "my way or the highway" is a dinosaur attitude. Most managers have one way of leading. Be different and ask yourself, what does my employee need from me to succeed? Then provide it.
6. Splurge on recognition. A recent company I worked with had many fine tools for employee recognition. However, few managers used them. Recognition becomes an afterthought and not part of the relationship repertoire. Famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden won 10 NCAA championships in twelve seasons. A study found he was 99% positive in his leadership approach. I say, praise your team to victory.
7. Apply promotions and incentives to enhance teamwork. Yes, have goals. Then make it fun with added awards or competitions. So many companies are too serious: "he who enters here will never smile again." One company I worked with today is doing a goal challenge for the month with achievement resulting in a celebration lunch. Another company I engaged last week is providing a day off with pay for each person that accomplishes the goal. Even if you don't have a budget, you can get creative with activities to energize your team.
8. Cultivate a process improvement approach. Every department in a company serves an internal or external customer. Keep improving by facilitating your team's involvement to do it. I have found most employees want to win this way.
9. Hire the best people. You have to be involved in the selection process. Learn to do behavioral interviewing, and check references. Start each employee off with a 90 Day Success Plan.
10. Lead ethically. Kouzes and Posner who wrote the book, The Leadership Challenge, found that over 80% of managers want leaders who are honest. So do employees. The first nine keys to employee engagement involve leadership strategy and behaviors. This one is a about a value, and it unites all of the keys discussed.

For more on these ten keys to see this video.

Leadership derailment studies show that at least 50% of managers fail in the areas above. A lack of expertise negatively impacts employee engagement and your customer service and loyalty. Be a student of the game, keep learning and over time you will:

• Improve employee morale, and teamwork,
• Motivate, if not inspire, your team,
• Achieve higher team productivity,
• Increase your customer experience.

Here's the bottom-line for you as a manager, "if you want your team to be better, you must be a better leader."

Also, you have team challenges or bigger goals to achieve? Go here for the complimentary dynamic eBook: Create a High Performance Team.

In addition, go here for our RealTime Learning & Training leadership and personal development website. Micro-learning and career advancement at your fingertips!

Finally, do you want to accelerate your leadership success? Go here for Rick’s Superstar Leadership eBook or his newest eBook, The 5 Dynamics of Servant Leadership.

If you liked this post, please FOLLOW me. For other helpful posts. See these. Thank you!

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