Employee Engagement: A Thing of the Past?

The Gallup organization recently released an update to their workplace report. The news is sobering at best. Organizational leaders willing to take careful note can start on the path toward real improvement. First, by acknowledging these workplace issues, then by taking action to address these enduring challenges.

According to Gallup, more than half of the employees responding to their survey indicate the following:  they are “quietly quitting” (that is, disengaging from their work and from their workplace, going through the motions and doing the bare minimum required), and they are actively (and quietly) looking for another job. They are disappointed in the current state of their workplace in terms of culture and management’s concern for their wellbeing.

Few topics are more talked about and less understood than employee engagement and organizational culture. Often, frustrated leaders attempt to address these issues with temporary, tactical approaches which, while not harmful, do little to move the needle in a positive direction. Employee recognition programs, outings, cook-outs, and the like are all fine. These and other efforts fall far short when it comes to making positive, sustainable improvement in engaging team members and solidifying their commitment. There’s a better way but it does take time, careful planning, and significant investment. When done right, the payback is substantial.

The single best way to improve employee engagement is by building up the management skills of your department leaders. What employees want most and find severely lacking is having a trained, skillful, empathetic, and experienced manager. Someone who will effectively coach, guide, direct, develop and train them while encouraging their development. One who will celebrate their successes and help them learn from missteps while providing timely, meaningful feedback in real time, not just once per year during the performance review meeting.

Whether through formal, structured programs like the Graphic Communications Leadership Institute (gcleadershipinstitute.com) or in-house efforts, make the commitment now to plan and budget for management development. The return on your investment will be substantial.

For more information on ways to get started on your management development plan, contact me at joe@ajstrategy.com