This final installment of a three-part series on employee engagement. Click here to read part one: Motivated and here to read part two: Able.
In part one and part two, we looked at the first two pillars of employee engagement, being Motivated and Able. These two pillars are critical to focus on because they establish a foundation and address basic, potentially unmet needs that employees have.
The last pillar goes beyond individual needs and incorporates the entire company – being Directed.
It is often said that people join organizations, but quit managers. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that an organization’s leadership is a critical factor in driving employee engagement. Employees that don’t have a clear understanding of the company’s mission, vision, and objectives or how their job fits within the company will invariably become disengaged over time.
Why is that?
Abraham Maslow’s original hierarchy of needs stopped at self-actualization, but he later expanded this to a higher dimension of needs, self-transcendence. People naturally want to be a part of a larger mission or goal outside of themselves. Organizations with leaders that can successfully rally its people around its mission can fulfill that need, and in return see that vision carried out, i.e. Facebook. However, leaders that don’t communicate the organization’s strategic direction will have a hard time getting employees to help fulfill that vision.
Building and communicating a clear and consistent set of values that govern the way the organization conducts its business is also a significant driver of engagement for many organizations. These govern the way employees act and treat customers and other employees – the company culture.
I recently consulted with a company that had been experiencing a high level of turnover. During the investigative portion of the engagement, I asked several employees across different levels and departments of the organization a simple question: “What are the core values of the organization?” Not a single employee I spoke with was able to cobble together an answer.
After analyzing the full quantitative results, it wasn’t surprising to see that this company had one of the lowest employee engagement profiles I’ve ever seen. There was very little teamwork across departments – they were a company of individuals, not one cohesive unit.
Now, directing employees cannot be completely one-sided. The final discriminator of highly engaged employee among the Directed attributes is having a voice and being heard. Employees that feel that leadership makes an effort to get their input when decisions are being made that impact them tend to be more highly engaged. Gaining employee input makes them feel valued, while at the same times helps gain buy-in to the strategic question that may be at hand.
Understanding your employees is almost equally as critical as understanding customer behaviors. They are often linked, as experiences with some organizations employees can often drive the customer experience.
Reflecting on the past 20 years of employee engagement programs, LRC has found three main pillars of highly engaged employees. They are Motivated, Able, and Directed (M.A.D.). Identifying the factors within each of these pillars that are driving your company’s engagement levels is critical as unhappy and disengaged employees can have a real negative effect on customers and your company’s bottom line.
Interested in understanding if your employees are highly engaged or weakly engaged? Contact us for more information.