Key areas for leaders to consider in their approaches to employee engagement.
In my previous post I emphasized the importance of adjusting business models, operations and cultures
to contemporary business trends. Here, I want to offer practical areas for leaders to reflect on. What
encourages people to work together and contribute to a company has changed alongside contemporary
business trends. Areas to consider as a leader when considering employee engagement: yourself,
motivation, development opportunities, communication and a work-life balance. Let’s look at each in
more detail.
Leading by Example – Many employees report that they have left companies because of the
management. In the past managers in leadership positions were often considered important motivators
in hierarchical organizational structures. Now, however, to be motivating, leaders need to pay attention
to nuances across relational dynamics and lead by example. In the survey, it was revealed that 70% of
the success of employee involvement was due to the approaches taken by the manager and the
relationships that were cultivated between managers and their teams. In addition to well-nurtured
relations across teams, critical thinking has evolved into a desired characteristic across the workplace
from top leadership to entry-level positions. To cultivate this, leaders should make a commitment to
continual self-growth in the form of up-skilling their professional ability and developing the
understanding of when and how to adjust approaches
Motivation – When asked how to motivate employees, the most common answer is that pay should be
increased. With budgets that do not always allow for that, however, it is important to keep a broad
perspective on what compensation could entail. Compensation does not always need to be considered
in the form of pay alone. A company becomes stagnant if fair compensation for employee efforts is not
present or if compensation is not fairly distributed among employees doing the same job. Once fair and
reasonable compensation are in place, pay is no longer as relevant to employee involvement, and would
likely not be raised as a primary attribute to demotivation. Instead it is the other areas covered in this
article.
Evolving Employees – A great way to encourage employee engagement is to identify developmental
opportunities for them. It needs to be noted, however, that for development opportunities to
contribute effectively to job satisfaction, they need to be targeted. I have been working with a company
for many years where every employee can have coaching or attend professional development courses
that are based on needs. Employees only leave such organizations for retirement or family reasons.
Targeted Communication – Annual employee reviews by managers and human resources department
(performance reviews) are no longer motivating methods of communicating within the professional environment. Instead, establishing open dialogue that allows for constant feedback and inclusivity
should become a priority. Performance should not be reviewed in relation to weaknesses. One way of
doing this is to conduct training where people learn to interact in targeted and organic ways instead of
giving template-based feedback. Various companies have adopted the principles of coaching
conversations that focus on goals and employee empowerment to aid in shifting communication
culture. This also includes organizations that have set themselves the goal of introducing a corporate
culture that nurtures innovation and adaptation to change. Although teamwork takes time and
commitment, it is during this time of open dialogue and feedback that it becomes clear what is most
effective, what encourages cooperation and what hinders it.
Live and let live! – It was during the pandemic that people began to realize that although work is
important, the kind of lifestyle they adopted was more important. Personally, the six months of
quarantine in Oman made me consider transforming my life again to moving back to Estonia. If life was
otherwise balanced, COVID-19 created a strong desire to live closer to family and in a place where
access to mobility would be easier. The finer elements that weave together to create a balanced and
fulfilling life must be taken into consideration when developing an understanding of your employees.
