Engaged employees are more productive

Employee engagement and productivity go hand in hand. When an employee is engaged, they are more dedicated to their work, feel a sense of ownership over their tasks, and take pride in the work they do. As a result, they’re more likely to put in additional effort to ensure their work is completed correctly, boosting productivity levels. This is an essential factor for any organisation pursuing strategic growth and set productivity goals.

Motivated employees are more innovative

When employees are motivated, they’re more likely to think outside the box, contribute new ideas, and continuously seek ways to improve company processes. Motivated employees are continually looking for ways to achieve more in less time without compromising the quality of their work. Encourage this and your employees will be more innovative over time, coming up with ideas that help to grow your business.

Engaged employees are more dedicated to quality

Engaged employees are more committed and dedicated to their organisations. They are more invested in the success of their company, and their attention to detail shows in their deliverables. This sense of ownership and commitment leads to a desire not only to complete tasks but to complete them to the best of their abilities. Engaged employees are always looking for ways to improve their work and the efficacy of their company as a whole.

Employee engagement is critical for employee retention

Employee turnover can be incredibly disruptive and costly for businesses. Statistically, engaged employees tend to stay with a company longer. Happier employees mean lower rates of turnover, and by extension, stronger levels of organisational stability. Investing in employee engagement shows employees that you care about their experience in the work place and puts them in an environment where they can thrive.

HR leaders and internal coaches can achieve employee engagement

Leaders within your organisation play a critical role in facilitating employee engagement through different forms of training. Training your team on leadership, communication skills, and best HR practices can provide the critical tools they need to better engage and motivate team members. Also, focus on policies and practices that build a culture of empathy, trust, and overall employee satisfaction. The formation of an Employee Recognition Program is an example of such a practice. However, the most effective way for leaders to achieve employee engagement is to show appreciation and concern for their team’s overall progress, provide regular feedback and opportunities for growth.

Employee engagement and motivation should be integral components of any organisation’s success. Employee productivity, innovation, dedication, and retention all depend on engaged employees. HR Leaders and internal coaches should play a crucial role in fostering employee engagement and motivation. They can achieve this by implementing policies, practices, and training focused on nurturing a culture of empathy, teamwork, and overall employee satisfaction. Ultimately, the more we invest in our people, the better we can serve our customers and achieve organisational success.

Related Blogs: Succession Planning: Nurturing Future Leaders, The Art of Talent Acquisition: Strategies and Techniques for HR Leaders

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This trend is particularly noticeable in many women who feel the corporate world is no longer satisfying their needs . This may lead to inner resignation (deadly for the organisation) or actual resignation, when women leave to seek new (ad)ventures, increasingly in start-ups or smaller enterprises where they feel more in control.

High potential women with career aspirations, especially Millenials and Gen Z’s  need nurturing and mentoring. They will be watching how far they can go in the company and eager to know what internal support they will be given. They are most likely to dive off into a non-corporate world.

Female managers may be particularly susceptible to thoughts of a new life outside the organisation.

They will be looking at the competition and at ways to achieve a better work-life mix. The McKinsey report shows that employees are now more often than not prepared to leave their job without another one lined up. This may be because of a manager, or the organisational culture that they feel is not supportive of their needs.

Some women will feel they have reached a plateau in their career and are feeling “stuck”. They may be very good at their job  but have stayed at the same job or at the same level too long; they may feel unappreciated and unsupported by their manager. If you want to keep them, you have to offer them something attractive, a new opportunity, a chance at learning a new area, a promotion.

Your senior women must be made to feel they are valued and cherished, with enough space to bring their projects to fruition and to create their legacy.

Organisations, and HR officials, can stem this tide by proving that they are serious about listening to the needs of their female staff, and so retain their best female talent. As we all know, a vibrant and efficient workforce is a balanced workforce of male and female employees.

First, the organisation must show it really cares.

This is the key factor in all employee relations.

• Listen to what your female staff are saying.
• Consider surveys and focus group sessions with your female staff to find out what they want.
• Analyse the results and convey them to senior leadership; they must be acted upon.

A different kind of leadership is called for in these times, and some managers may not have got the memo. Help your managers and leaders to show they care. Some may need extra support in understanding the new modalities of management. This is where your skills at strategic influencing come into play.

Look at your career support and talent retention programmes.

Check that there are career development programmes for women at all stages of their career in place with targeted coaching and mentoring.

Your entrants need help in navigating the new work environment. Induction programmes only go so far; follow-up is needed.

HR officers can influence the culture of their organisation and make clear: this is a place where women’s career development is a key element of our success.

Career and Leadership Coach Susan Doering is passionate to help clients solve challenges and achieve their goals, by guiding, empowering and enabling them to work at their best.

Read more blogs from Susan – Should we career coach women and men differently

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This seems to be a build on employee engagement surveys which are often used and all too often ignored. Stay interviews have the potential to be more effective as they are personal, and just possibly employee requests may be quite modest.

It requires trust between the parties if employees are to be open and honest.  It also requires the manager to be empowered to make changes, and an expectation of corporate support.  It may also make the manager’s job harder in the short term and some organisations are reluctant to impose this additional burden on managers who may themselves be feeling stressed and burnt out.

Whilst experienced managers will be used to checking in with their employees regularly, it may be a leap for a manager who’s been promoted for being a great operator. In the longer-term help may be at hand with automation taking away many traditional managerial tasks, leaving the manager with more time for supporting employees.  To be successful managers will need to acquire new skills including adopting a coaching style and an ability to listen as well as being able to sell the benefits of the organisation to their employees.

