Does your company suffer from low Employee Engagement? Ask yourself these 3 questions to change this. 

What’s the full picture in your business when it comes to employee engagement? Are your people engaged? Let me be really clear, employee engagement doesn’t need to be difficult as it boils down to some human needs we all have in all aspects of our lives. In this article, I’ll share with you where a shift in perception and asking the right questions can make a significant difference and start to have a positive impact on increasing your employee engagement.

9% of UK Workforce Highly Engaged

What is vitally important when it comes to employee engagement is whether your people find their jobs fulling and meaningful. At the lowest level do they like coming to work? Or is Monday merely the start of their commute to the weekend?

Sadly for the vast majority of employees, they don’t gain fulfilment from their work, in fact, the most recent Gallup ‘State of the Global Workforce’ survey found that a mere 9% of the UK workforce are fully engaged. Since the 2013 survey, it was 14%.

Is Employee Engagement Important?

Employee engagement is key to the success, sustainability, and growth of any business. Sadly for many businesses today, the most significant expense in their business is the wage bill each month. Where it should really be an investment, every wage should generate more revenue in the business. The point here is it can if you start to embrace the following key factors in engaging your people. Still not sure…

Are you the busiest in your team?

Are you the default for all challenges and questions?

Do you trust your team to make the right decisions?

If these questions resonate in a less than favourable way then in all likelihood you really need to review the level of employee engagement in the team.

How would your employee answer these 3 key questions?

What level of autonomy does my team have?

Can they make their own decisions within the constraints of what they are paid to do? Are your managers supporting the team to make decisions or making them for them (weak delegation)? As human beings, we all need a level of autonomy to be able to make decisions and therefore contribute, which in turn creates a level higher level of employee engagement.

Autonomy also results in far higher productivity, allowing your people to contribute without the need to seek permission, guidance, or the need for significance. Rather they are able to gain a strong sense of contribution through their autonomy.

Whilst there will often be contracts of employment in place is there clarity on what is expected of them? Have they clarity in their role and responsibility? What can and can’t do?  What are the constraints and limitation which are imposed?

This is a great place to start with developing higher employee engagement. if this is a step you need to take then look to establish higher autonomy, you don’t need to go from no autonomy to complete freedom of action. A tip would be to introduce autonomy steadily, a little at a time building up confidence. We’ll cover that in a moment.

Have my team established meaningful relationships?

Being tribal we all need meaningful relationships. A litmus test here is to ask yourself just how well you know your team, and I mean really know them. If you can’t answer that question with confidence, then you should make the effort to build relationships with your team and encourage the team to do the same.

Each of us seeks to have a sense of belonging and meaning to be part of the tribe. A place of employment is no different and if you take into account on average 36% of an employee’s time awake is spent at their place of employment, a sense of belonging matters.

‘No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care’

Is my team competent?

Competence is a real key to belonging and higher employee engagement. Not being able to fulfil their role with confidence is extremely disempowering. Right now what measurements are in place to raise that confidence, to encourage the team that they are doing a good job?

Establishing what to measure is also equally as important; imposed on the team and can have a limiting impact, if the team is engaged in what their key measurements should be there will be higher engagement. In this manner, there will be a far higher commitment to being measured and understanding the principles behind it.

The management equality should also be measured against key criteria of how they support and facilitate the team and so at each level we see a higher impact on competence. Competence builds confidence and creates higher levels of commitment. Truly engaged employees.

Whilst being able to measure output we should also not forget that ability and skill are key. Has there been sufficient training and development, have we the right systems in place? When these are also combined with the right measurables it makes for a receipt for success.

The Right People on the Bus

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, highlights the importance for businesses to have the right people on their bus. If the bus represents your business then it’s critical to have the right people on the bus and in the right seats.

Answering and acting upon these questions alone doesn’t ensure higher engagement. Certainly not if some of your people should be on your bus. Asking these questions will also clearly define for you who should be on the bus and who you need to help exit from the bus.

Focusing on higher employee engagement will have a positive impact on your people. Creating meaning in there employment really does make sense ethically and commercially.

Take the steps towards engaging your people through reviewing the questions posed in this article and the actions then needed to be taken.