A study last year by Gallup entitled State of the Global Workplace, which examined the engagement of employees in 142 countries including the Czech Republic, showed that only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged. "Engaged" here means psychologically committed or dedicated to their work and interested in helping their organisations. 63% of the global workforce consisted of disengaged employees who lacked motivation and interest in helping their employers voluntarily. The remaining 24% were actively disengaged employees who were unhappy, unproductive and negatively affected their colleagues. These numbers are not very optimistic.
If you are wondering how to improve the engagement of your subordinates, try to see things more through the eyes of employees. Be inspired by the recommendations from a recently published article on Recruiter.com, entitled 6 Things Your Employees Wish You Knew About Engagement.
1. Engagement is not happiness
A happy employee may lack the motivation to provide the best possible performance. Happy employees are often hampering all the others.
2. Engagement does not occur by itself
It is not enough to increase employee awareness about engagement; you will also need a strategic plan. Look how your competitors organise the engagement of their staff.
3. Engagement has an impact on business results
It has a direct impact on such indicators as employee turnover, productivity, rate of absenteeism, etc. In addition, remember that engaged employees have to counter the negative impact of their disengaged colleagues.
4. Engagement is a matter of respect
A manager who wants engaged subordinates should not show them that s/he alone is the one who can best handle all the work. Show respect for your staff and their abilities.
5. Engagement is a matter of good management
A manager who has doubts about somebody in her/his team should talk about it, not just keep quiet and give funny looks. It is no wonder that bad bosses are still the most common reason why employees leave their jobs.
6. Engagement is a matter of communication
Employees need answers to basic questions: Why are we doing our work? What is our ultimate goal? They want to know what is going on in the company, where it is heading and what role they play in its development.
-kk-