Employee engagement has been a popular topic recently. Given how it is a pre-requisite to customer loyalty, which drives operational and financial results, it deserves the scrutiny that it has received.
Some of the more common drivers of engagement identified by leading organizations are:
- Employee perceptions of job importance – perhaps the greatest impact on loyalty and customer service than all other employee factors
- Perceptions of the values of the organization – Integrity throughout the organization, whether in corporate decisions or leader behaviors, must be seen as a non-negotiable core of the company culture
- Employee clarity of job expectations – If expectations are not clear or basic tools not provided, the employee tends to become distracted from focusing on how to help the organization succeed
- Quality of working relationships – If employees’ work relationships – with leaders or colleagues – are unhealthy, then no amount of perks will persuade them to perform at their potential
- Effective internal communications – the lifeblood of any group of people striving to accomplish something is a clear understanding of what is happening
- Career advancement / improvement – Providing formal and informal opportunities to grow and improve is one of the top human needs
- Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors – Despite the general consensus that feedback is a vital foundation of effective communication, many leaders are remarkably bad at giving it – and generally don’t spend enough time having real conversations with their employees
The people at world-class companies frequently describe engagement as “just how we do things around here”. Making employee engagement a part of your culture requires attending to the many facets of engagement on a regular basis. You’ll find it will be a real-life benefit rather than just overwhelming theory.
