The Five Drivers of Employee Engagement
How Next Element can help you Address the Five Drivers of Employee Engagement
Increasing engagement in your organization is not an event. It will not be achieved by one big initiative. However, you can make progress by committing to a process of steps that target the five top drivers of engagement. Next Element has the tools and expertise to help you.
The following recommendations are from the Blessing White 2008 State of Employee Engagement North American Report.
Maximize Managers
Engagement is a personal equation and managers must play a role in helping each employee solve it on a personal level. Managers are not there to be liked, but to inspire, coach, and challenge employees. Managers must also be engaged, and held accountable for results.
Process Communication Model training along with follow-up coaching equips managers to connect with employees, to motivate, resolve conflict, and design environments that uniquely engage employees based on their personality and needs. This is not a diversity appreciation seminar. This is in-the-trenches tools and skills for leveraging individual gifts towards company goals.
Align, Align, Align
Alignment is a missing link for many employees who want to do work that matters, belong to something of consequence, and/or achieve greatness utilizing their talents. Start at the top with senior leaders, because unless leaders are crystal clear and supporting each other, misalignment will spread like a crack in a foundation, growing larger and larger as it works its way through the organization.
Team alignment isn’t about jumping off poles or playing get-to-know you games. It’s about developing solid rules of engagement, systems of accountability, and mechanisms for reducing energy wasted in miscommunication. This is where our experience in team-building and communication skills training come into play.
Redefine Career
Traditional career definitions are a thing of the past. Career is a personal thing, defined by individual values, personality, and life situation. Help employees determine what they are good at, what they want, and how to get it in your organization. Then, make development and training a priority.
From individual personality profiles, to executive coaching, to consultation on hiring and advancement, we will help you get the right people in the right spot, then support and train them for maximum performance.
Pay Attention to Culture
Culture is the intangible behavior norms that drive engagement. Help senior leaders set the tone, align systems and processes with the right cultural norms, and never stop investing in your managers.
Once your executive team is aligned, the next step is to align upper and middle management while examining processes and systems that help or hinder the culture you are aiming for.
Survey Less, Act More
While metrics have their place, unless they provide actionable insights the result is analysis paralysis. Equip and hold leaders accountable for action.
Sure, we have some cool assessment tools, and we think they do a great job. Bottom line, though, is that we facilitate movement toward your goals. Our process for achieving team alignment and maximizing managers sets the stage for forward progress and reduces the chance for sabotage and miscommunication along the way.
Want to learn more about how we help organizations build cultures of engagement? Delta Trajectory explains the process.
Click here for a version of this article published by the Wichita Eagle, April 14, 2011
Posted on by Nate
This entry was posted in White Papers and tagged Communication Skills, Conflict Resolution, Emotional Intelligence, Employee Engagement, Employee Motivation, Process Communication Model, Social Intelligence. Bookmark the permalink.