I n my job
STRATEGY
ENGAGING EMPLOYEES MANAGING staff can be very satisfying or an annoying distraction. How you think about your staff influences how you feel about them. My personal belief is that people do the best they can with the resources available to them. I also take it as a given that we all want to work in or manage organisations where employees are performing at a high level and are happy and engaged. This is my belief; it’s neither right nor wrong, however I believe it is a manager’s responsibility to strive to create an engaged workforce. It’s important to recognise that the beliefs we hold about employees will influence our attitude and behaviour towards them. One of the starting points for a high performing organisation is staff engagement. Research confirms that an engaged employee is a productive employee and a productive employee is a more profitable employee. The findings of an Australian survey compiled by Gallup are terrifying. The survey, found that only 18 per cent of the Australian workforce are actively engaged: motivated and contributing. On the flip-side they suggest, 61 per cent of the Australian workforce are actually not engaged. They go to work, but they are not contributing as much as they could. Whilst that fact is hard to digest, the terrifying factor is that it is suggested that 21 per cent of the Australian workforce is actively disengaged: undermining and working against their employer. Disengaged staff add to your employee turnover and add to your costs. The estimated cost to Australian business is in the order of $33.5-$42.1 billion (AUD) per annum. Motivating your staff need not be costly; but not motivating them can come at a hefty price!
WHAT CAN WE DO? There is no quick fix and strategies need to be tailored for each organisation. There is, however, one simple process that can be used to start understanding if your employees are engaged or not. This technique is particularly important for those employees you seriously value and that if they resigned would negatively impact on your organisations profit and performance. Having worked in Human Resources and recruitment for many years, I have heard many reasons why people have felt unmotivated and wanted to leave their employers. Many of these reasons I believe could have been avoided if their direct manager followed the technique below and took action. The technique is simple – spend time talking to your staff and teams!!! Have a conversation with your staff to find out ‘how they are going?’ in HR speak, this is called an ‘engagement review’. ENGAGEMENT REVIEWS ENABLE YOU TO: ■ Learn/confirm your employee’s point of view on job satisfaction and personal success. ■ Answer questions and provide clarity on what maximum contribution looks like, what they could do more of. ■ Demonstrate your support of them. ■ Begin a regular, ongoing engagement dialogue. Engagement reviews are not the time to provide performance feedback, conduct a career coaching conversation, or share your thoughts on what the employee should do better. If necessary those conversations can come after the engagement review.
TIPS FOR A MEANINGFUL DISCUSSION: Many managers want to have meaningful conversations with their staff, but some simply don’t know how to start the dialogue or what to stay once it’s started. Here are some tips. ■ Set a positive tone for the conversation, create rapport and be relaxed. ■ Talk about the importance of the employee’s job and how it fits with the organisation’s larger goals. ■ Discuss your employee’s top priorities. Many managers aren’t fully aware of this which can have a negative impact on engagement. ■ Ask “What support do you need from me?” and “What kind of feedback is most useful to you?” ■ Talk about ways to use the employee’s talents (the ones that the person enjoys using). ■ Ask about job conditions — what gets in the way of great accomplishments? What gets in the way of a great day at work? ■ Discuss how you work together. It’s not enough to agree you should meet “regularly.” Clarify what that term means to you both. ■ Agree to meet again. You can’t have one discussion and check off the box that you’ve addressed your employee’s engagement successfully. This conversation lays a foundation for specific discussions about performance, development, or career management. It also establishes a forum you can use to check-in quickly – and regularly – about engagement issues. People want to know their managers care about them and their career aspirations. Spending time with your employees is a great way to deliver on this. Given that engaged employees add more to the bottom line, if you are a manager, it makes sense to spend time to demonstrate you truly value your employees.
JUNE PARKER is the Director of an HR consulting firm called Selection Partners. June and her team work with SME’s and larger organisations in the West and Northern suburbs helping organisations to maximise their employees’ potential, through recruitment, development, coaching or training. Email: June@selectionpartners.com.au
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BUSiNESS WEST