Talent Culture on Employee Engagement

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Employee Engagement: What’s a Leader to Do?
By Charee Klimek


For quite some time now the employer/employee relationships have been deteriorating. But there are bright spots that have emerged from this dark recession. Employee engagement is starting to look different and leaders are beginning to understand that it’s no longer a warm and fuzzy, it’s an absolute necessity to catapult their business and drive results.

The reasons are obvious. Progressive leaders recognize that an engaged workforce leads to an engaged customer and that leads to increased profits and better business results.

The question is where to start and how to identify the drivers of employee engagement.

A new approach to employee engagement

Rather than devising employee engagement surveys that measure attitudes and opinions about the company, how about developing questions that reveal what sort of people thrive in your organization and what motivates them?

Experts like Octavius Black, founder and managing director of the Mind Gym, say viewing employee engagement from a customer-centric focus helps employers understand what drives and motivates employees and therefore, changes the way companies communicate with workers.

As companies begin to grasp the drivers and motivators of the employee base, internal communications strategies begin to look more like external marketing strategies. In many cases this will require increased collaboration between human resources, marketing and communications to develop in-depth qualitative and quantitative methods that tap into the hearts and minds of the employees. –LISTEN.

What can leaders do to help employees contribute to business success?

Close the trust gap.

If employees cannot or do not trust that company leaders will do what they say they will do, it’s difficult to get employees to engage in the business goals. And this is a two way street because employees have to believe that leadership trusts them to do their jobs.

How well managers communicate to employees determines the level of trust and integrity, which can pay huge dividends. Without trust, companies get what The Speed of Trust author, Stephen M. R. Covey, calls “The Trust Tax.” Companies pay when leaders don’t ‘walk the talk.’ –LEAD BY EXAMPLE.

To Brand is Not to advertise

Brand and culture play a big role in employee engagement. When it comes to the brand, many companies have long perceived it as a marketing or advertising campaign. Perhaps some of that misperception lies at the feet of advertising agencies that perpetuated that myth.

In reality, the brand culture of a company embodies the very essence of the organization. It speaks directly to the fundamental fabric of a company and must start on the inside with the employees before it comes to life externally. –KEEP IT REAL.

How does this tie to employee engagement?

When employees understand the brand behaviors, employees are more likely to make a commitment to living the brand behaviors and actually doing what is expected of them in their roles. –SHOW THEM HOW.

What are leaders doing to drive engagement in their companies?

Recognition and rewards have long been a short-term method implemented by companies to drive employee engagement. But for the most part, these have not proven to be effective because they failed to integrate the fundamental measures of performance and examples of ‘how’ to drive business success. Furthermore, they did not align employee behaviors to company strategies. –IT’S TIME TO GET RESULTS.

What are you doing within your organization to drive engagement and on brand behaviors?