Employee engagement is a hot topic these days, but when it comes to tackling engagement issues within an organization, leaders can quickly become overwhelmed and filled with questions. Improving employee engagement doesn’t happen overnight and there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach. It starts with understanding your team members’ wants and needs and prioritizing their well-being.

Let’s look at some of the top questions surrounding employee engagement:

What exactly is employee engagement? Employee engagement is the degree to which team members feel connected to their work, their colleagues and the organization as a whole. Engagement isn’t driven by one thing. It’s the full picture, from how valued and supported they feel to understanding the impact of their work.

What does an engaged employee look like? An engaged employee brings their best self to work, often going above and beyond. For example, they identify areas where they can develop new skills, take pride in their work and are engaged during meetings.

What does a disengaged employee look like? On the flipside, a disengaged employee does the bare minimum and won’t look for ways to contribute to the wider organization and culture. Because they don’t see a future for themselves, they’re happy to maintain the status quo.

What are some of the top drivers of employee engagement? Engagement is different for everyone, but these drivers should be part of your organization’s strategy:
• Ensuring each employee is making regular progress
• Providing autonomy
• Promoting a culture where ideas are encouraged and shared
• Creating an environment of learning and development
• Building manager relationships based on empathy
• Prioritizing purpose, challenge and respect in the workplace
• Developing strong team relationships and a sense of belonging
• Keeping workloads manageable and avoiding burnout

What can leaders do to increase employee engagement? There are so many ways leaders can make a difference. Here are the top 3:
• Listen to feedback – and implement it where appropriate
• Model the behavior you want your team to emulate
• Advocate for your team

Prioritizing employee engagement has real, measurable impacts! Leah M Joppy and Associates offers a fresh approach and perspective, combined with experience tackling all different types of employee disengagement issues, to help you jumpstart your team’s motivation.

Call us at 301-351-9523 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.