Need to Drive Performance? Check Engagement.

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Research shows that the key factor in promoting higher performance is engagement. It’s not employee satisfaction or even commitment to the job. Thus, it is critical that people (and notably managers) develop a clear understanding of what engagement is and is not for their team members.

Why might this exercise of identifying strategies to increase engagement be worthwhile? Well, in companies where ~65 percent of employees are engaged, shareholder returns are approximately 24 percent. Compare that to companies with only ~55 percent engagement: Shareholder returns are as low as 5 percent! What’s more, teams with high engagement experience less than a third of turnover compared to those not engaged.

Engagement is a commonly used term and it is often times conceptualized in much the same way as other employee attitudes (such as satisfaction and commitment). While engagement is related to these attitudes, it is distinct. Rather than defining the terms, let’s consider what it looks like. 

People who are engaged are absorbed in their work – both physically and mentally. In fact, engagement is something you can see in people – it is visible in the form of high levels of effort, involvement, and even mindfulness. An engaged individual is often energized by their work and difficult to distract. These individuals value and identify with the work they are doing (so much so the work might not even feel like work). They are slow to discourage by obstacles (in fact, they thrive on solving problems), and they sincerely care that things go well. 

Now that we know what it looks like, and we know that it’s a silver bullet for company performance (if you are interested in more data justification, drop me a note), how do we actually increase engagement? 

There are three drivers of engagement. These include Psychological Meaningfulness, Psychological Safety, and Psychological Availability. 

The first dimension is called Psychological Meaningfulness and this is having a reason to engage. This has much to do with the characteristics of one's job; it is essential that positions are structured to include “high motivating potential.” Jobs that have high motivating potential tend to be challenging and allow space for both autonomy and impact. 

The second dimension is called Psychological Safety. While intuitive, this has to do with whether or not people experience the freedom and the safety to engage in their work rather than feeling like they have to protect themselves in some way. (Have you ever felt like you couldn’t dare speak up with a suggestion to do something differently? Yeah, you’ve experienced a situation without complete psychological safety). 

The third dimension is Psychological Availability. This has to do with the capacity to engage. “Do I have what it takes to engage fully in my job?” This is much more circumstantial for the individual. Take a person’s physical energy, for example. If there is a poor balance between work and home, renewal is hard to come by and that will undoubtedly put a strain on the job (think burnout). The other facet of this third dimension is a person's confidence in their ability to do the job. In order for people to be really engaged in their work, they have to feel confident that if they invest themselves in their work, they're likely to succeed. And this is why reskilling, continual training, and developmental opportunities and feedback are essential. 

In Brief: 

1. Psychological Meaningfulness: Having a reason to engage

2. Psychological Safety: Having the freedom and safety to engage

3. Psychological Availability: having the capacity to engage (and support to do so)

These dimensions have a great deal of nuance and if you are presently experiencing an engagement crisis you are not alone. Many companies are facing a heightened challenge with engagement after well over two years of employees managing heightened emotional and physical stressors. If this is the case for your group, contact me.

Bear in mind there is also a significant amount of reading you can do on the topic of employee engagement if you prefer a self-study approach. Thanks to the seminal research of William Kahn who crafted the Work Engagement Theory and is also considered the Father of Employee Engagement, there is much to be gleaned from his work on how to increase not only company performance and employee retention, but will also improve the health and well-being of your employees. 

Are We Back to "Normal" Yet?

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No, We Are Not Quite Yet Back to “Normal.” 

It’s been a while since I’ve written an article and posted on my blog. In part because of life responsibilities, in part because of my own conation, and in part because of exciting work commitments. But, it has been too long and thus I will be back on a quarterly basis to share my two cents about how we can observe current events or life circumstances and extract a valuable leadership and/or management lesson. 

Back to the topic at hand. We are *all* excited to get back to “normal.” What normal means differs from person to person, though, and upon reflection, my perception of normal may have evolved over the past two years. I think we can all agree that normalcy includes a decreased need for masking and an increase in social activities. Normal might even mean some time in an office space, on mass transit, less shopping online, and dining out. 

And while we dabble in the removal of social distancing and masking and aim to enjoy our lives again, we are met with an onslaught of disengagement, burnout, disregard (for fellow humans), and dwindling customer service. I know that if I easily know five people who are experiencing or who have experienced these feelings/encounters, I have no doubt that you have a list handy, too. In fact, you might be experiencing feelings of shoddy customer service or utter fatigue and burnout *right now.* What’s my point? Well, the pandemic may be ending, and things may be returning to normal, but there are lasting effects that we must become aware of and work to improve – NOW. 

Notably, the APA is incredibly concerned for the mental health of our youth – so much so that it has defined the deterioration of mental health in children as a crisis. And, as already alluded to adults aren’t all that with it either. From (the many) altercations on airlines to the hissy fits I see almost daily on the street, I fear we have forgotten how to co-exist. Turns out, there’s some truth to this assertion. 

The number one reason for people behaving in rude or uncivil ways is stress. And we all have undoubtedly experienced at least some stress throughout this pandemic. I need not go into the laundry list of just why people may have experienced stress of late, but it is worth reflecting upon how you, as an individual, feel you deal with stress. Are you more reactive? Less compassionate? Impatient? Quick to madden? Is it any wonder that conflict is stirring around us? I think not. 

