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An “engaged employee” is defined as someone who has the desire to go the extra mile to provide that all important discretionary effort on the job. When your employees are connected with the right people and feel engaged in their work, your organization will experience improved morale, retention, and productivity.
Staying connected is the job of both the leader and the employee. However, in organizations it is the leader’s responsibility to make certain his or her employees are getting connected with the right people.
The explosion of online tools such as Facebook and Twitter, illustrates the basic human need we all have to relate with others. Employees want relationships (even those who might stereotypically be labeled as “introverted” such as IT professionals or engineers).
How Can Leaders Encourage Connection?
There are some easy and effective ways that you, as a leader, can promote connections for your employees:
- Start with yourself. Build a relationship with each and every employee you supervise. Real connection happens through face to face sharing of information, ideas, and values. Face to face interactions build trust, which is critical to creating an engaged workforce. So, step away from the keyboard and talk with your employees. You may think you don’t have time to connect personally, but losing a key employee who is disengaged will surely cost you more time.
- Ask the employee these questions:
Who are you connected with here at work?
How can I help you to connect to others?
Let your employees know that you want them to be known in the organization. Help employees understand that connections are a two way street and that you want to help them to partner with others. Share your skills, ideas, and advice to help each employee make better connections
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Create a "connection plan" which shows the logical people that your employees need to be connected with to be productive and effective. Who do they need to know and why? The people chosen should make sense not only for the employee’s current role, but for their future aspirations.
Do you know what your employees’ future aspirations are? If you want to retain them in the organization, it would be a good idea to find out! If your employees feel that you care about their career goals, they will be much more likely to stay with the organization.
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Make introductions. Take the time to invite an employee along for coffee or to attend a meeting with you. Counsel them on how the connection might be mutually beneficial. Personal connections can lead to professional alliances. Let the employee know what he or she might have in common with the other people and provide some brief talking points. By connecting them with others, you will be showing your employees that you value their contribution, and that will go a long way towards improving employee engagement.
- Listen and learn. Listen to what each employee is all about, and how each one wants to grow in his or her job. Learn about what motivates them and what gets them “jazzed.” Encourage your employees to take charge of their connections once introductions have been made.
Engagement translates into workforce productivity and stability.
Efforts put toward encouraging Employee Engagement and connection will pay off. Studies published by Gallup and others indicate that engaged employees are more productive and more customer-focused. This translates into an improved bottom line.
*Gallup Management Group Report
The Towers Perrin’s Global Workforce Study, reported that companies with the highest levels of employee engagement achieve better financial results and are more successful in retaining their most valued employees than companies with lower levels of engagement.
In a majority of the countries represented in the Towers Perrin study, the more engaged the workforce, the greater the number of employees intending to remain with their present employer. More than half of engaged employees surveyed (51%) had no plans to leave their employer and only 4% were actively looking for another job. On the contrary, 28% of disengaged employees were actively looking for another job and only 15% had no plans to leave.
Connection Counts!
In summary, remember that the number one driver for employee engagement is the connection an employee has to his or her boss. Studies show that people don’t leave companies, they leave their bosses. So, never underestimate the power of workplace connections - especially your personal connection with your employees.
Sharon Gazda is President of Edizen, a consulting company specializing in Employee Engagement, Coaching, and Leadership Development. Sharon is also one of the creators of a soon to be released card system for managers, called ENGAGE: Connect at a HIgher Level ™.
EDIZEN Insights #114
© 2009 by Edizen Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
For feedback or comments:
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Feel free to call Edizen at 413-788-0077 / Toll Free 866-334-9362.
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