Great leaders and organizations know that employee engagement is critical to business success. Research compiled by The Gallup Organization shows that organizations with the highest levels of engagement enjoy increased employee productivity and retention, better operating margins, and almost 4 times higher return to shareholders than their lowest scoring industry peers.[i]
While engagement brings great benefits, disengagement can be costly. Gallup says, in 2014, disengaged employees cost the US economy $450 billion in lost productivity.
While it can be difficult to get disengaged employees to reengage it is not impossible. Employees need to believe their contributions are seen, valued, and make a difference. Studies show employees want more coaching and feedback to satisfy those needs. Too little of these and employees begin to doubt their contributions and disengage from their work.
The relationship between employees and their immediate manager is the top driver of employee engagement. Managers who are skilled at giving regular coaching and feedback have higher engagement scores. What do these managers do differently?
• They listen. A 2015 study by Aon Hewitt showed that managers build engagement simply by becoming better listeners.[ii]
• They ask questions. Employees feel they are valued when their manager asks for their thoughts rather than tell them what to do.
• They create mutual agreed action plans. Research shows engagement and productivity increase when employees have a say.
• They follow up, regularly. Continuous feedback keeps people confident and on track.
In other words these managers coach. Coaching creates focus, which satisfies the need to believe in one’s contributions, which we call faith, which drives engagement, which we call fire.
Studies show engagement scores often improve simply by changing the manager! But getting lucky doesn’t create a culture of continuous coaching and feedback. Teaching managers how to be coaches will.
[i] Gallup Webcast: Building Employee Engagement Through High-Performing Managers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSjf156wx2o&t=1077s
[ii] Aon Hewitt, 2015 Trends in Global Employee Engagement