Improving employee engagement across a workforce can seem difficult, but it is one of the most important factors of organisational success; staying productive and finding ways to build on intrinsic motivation.
Low levels of engagement lead to wasted time, resources and effort as staff are not focusing on the objectives of the organisation or needs of its customers. Engaged staff, on the other hand, are much more willing to fix problems, address concerns raised by their managers and help their fellow employees.
Dale Carnegie Training and MSW Research released a study focused solely on understanding levels of employee engagement in different organisations, with the aim of answering the question “how to best engage employees?”
The study surveyed 1,500 employees and found that only 29 percent of respondents were fully engaged, while 26 percent were disengaged. This, along with many other similar studies, highlights an urgent issue that many organisations are facing.
“Employees said that it is the personal relationship with their immediate supervisor that is the key. The attitude and actions of the immediate supervisor can enhance employee engagement or can create an atmosphere where an employee becomes disengaged,” the study explained.
This reinforces the observation that, “People join organisations but leave managers.”
The research team worked to identify the factors that affect employee engagement. The study turned up three key areas, each of which are important contributions:
- Relationship with immediate supervisor.
- Faith in leadership.
- Company pride.
Other studies have agreed with the above findings and have also highlighted key factors such as being appreciated, having opportunities to develop in one’s role in the organisation and ability to progress their career.
All of these factors revolved around the key enabler of staff relationships with their immediate supervisors. This relies on developing strong leadership skills. Giving managers fair and comprehensive feedback from their teams gives managers the direction they need to work more effectively with their teams and get clear on which behaviours will be most useful for them to develop.
Rather than apply traditional feedback approaches of putting numbers on managers, Leaderskill’s unique 360 degree feedback process engages employees by providing low-threat, immediately usable feedback to managers. These surveys can help to boost confidence in leadership as managers adjust their behaviours to meet the needs of their teams.
