What do you do if your employees are disengaged in decision-making?

Micromanagement and delegation with no purpose is the key to foster insecurity within a team. Creating an inclusive and diverse environment within a team, based on trust will enable individual contributors to feel confident. Empathy and genuinely caring and taking the time to get to know employees, their interests and needs will give you the sense on how to better support them to be successful instead of forcing them into what is known as success.

In my 20 Plus years in insurance, I've learned that engaged teams drive success. Employee engagement is more than task completion; it's about fostering a culture where every team member feels valued and empowered. Disengagement in decision-making hampers productivity and stifles innovation. To address this: 1. Invite Ideas: Ensure everyone’s voice is heard. 2. Explain Why: Empower through trust, allowing autonomy in decision-making. 3. Equip and Educate: Invest in training for active participation. 4. Celebrate Contributions: Recognize efforts that shape outcomes. 5. Lead by example: By seeking input and incorporating perspectives. Prioritizing employee engagement drives collaboration and innovation.

Having led the HR function for many years, I can confidently say that most employees want to be involved in decision-making. People want opportunities to speak up, have an impact, and ultimately see positive changes in which they are personally involved. If they are disengaged, the good strategy for brave leaders is to ask them about it and be ready to get unexpected answers that might not be nice. The next step is to analyze what can be done to return people. When you find what changes are worth doing, make a second round - discuss them with employees. The last and the most essential point is to show employees the results that their engagement is precious.

Disengagement of an employee usually happens when their views are not recognised, when they feel undervalued in the team or an organisation and or when the conversations or meetings get too many and instead of being productive and short they are lengthy and confusing. Everyone loves meetings because it's a round table to communicate objectives or have a discussion. “When your best employee becomes silent, that's when you need to know there is a problem.”Motivation is the word that keeps us going on. Either you are self motivated or you need motivation. Understanding the employee is utmost important. Because who would want to give 80- 85% of their day leaving their home and family behind to achieve goals for themselves to feel disengaged?

Employee disengagement in decision-making negatively impacts productivity, morale, and overall organizational performance. To mitigate this, actively involve employees in discussions, solicit their input, and value their contributions. Identify the Root Causes: Understand why employees are disengaged in decision-making. It could be due to a lack of trust in leadership, unclear communication, feeling undervalued, or a mismatch between their skills and the tasks assigned.Leading by example fosters a culture of participation and collaboration, enhancing employee engagement and organizational success.

I agree with this. People need to belong and feel that they are part of the organization.From time to time,it's prudent to seek their opinion in certain issues that affect them or the organization.once this is done,they will feel valued and will not shy away from being involved in decision making.

Decision making does noty only revolve around the function, but the entire system. When everyone feels part of the process then it gives them a sense of belonging to know they are valued and appreciated and that there opinion matters.Therefore its prudent that they are involved as early as possible and not when everything else is done only to realize, it cant be done.This creates respect and value.

Employees value decision-making when they can see they are being valued. Keep them abreast of the business needs and trends. Engage them in conversations on how to move forward. Even when the final decision may be made at a management or executive level, the voice of the employee is incredibly important. Often, customer-facing team members are aware of things management is not privy to. Their input is incredibly valuable. The more your employees feel like they have a seat at the table, the more they understand, engage and respect business decisions.

Often, the reason why people are disengaged with decisions is because they feel their ideas arent being truly listened to or valued...so whats the point? There are a couple of ways to change this: -> Involve people early in the process -> Speak last as a leader so you don't influence decisions -> Foster psychological safety so people can contribute ideas honestly -> Involve people throughout not just at the start -> Explain why decisions have been made as not everyone will agree.

It is very important employees feel their ideas are valued, at the end they are part of the day by day in the company, also feel recognized by their enthusiasm and curiosity.

Its important to link decisions to a bigger purpose such as strategy, vision and mission as this is something everyone will understand. Make sure there is a clear rationale and it is communicated in a way that allows for transparent conversation. Remember that just because a decision is communicated doesn't mean it is understood.

It is also important to be careful with the manners used to communicate the decisions taken. You want them to feel appreciated and that they learned something they can use for their career, and they can keep participating with their ideas and suggestions.

Once they understand the reasons the decision was taken, they need to feel part of the plan and empowered as a team to achieve it as a team goal, everyone going on the same direction.

en 8 años como coordinador de 180 personas, aprendí que es importante hacer a los empleados parte de las decisiones, esto significa solicitar su opinión para la solución de los problemas que se presentan, al escucharnos todos y ser empático con el equipo se determina la mejor solución (aun cunado esta sea diferente a sus opiniones) y en su mayoría están de acuerdo y los pocos que no lo están aun así participan en la solución porque se sienten parte del equipo con lo cual entienden que la decisión fue lo mejor para todos.

Empower your team by granting them ownership in your business. This creates commitment and accountability, fostering learning and success. Provide them with the authority, resources, support, and guidance necessary to execute decisions efficiently. Set achievable goals and fun challenges to motivate and enable their success.

As every person is different and each of them have different feelings on felling rewarded, it is important to know how your team is wired. When rewarding them, go as granular as the individual. Some people like public praise, some would like a praise during 1:1s, and some others are just happy in making an impact participating more. If having a wider team, use a blend approach. Go for whatever suits the majority of the team members and go granular with the others.

I’m big on employee recognition and confidence building, as these are important aspects of keeping up the teams momentum, morale and high performance.

It is enormously beneficial to make employees part of the decision making, and to decide how they want to make their ideas be heard. You also need to know your team and identify the best way to make them part of it.

Consider rewarding good ideas. This practice creates space for creativity and collaboration. You want your team to feel it’s worth taking the time to think about your company’s problems and propose solutions.

Encourage open communication channels, such as regular team meetings or anonymous feedback surveys Believe me it's works (:

Involve employees in decision-making processes by assigning them roles in problem-solving, brainstorming sessions, and task forces. This will help them feel valued and contribute to their sense of ownership in the decisions made.

In my experience, 1st of all leader must have active listening. Which is the route cause of the problem? Secondly, leader must develop the team. Keeping 1:1 meetings, with open communication and frequently feedbacks for sure will make a difference in the engagement of your team.