It seems that when it comes to keeping employees engaged in the workplace, Hong Kong has a lot to learn. With as many as 72% of employees claiming that they are not fully engaged at work(1) , it is evident that measures need to be taken to get 100% of staff on board, but how?
With a plethora of white papers and infinite websites dedicated to the subject, how can senior leaders avoid becoming lost in the quest to get staff fully engaged? The answer, according to Dale Carnegie Training, is to keep it simple. Triana Newton, the company’s Regional Vice President, APAC, explains why.
Take a top down approach
Knowing where to focus attention first, when it comes to tackling low staff engagement issues in the workplace, can be a real headache for organisations, particularly when faced with three categories of employees—the fully engaged, partially engaged and disengaged. Any shift from disengaged to engaged reduces turnover costs and should not be downplayed, particularly amid industries currently experiencing a talent shortage. On the other hand, however, while disengaged employees cost employers time and money, engaged staff drive the business forward.
Therefore, deciding whether to begin at the bottom and raise the morale of the most ‘disengaged’, or rather work with the ‘partially engaged’ to raise them to the category above, can be a difficult one to make. One might perceive these two categories as the most important to crack first, however, interestingly, Newton advises that beginning at the top with the ‘fully engaged’ is the best place to start on the journey to achieving staff engagement. She stressed that working to keep the talent you already have is vital for an organisation, as they are the lifeblood of the business and those focused employees who sit at the peak are fine examples of the desired result—to make employees feel valued, confident, inspired, empowered and enthusiastic and therefore committed to the success of the organisation.
She explained her approach, “Focus on the fully engaged first, as they are the key to the benefits of employee engagement. Look at how to keep this group of employees fully connected, then look at how to lift the partially engaged and lift them into the category above. The disengaged are the final group to address.” The concept of raising employees to the next level of the engagement scale by starting from the top down may sound simple in theory, but how does it work in practice?
Go beyond the dollar sign
Engagement means different things to different people and knowing what drives satisfaction from an employee’s point of view is the first step in tackling the engagement issue, according to Newton. The fact that one organisation has a reputation as a great place to work while another struggles to retain its employees is never down to a simple matter of one paying staff more than the other. While financial incentives may attract more applicants, they do not connect an individual personally to an organisation, engagement goes beyond the dollar sign. Understanding what drives an employee’s level of commitment to work and to do business is key to achieving engagement in the workplace, which can ultimately make or break an organisation.
Identify the drivers
Dale Cargenie Training examined the rational and emotional factors that impact engagement in the workplace. The research identified the three key drivers of employee engagement as: satisfaction with immediate manager, belief in senior leadership, and pride in the organisation. It appears that the key to improving engagement among staff is largely held by managers and senior staff within the organisation, which places the focus on leadership.
So what are the essential attributes of a successful leader and how does this impact on employee engagement? According to Newton, the power to pave the way to engagement lies in the hands of senior leaders, who should demonstrate four key qualities: direction, compepetence, communication and collaboration.
Gain trust from employees
Quoting the words of employee engagement author and public speaker Bob Kelleher, Newton expressed that trust is a vital element to improving staff engagement in the workplace and it is only when trust is built between leaders and employees that engagement can be tackled. She explained that there are four stages of leadership trust: impression, interaction, direction and consultation.
The first step, impression, requires the leader to show a genuine interest in others, provide resources and be responsive. This is followed by interaction through a series of face-to-face, virtual, written or verbal encounters, which enables trust to grow to the next level. In order for this to happen leaders must be transparent, speak confidently, listen and follow through. Newton explained that once leaders have reached this next level of trust, they are viewed as an advisor and authority and have entered the stage of direction, where they can ask for input, provide feedback, challenge ideas and collaborate on plans. At the final stage of leadership trust, consultation, the leader is strategic and competent and exhibits the four attributes necessary to promote engagement in the organisation. They are able to strategise, shift thinking, elevate the dialogue and change paradigms.
Set steps for successful engagement
So now that the organisation has identified the key drivers of employee engagement and senior leaders have worked to ensure they embody the essential attributes of a successful leader and established trust with employees, what is the next step in the engagement process?
According to Newton, leaders can now begin to pave the path to employee engagement through the following five key steps:
Step 1: Set strategic goals, steer towards a common vision, encourage teamwork, open communication, and voicing of opinions.
Step 2: Leverage town hall meetings, one-on-one interviews, surveys, and other feedback mechanisms to measure employee satisfaction and engagement.
Step 3: Set realistic and clearly defined goals at an individual, department, and organisation level.
Step 4: Establish parameters, solicit feedback, and involve immediate managers to evaluate and act on action plans at an individual level.
Step 5: Reward enthusiasm, passion, commitment, discretionary effort, and customise recognition to be more meaningful to different segments of your organisation.
Bob Kelleher, Author of Louder than Words, wrote that, “For engagement to exist there must be mutual commitment between the employer and the employee, wherein the employer is helping the employee reach his or her untapped potential and the employee is helping the employer meet and surpass its business goals.” By following these five steps, Newton argues that organisations have the opportunity to reach out to the disengaged and provide them with a path to professional development, whilst enabling them to feel valued, trusted, committed and above all, engaged.
(1) The Dale Carnegie Training Study, MSW Research, 2012
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
