What it means to be engaging and what it takes to heighten employee engagement boils down to Four crucial considerations.
- A leader’s ability to be present enough to notice when engagement exists and when it may fall short.
- A focus on how best to approach engagement whether it be through tools such as personal check-Ins with their team, The ART of storytelling, through feedback loops that are; specific, authentic and supportive, and through strategic conversations about what is and is not working.
- Addressing early and often what might need to be resolved that is getting in the way. Rather than figuring it out all on your own, instead, include your team in finding answers to what at times, might be tough questions.
- Helping your teams release the tension from the loss of engagement with the promise that it can be restored.
After all, no leader is perfect. In fact, a leader’s lack of perfection makes them more human in the eyes of their teams. And having a leader who can admit to their own shortcomings can build a much stronger and sustainable connection to the people who do the work in an organization.
Hi, I’m Byron Darden and I want to welcome you to this edition of Leading with Purpose on Purpose. In this installment, we are focusing on the E in our series of The Executive VOICE, Engagement. I thought it appropriate to use the setting of Harvard Business School here in Boston where I began my journey 20 years ago in Leadership Development and where I started learning and coaching on the importance of engagement.
The days of dangling a paycheck in front of a team member followed by, here, move forward with this next project. Hoping that the idea of getting paid to do a job is inspiration enough, no longer serves as a leading factor for employees to get work done and done well.
Research has uncovered concerning statistics that point to the need for more focused and consciences effort around engaging those in the workplace. By doing so, leaders find that they can:
- More effectively keep employee turnover down to a minimum
- Develop the talent you already have, you also keep employees interested and enthusiastic about their roles
- Work to promote from within rather than from outside, you provide employees reasons to stay and grow in your organizations.
I trust you will enjoy this edition of The Executive VOICE as we round out our series with Engagement.
Enjoy!