What’s more, rudeness (a derivative of poor emotional regulation, caused by frequent and compounded stress), can be contagious. Say you get a delivery that was tossed around in the truck that it came to you on, and then it is used as a soccer ball in the street (you imagine). You now need to not only submit a claim with the company from which you purchased the item and hope for a replacement, but you must determine how to return the product in its botched packaging. Then, moments later, you are taking a call with a colleague who made a mistake on a project and you are noticeably short with them, striking an attack on their competency. You have passed on the angst you’ve just endured. According to Porath, people are three times less likely to help someone else if they feel they have been treated poorly. This means that we might go out of our way to be unkind, rather than kind, and that will consequently motivate the next person to pass on the snub. 

In the context of the work environment – whether onsite or at home – our actions definitionally affect others. This means that as a manager or as a colleague, we must be aware that our resiliency against rudeness has waned; we are at risk of infection! There is little chance for constructive feedback or conflict resolution in this state if we let the rude contagion win. The saying “kindness, pass it on” might need to be our new mantra, especially as we aim to get back to “normal.” A profound finding? Perhaps not, but I am taking note that in the days ahead I will put kindness at the forefront of my actions and communication. Try it with me. 

Until next time,

Brielle

First published on LinkedIn

Retain Your Employees with Just Two Efforts

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The Great Resignation was initially spoken about as women departed their places of work in 2020 (either by force or by “choice”). Over five million women were affected. In the present day, nearly two million women still have not returned to the workforce (in the United States alone). 

Interestingly, this “Great Resignation” has taken shape to classify the departure of both women and men, noting the changing landscape of work, and employees’ sentiments on what work should look like. While I do not argue there are clear trends of disengagement which have led to both men and women leaving the workforce, there is still a monumental issue of women being at the helm of COVID job losses. 

Media outlets, particularly those who cover leadership and management, have used this opportunity to talk about the importance of retention. I find it startling, and fascinating, that due to the fact this Resignation now includes men, it is being discussed further. Not just the reality of departures, but the essentiality that companies do all they can do to make people stay. Where was this same tone during the pandemic when women were mass exiting? 

Needless to say, the point remains that in order for the economy to stabilize and for companies to flourish, both men and women must remain, or return, to the workplace. But how are we intending to help people return? How are we intending to keep people content in their current positions? 

If you are familiar with my work you know I advocate for women. And, after a year researching and publishing a book on women’s experiences during COVID-19, I assure you it is women that companies need to be focused on when it comes to retention and engagement. Regardless, engagement drives performance and the best companies are composed of diverse teams, thus there are actions you can take readily to engage all company members. 

Career Transparency

Career transparency can minimize ambiguity and increase engagement. Helping employees know what’s next for them (and helping him/her create the path) is paramount. What makes this employee tick? What areas do they excel in? How does their current career path allow for their skills to shine? 

If you haven’t discussed this with your team members, it’s time. If your team member isn’t sure what it is they want in their career, your job is to help them discover. But, odds are, they have an inkling of what they want to accomplish, and have been waiting for you to ask how they can achieve their goals. 

Recognition 

Yes, something as simple as recognition can increase retention. Have you ever been in a position where a superior took an idea as his own? Or did an exceptional job on a project and was simply assigned the next? This wears on people. Managers must have integrity and shed a light on their team members’ successes, not take them as their own. Further, managers must take the time to privately and publicly recognize their team. Not only does this spark discretionary effort, but a microculture of recognition demonstrates to a company as a whole that behavior that promotes and encourages will also establish trustworthy and hardworking teams. 

What Makes Us Who We Are?

Well, who we are and who we become is comprised of many elements. Our experiences, beliefs, perception of identity, interpersonal relationships, upbringing… All of these facets contribute to the greater construct of our being. 

Often who we are is driven by what we want and what brings meaning, fortune, or happiness to life.  

The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the process of creating or maintaining our identity. It changed not only how we got our meaning but it changed our motivation too.

I love large public speaking engagements and I enjoy meeting with my clients face-to-face. This all changed with the pandemic. Not only was I unable to engage in intellectually stimulating conversations without getting eye fatigue, but I could not get the same response to presentations that I had grown accustomed to. Rather than gaining motivation from those talks, I was being drained of all my energy. The absence of observed interest and comprehension through body language really made my virtual sessions, talks, and the like a challenge for me. 

We all have a story like this. Our plans were derailed unexpectedly and swiftly. 

Rather than focus on the (many) challenges we’ve observed though -- from illness to layoffs to virtual schooling -- we must try to use this as a learning tool for the future. Part of this learning requires us to become aware of the fact that we can become easily attached to an "ideal state" regardless of whether we are fully in control (think career progression, childcare, etc.).

Could you control a global pandemic? No. Do you have every right to be disappointed about a different reality? Sure. But herein lies an opportunity to capture what it is that we love(d) so dearly about life before COVID-19... For example, Gathering. Presenting. Teaching. Learning. The list goes on. But, more importantly, what motivated you to keep going? What enabled belonging and happiness?  

With the Delta variant alive and well I am re-visiting the hard facts of what is and is not in my control and am seeking solutions to progress with honing my skills regardless of the motivation output vs. input reality. This adaptation and acceptance of doing business differently will, ultimately, provide me with a new skill and will also teach me more about just what it is that makes me tick. In the process, I will learn the power of being in the moment -- ultimately leading to a unique embrace of taking it as it comes in an effort to live a more contented life. 

Identify where your motivation is rooted, and adapt to the circumstance.

First posted on LinkedIn.