Building Engagement - Action Eats Aspiration Every time!

jajmolnar
Mar 4, 2023
5 min read

By Judy Molnar

Transformational Leadership Strategist and Coach

March 4, 2023

Did you know March 3 was Employee Engagement day?

No doubt you have heard a lot about the importance of engaging employees from a retention perspective. There are plenty of studies where engaged employees result in reduced cost for their organization and much happier customers. But what is engagement? Who or what impacts engagement? When an employee starts with a company, it is the culture that ignites their early engagement. From compensation and benefits to onboarding, the early days of engagement are often more about satisfaction as the employee figures out how things are done. This is the baseline for engagement and the early experience impacts the employee's commitment and engagement from the first day forward.

I have spent much of my working life committed to coaching and building tools and processes to encourage employee engagement. While I would like to think that everything I have done as a leader or coach has improved engagement for all, I know that it is not the case. Engagement is about more than the leader or the company values. It is about the experience the employee feels each day they are at work. Leaders can shift satisfaction by providing the benefits, flexibility and type of workplace structures that create a healthy workplace. What they can influence but not control is how each employee engages within their role, with the customer and within the organization. This is less tangible but critically important to build the culture and environment that will keep your business strong. It is about the values in action. The actions of both the employee and the leader create the environment for engagement that creates long lasting success.

Engagement is about more than what the organization makes available to the employee. Tangible things such as fair wages and proper tools to do their job are the entry point. This creates employee satisfaction. Satisfaction is the bottom rung on a ladder of engagement - it is necessary for the person to even consider dipping their toe into the pool of commitment with your organization. This is what many organizations consider to be engagement but I believe that engagement goes well beyond this.

I want to challenge you to think bigger to what engagement could be. Engagement is fostered when people treat each other with respect and dignity. It is about opportunities and desire to continually learn and grow. As a leader, I want employees who own their roles and think beyond the current processes to consider what is possible to satisfy their customer. I consider customers to include both internal and external stakeholders. Engagement is about what nudges a person to give discretionary effort towards their job - not just doing what is minimally necessary to remain employed.

Engagement is about strong culture, committed leadership, teams and individuals who take actions that demonstrate commitment to the organization, their team and themselves as they serve their customer.

Engaged Organizational Culture provides:

Clarity of the vision and direction the organization is moving and what success looks like.
Clear understanding of how the work the employee is doing connects to the overall goals or brand of the organization.
Demonstrates respect for individuals and makes the workplace safe mentally, physically and emotionally.
A safe environment to encourage accountability between people to ask questions and raise concerns directly and respectfully.

Engaging Leaders:

Notice and appreciate individual and team work.
Are clear with vision and provide clear feedback.
Encourage team members to look for ways to evolve both their skills and the business outcomes.
Participate in regular connection with individuals to connect both on projects and personally.
Involve team members in finding solutions and planning future directions.
Show individuals and the team that they care about them as people, not just employees.
Encourage team members to raise concerns and solve issues collaboratively.
Allow teams to try new ways to achieving goals.
Allow flexibility in both schedules and processes, where possible, to encourage outcomes aligned with work and personal needs.

Healthy Team Culture includes an environment where people:

Feel safe to raise concerns and troubleshoot issues with others.
Create partnerships with others to seek mutual solutions to address concerns or evolve current practices to meet future needs.
Connect with team members to coordinate projects and share information or best practices.
Have cohesiveness in direction and action.
Courageously talk with people rather than about them.
Care about outcomes and are committed to each other's success.
Care about individual team members, not just outcomes.
Are encouraged and empowered to make decisions.

Engaged Individuals:

Have clarity in their role and outcomes.
Encouraged and empowered others to make decisions and solve problems.
Try new ways to solve problems.
Demonstrate the courage to have the conversations needed to keep the team and themselves on track.
Bring solutions forward to improve service to customer.
Manage their development to stay on top of current and future job goals.
Participate in formal training, mentorship, coaching and are curious about how different parts of the business work together to create the best outcomes.
Develop relationships built on trust with their leaders, coworkers and customers.
Demonstrate they care and accept and give feedback to create collaborative results.
Can be counted on to engage in discussions to clarify, understand and solve concerns.
Help others to ensure overall team or organizational success.
Ask questions and provide ideas to solve problems.
Mentor and offer ideas to help others succeed.
Are committed ambassadors who role model the direction and culture of the organization and mentor others to do the same.

When I think about engagement, it is about so much more than what the organization has for the employee. It is about the employee owning their experience and being an ambassador for the culture and business goals. It is about the employee and the leaders partnering to find solutions that create a strong and cohesive customer experience. This requires all involved to be committed to the success of each other as well as the outcomes of the organization.

I often hear from employees that the culture is shifting after a change and that it is impacting engagement. Culture is not static - it constantly evolves. It is impacted by the choices each employee makes, the actions they take and the actions they avoid taking. Everything we do contributes to how our organizational culture plays out and this is the foundation that leads to, or inhibits, our experience of engagement.

Be the change you want to see!

-Mahatma Gandhi

The Creator Challenge:

So I ask you:

What are you doing in your organization to help others engage and thrive in their roles?
How are you modelling the type of organization and culture that you want to work in?
If your culture or organization is not as engaging as you would like, what is one thing you could shift?
What could you start doing on your next shift to start steering your organization towards the engaging and fulfilling organization that you would love to be a part of?

Engagement is a partnership and requires both the organization and the employee to take the actions that build the engaging environment they want to work in. Inaction is still a choice and it impacts the culture just as much. I encourage you to make deliberate choices and take actions that will move you and your team towards creating the culture and organization in which employee engagement thrives!

As a coach I work with people at all levels to find the courage and drive to challenge themselves and others to build an environment that builds engagement. If you want to know what you can do to light the spark that creates a career that engages and fulfills you, let's talk. I can help you find your path to an engaging future!

Engage in your life and create the career of your dreams!

Be courageous and caring,

Judy