Nowadays, the importance of employee engagement is well known.
And there are many considerations to achieving it. But the connection to trust may be less well known, although it makes perfect sense. Because employee engagement, by one definition, has been described as the emotional commitment an employee has to the organization and its goals. Which shows-up as the above-and-beyond that employees are willing to go, above what’s minimally required. It is determined by the level of trust employees have in leadership. And it is critical. Because, if there's no trust, there is no engagement, employees will likely see their jobs as a paycheck, and nothing more, plus they will always be willing to speak to a recruiter who calls with a new opportunity. In fact, if you think you have an employee engagement issue, it's actually more likely that you have a trust issue. And disengagement is a symptom of that. Because leaders operating in a trustworthy manner enjoy higher engagement levels. How can leaders show they are trustworthy?
Create trust and engaged employees and caring cultures will be the outcome.
0 Comments
According to a recent Glint report, feeling cared for at work is more important to employees than it was before COVID.
They want to know their leaders genuinely care about them, certainly their direct managers, but also the CEO. And to know that they are seen as a person, and not just a number. 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨. There are many ways of showing you care. But the simplest place to start is to get to know your employees, and build a genuine relationship. That doesn’t mean you’re expected to suddenly become best friends with one another. It does mean taking the time to learn about them: 🚩 Their interests 🚩 Their families 🚩 Their kids’ sports 🚩 Upcoming special events Then remembering the details to ask about next time you see them. It won’t happen if you stay behind a desk every day. 💠 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 10 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠. Then, when you bump into them around the workplace, talk to them, and follow-up on the conversation you last had. If employees feel that you care, it kicks-off a reciprocity of wanting to show-up and do a good job in response. 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠. Of course, there’s more to caring than chatting about weekend plans or celebrating special events. But getting to know your employees on an appropriate, personal level is a great place to start. There are any number of issues that can undermine an organization’s efforts to engage its employees.
One of which is a failure to embed a set of core values into every aspect of the business. It’s critical to get them right, since so much depends on them: ✅ Describe “How we do things around here”, the code of conduct for an organization, what is allowed as a culture. ✅ Guide an organization and its people toward its mission, since they're a set of principles or fundamental beliefs. ✅ Ensure employees know exactly what is expected of them, and what behaviors they should model. ✅ Serve to attract like-minded people to the organization and deter those who will not be a good fit. ✅ Drive decision making – Just ask: “Does this make sense given our values?” While it’s true that most leaders understand their importance, and, indeed, have made sure they're in place. Often, that's as far as it goes, and, frequently, no-one even knows what the values are, if asked. Even though they may be hanging right behind them, in a nice frame on the wall. 🚩 This fits with a Gallup finding that only 27% of employees strongly agree they believe in their organization’s values. 🚩 Yet a recent ihire survey found that 75.5% of employees say it’s very important to work for a company with a set of core values. So, there is a definite disconnect. 𝘽𝙪𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. Such as onboarding, training, feedback, recognition, performance evaluations and meetings. Otherwise, organizations just may as well not bother, because just having them means nothing if they're not “lived”. However, if they are embedded in everything and organization does, employee engagement will increase. And engaged employees stay longer, are absent less, are more productive, and provide better customer service. In addition, they become brand ambassadors, driving great candidates to want to come and work at the organization. So, now may be the time to develop or revamp your core values. The role of leaders in engaging employees is crucial.
In fact, without leadership support and buy-in, employees cannot be engaged, and a great culture isn’t possible. 𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩. It is the starting point of all employee engagement work, and great cultures. There are any number of ways to show employees you care: ✅ Getting to know them and building genuine relationships. ✅ Leading with honesty and transparency. ✅ Showing appreciation for their efforts. ✅ Allowing for mistakes, without employees fearing retribution. With the current job market and businesses competing for talent, doing this has never been more important. Because the days of employees being content to show-up to collect a paycheck are long gone. Now, not only do employees want meaningful work. They also want to know that their leaders genuinely care. Without it, whatever else is put in place, simply will not work long-term in engaging employees, leading to higher retention and attracting great candidates. |
AuthorNia is passionate about engaging employees and cultivating compassionate cultures, a win-win for both employers and employees. Archives
January 2023
Categories |