What the heck is engagement anyhow?!
According to Wikipedia, “Work engagement is the ‘harnessing of organization member's selves to their work roles: in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, emotionally and mentally during role performances.’"[1]:694 Three aspects of work motivation are cognitive, emotional and physical engagement.[2]
When I read this definition, a few things come up for me. I’m reminded of the importance of seeing the “whole” person not just the worker bee on my team. I love that this definition includes the emotional and mental expressiveness of importance. Better yet, it seems that equal value is given to each area of the employee’s self. As leaders, we can often forget that optimal performance can only be met when team members are actively engaged in all areas.
Sadly, for many organizations, engagement to them means recognizing a birthday with a digital card, or a work anniversary with a letter from the president. Or worse, they may feel that a team member is engaged because they show up on time, attend meetings and get their work completed in a reasonable amount of time.
The EVA principle
Other clients we serve have been more intentional about engagement and have gone out of the way to tap into the emotional connection to their organization with fabulous onboarding gifts and one-on-one coaching. The thing is, engagement doesn’t stop there. Whether you have a large budget or you’re working on a shoestring, you can engage with your team by developing deep and meaningful relationships that make your team member feel Engaged, Valued and Appreciated. I call this The EVA principle! As leaders, we would be wise to set intentions before each interaction with our employees. Am I heading into this conversation with EVA in mind? Reflecting on the day, did I show up for my team with an EVA mindset?
The risks of ignoring work engagement
Leadership is hard work! It requires us to be in tune with the needs of our team, often putting aside our own agenda to get to the heart of what that team member needs in that moment. It requires coaching and listening and being available, even on a hectic day. The risk we run when we know there’s an issue or sense something is going on and ignore it is detrimental to the relationship. I understand, I’ve been there, I’ve been frazzled and had my own deadlines to meet and thought “I don’t have time to deal with that right now” when I knew deep down a conversation needed to happen.
When leaders don’t check in with our people and ask how they are feeling about their work and engagement levels, we alienate them. In fact, according to a Financial Post article dated Oct 22nd, 2020 it seems that 49% of employees were seriously considering leaving their current role, a nine percentage-point jump from last year. In some provinces it is even worse. Hays said it released its report two months early to draw attention to the fact that 52% of Ontario employees say they are ready to leave their jobs. In Quebec, it’s 54%.
Here’s what crazier! The article states that 54% of employers admit they were doing nothing to assist employees with their wellness or mental health. This is not ok! We need to be tapping in to what our team needs right now. How can we best support them? Do they need additional resources for counseling? Could they benefit from a mental health day? Unless we ask how people are doing, we cannot assume that they’re ok.
How to ask employees for feedback?
Try a monthly or quarterly check in and have team members answer these questions candidly:
- Am I working on projects and in a role that really matters?
- Did my manager provide the necessary tools and direction to do my job well while working remotely?
- Do I feel like I can tell my manager when I’m struggling?
- What are two things that the company can do to better support the mental health of our team?
- I would feel more supported by my manager if…
The best companies that will thrive and come out on the other side of COVID fired up for the next chapter will have fully productive and engaged employees! They will have made engagement and wellbeing a focus during the pandemic and they will have stronger, happier team members representing their brand than pre-COVID.
