An engaged employee is the most productive member of the team!
It is important to note that employee engagement is an outcome of conditions, interactions and interventions within an organization. Engagement begins from the talent acquisition process – are you getting the right employees? Do they believe in the organization & its mission? Is there alignment between individual goals, values, character and the organization’s aspirations in terms of its purpose and its values?
How does one get to engage employees at the purpose level, at the strategy level, at process level and at the service level?
Some of the key strategies to improve employee engagement in the organization are as follows:
1. Selling the Vision and Strategy
Business leaders invest time and effort in crafting the vision and strategy of the organization. However experience shows that not enough is done in selling this vision and strategy to the employees – the people who are supposed to execute it. Employees are more engaged when they understand the big picture and how their individual and collective efforts contribute to it. It is therefore mandatory that the leadership invests more effort in selling the vision and strategy using multiple communication channels. This should be reinforced by line managers all the time so that employees don’t lose sight of the big picture.
2. Proper On-Boarding
Research has shown that at the point of entry into the organization, proper on boarding is critical. On boarding is a structured way of integrating new employees into the organization. Research shows that employees who go through a structured on boarding process are 58% more likely to be with the organization after three years. The challenge with most of our organizations is a lack of formal on boarding processes.
3. Involve and Empower Employees
Leaders should also seek to increase employee participation in the processes of managing the organization. Employees should not necessarily be taken as subjects, but as active stakeholders in the organization. Research has shown that employee participation in decisions that directly affect them in the workplace increases ownership and accountability. Leaders should consult more with their employees in those decisions that affect them. They should engage employees at the purpose level, strategy level, process level and service level. This involvement should also be coupled with empowerment where employees are given autonomy and responsibility for decision making with respect to specific organizational tasks and results. However, with empowerment the leadership has to set clear performance expectations and levels of decision-making.
4. Communication
Engagement is about communication, communication and more communication! To engage employees you can never communicate enough! Employees are the “foot soldiers” in the organization and there should always be clear and ongoing communication between the leadership and the “foot soldiers” for the mission to be accomplished. Multiple communication channels should be used, and messages reinforced. Feedback should be given, feedback should be solicited in real time all the time.
5. Manage Performance Effectively and Transparently
Research has shown that when employee performance is managed effectively and transparently it goes a long way in aiding engagement. One of the critical benefits of performance management is employee development thus if it’s done properly and transparently, employees develop a keen interest in achieving results for the organization. Employee performance has to be managed on a real-time basis, rather than waiting for appraisal time at the end of the performance period.
6. Learning Leadership
Organizations should invest in ensuring that the leadership is always acquiring new knowledge and skills. Leaders are responsible for people and they should thus know how to lead, how to manage people. These “soft skills” are critical for employee engagement as they impact on such dynamics like communication, teamwork.
7. Organizational Culture
Employee engagement happens within a particular context and that context has a defining impact on the level of engagement. It is therefore important that Managers foster a culture that enables employee engagement to occur.
8. Dealing with Disengaged Employees
Specific interventions have to be employed targeting disengaged employees. This requires managers to go back to the basics including hiring the right people into the right jobs, configuring meaningful jobs, setting clear performance expectations and providing them with the required performance resources. Disengaged employees should be dealt with on a one-on-one basis in order to achieve higher levels of engagement.
9. Recognition
The need to be appreciated is a basic human need. It is therefore important that organizations build cultures of praise and recognition both at individual employee level as well as at collective team level.
When employees feel valued, recognized and appreciated for their effort they want to continue doing the good things that got them the recognition. There are monetary and several non-monetary ways of recognizing employees
10. Personal Growth Opportunities
Employees need room for them to grow personally and professionally within the organization. Organizations that offer their employees opportunities for growth have experienced higher engagement levels than those without. When an organization invests time and money in the personal growth of its employees, it shows the employees that they are valuable long-term members of the team.
Optimum employee engagement levels are not achieved overnight or by a single intervention. Organizations should have a clear employee engagement strategy that creates the conditions necessary for engagement to be achieved. The engagement strategy should also utilize multiple channels for engagement. In as much as external Consultants can provide their expertise in setting up the necessary infrastructure for engagement, real engagement is an outcome of what then happens in the organizations on a day-to-day basis – the sum of employment conditions, and interactions within the organization.
Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at