Dale Carnegie of Orange County | Improving Leadership Effectiveness

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Employee Engagement: How Managers Drive the End Result

employee-engagement-how-managers-drive-the-end-resultCompany culture starts and ends with leadership’s ability to drive employee engagement. It’s no secret that having an engaged workforce makes a significant impact on the bottom line. From their superior performance to the way they improve the overall earnings of organizations they’re a part of, employees who are vested in the business can truly give their companies a competitive advantage. 

No wonder it’s been an ever-growing priority in executive circles over the last few years. Are you looking to join the trend? Here are three ways to get started:

How To Improve Employee Engagement

1. Make Employee Engagement A Strategic Priority

Employee engagement begins from the top down. Firstly, make it a strategic priority to support managers in their efforts to engage their employees, and working to engage them as leaders is a great way to get your organization moving in the right direction. Then, treat it the same way you would any other major initiative. Give it the attention and effort it deserves, as your employees will easily discern an uninspired approach from a genuine interest in their well being.

Finally, it’s up to leadership to set a good example for the team members that look up to them. An effective manager-employee relationship creates a value-driven culture that raises confidence levels and makes employees feel inspired, enthusiastic, and empowered to achieve higher levels of performance.

Related article: Take Command: A Dale Carnegie Podcast

2. Provide Practical Knowledge and Skills

Now that we’ve determined the top-down approach to employee engagement, it’s time to arm your managers and leadership team with the right tools and skills to do the job. In a recent study of workplace culture, Dale Carnegie found that just 28% of respondents strongly agreed that they know what to do to engage their employees and that their company has provided effective training. This means there is an evident gap between where companies need to be and actually knowing how to get there. 

Setting your managers up for success means providing them with the practical knowledge and skills necessary to foster an engaged work culture.  In other words, consider sending them to seminars, paying for additional leadership training or creating your own bonding activities in-house. As a result, you will better prepare them for this important initiative. 

3. Align Policies with Intent

No employee engagement initiative will succeed unless the organization puts measures into place which reward and positively reinforce it. Aligning your strategies with intent means creating opportunities and value-adds for your leaders to use as incentives for their teams. There are a number of ways to motivate your staff to be more engaged in the workplace. For example, offer catered lunches for team members that choose to eat together in the office instead of going out. Ask your managers to disseminate with the rest of the organization until everyone is engaged. 

This is a double-edged sword. Along with creating incentives for employee engagement, it’s also important to closely examine existing policies to see if they are counterproductive for the initiatives you are trying to implement. Are there processes and procedures working at cross-purpose with engagement efforts? If so, change them. Often, these come to light through engagement surveys. Removing these barriers is an important part of engagement initiatives.

Related article: How Listening to Employee Opinions Can Strengthen an Organization

Learn More About Dale Carnegie Employee Engagement Workshops 

As a business leader, your ability to engage and motivate employees will quickly make an impact on the company culture. If you are interested in practicing a process for conducting an engagement interview, learning person-centered leadership strategies, and walking away with a proven formula for giving personalized recognition that inspires employees to higher levels of engagement, this 2-hour program will provide a step-by-step guide through all the essential steps of the employee engagement process.

Contact us today to register for our course.

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