What might employees want?  Pay is certainly there and in a high inflation world it will be increasingly difficult for wages to keep pace in real terms.  Whilst some organisations will be able to make pay awards, fairness versus the incentives needed to attract new hires will become an increasing issue.

Equity in recognising contribution is essential (HBR. Oct. 2021).  Gartner (HBR. Jan. 2022) predict that some companies will go for a reduced working week instead.  Flexibility to work from anywhere is one of the carrots being considered by some employers.  Citi have gone a step further and plan to open an office in Malaga for junior analysts (FT. 21.3.22), offering both an attractive location and a promise that punishing hours won’t be part of the deal.

Nor will the normal banking starting salary.  This in part recognises that beyond a certain point salary isn’t everything and work-life balance becomes more important.  So too does job satisfaction.  For many employees, feeling that they are continuing to learn via new experiences, stretch projects, training and development are important motivators.

For analysts in Malaga it remains to be seen if there’s a pathway to roles in the big global financial centres, and whether they will be able to retain that all important work-life balance.

Executive Coach Fiona Wilkinson specialises in working with leaders who are taking on new responsibilities, stepping up to a bigger role or preparing for promotion, where the impact of coaching can be transformational.

References

Cohen, D. & Roesk-Zummer, K. (2021). Employee Retention: With So Many People Quitting, Don’t Overlook Those Who Stay. Harvard Business Review. October 01.

Hill, R (2022).  Sun, sea or salary: Citi recruits’ future of work trade off.  Financial Times. 21 March.

Jacobs, E. (2022).  What makes staff want to leave their jobs?  Ask them.  Financial Times. March 22.

Kropp, B. & McRae, E. R. (2022). Eleven Trends that will shape work in 2022 and beyond.  Harvard Business Review.  January 13. Also accessible via Gartner.com.

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So, what?

There is much talk about #the future for work as if it is something way in the stratosphere and the stuff of science fiction. Think again the future of work is already here. Remote or hybrid working has been in existence for centuries, the pandemic opened our eyes and forced even the doubters to acknowledge that it can work in more circumstances than we ever thought. According to the CMI, 48% of employees work in a hybrid fashion today. One of the positives of the pandemic is the recognition of the importance of technology in facilitating remote working, suddenly, budgets were diverted, bandwidth, more reliable network access and apps were provided.

The perfect storm

Leaders must focus on more than pay and rations. World events have sought to accelerate change and bring to the fore the need for further change. People want to work in the place that creates the best environment for their best work to happen and that varies depending on what you do and for whom you do it. Diversity Inclusion, Equality and well-being are high on the agenda and how they are addressed makes the difference between whether companies are seen as good places to work or not. Employees still want connection, if that is to happen in the “office”, workplaces need to be places that support community and wellbeing as well as facilitate learning, collaboration and problem solving.

To be or not to be in the office

The so-called Great Resignation is happening not because people do not want to work [in the office] but because they do not want to work in the same conditions and in some cases with their old employers. Only 9% of employees surveyed wanted to return to the office full time. It is not that the Office was bad necessarily it is just that working from home opened people’s eyes to what is possible. Employees want flexibility. In a recent HBR survey 59% of respondents reported that flexibility is more important than salary and other benefits. Employees have choices and those in a position to pivot are doing so.

And what does Future for Work mean for Leaders?

Leadership is not a back-office activity, it needs to be seen and felt. Leading a hybrid working environment does require a different mindset. It is constantly evolving, and human skills are becoming paramount. Companies lacking empathetic leadership will find this challenging. Coaching can help organisations ask the right questions and enhance capabilities across their leadership teams. My stance is that not all the requisite skills are new, (hint, they all involve better communication) the question is whether as a leader you have chosen to ignore these skills or develop them. Learning and Development Strategist, Keith Keating talks about the need for leaders to “learn, unlearn and relearn”. I am on board with that.        

The Great Opportunity!

Hybrid working is here to stay. The world of work needs to be inclusive whether you are in the office or not. There are still many challenges to overcome. This is a fantastic opportunity for organisations to look at their culture now and what they want it to be and to make changes cognisant of what their teams and society needs. It is an opportunity to come back stronger and with purpose. It is an opportunity to build a coaching culture which helps to facilitate these and future environmental changes.

What should leaders do?

• Stop talking about working from home – this topic is much more complex than that term implies
• Build trust – in my view it is essential to hybrid working
• Seek open feedback at an individual level, team level and business wide, listen to it and digest it
• Make changes with the future in mind, culture change is a constant thing
• Be seen to be working flexibly – walk the talk
• Provide your leaders with the right skills and empower them to drive change – it will feel uncomfortable for some, but is essential to improving employee experience

In summary, the challenge for leaders is to provide an environment with the right tools and resources to enable all employees to thrive wherever they decide to work from. And that is not new, is it?

Sandra Francis has been a Senior Leader within the technology sector for more than 25 years. Her success comes from aligning technical and business expertise with People centric leadership. Her passion is Executive and Leadership Coaching where her focus is in helping technical leaders, step out of their comfort zone, and develop their skills to become confident and inspiring leaders, enabling them to accelerate their careers.

References

CMI Management Transformed.

HBR Forget flexibility. Hoger Reisinger and Dane Fetterer

Institute of Leadership and Management – International Leadership Week 2021

Read more blogs about Employee Engagement: Creating emotional connections with your team

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