Imagine a World where Employee Engagement starts with Strong Leadership

I still remember how everything about employees used to be way too different back when I started leading one of my ventures, Saffron Tech. Throwing it back to almost a decade, employee experience and engagement wasn't really a concern for the leaders and neither was it a necessity for the organization. It was only limited to my employees getting along well with my organization and vice versa. But now, we are existing in an age of greater workforce mobility, and are smack bang right at the center of an employee-led recruitment market.

It's no surprise that there has been heaps of discussion about how we leaders can make the workplace more engaged. As per a recent study by Gallup, the world is undergoing an employee engagement crisis - disengaged workers exhibited 37% loftier absenteeism, 49% more casualties, and a whopping 60% more blunders. The complex work culture in the digital age coupled with low levels of engagement due to remote methodology is bound to bring multiple challenges for organizations in the face of cut-throat competition. Research has shown that organizations with engaged workers bag 6% higher net profit margins. Leaders who not only want their businesses to grow but survive as well have to take the responsibility for improving employee experience and engagement. 

Since the last few years, just like the other leaders, I too have realized that enhancing employee experience and employee engagement has become more than critical for increasing productivity, executing business strategies, and improving the performance of my organization. For the organization it's no longer just about massive goals and elusive plans, but how effectively I improve the experience and engagement of my employees. The key is to foster a culture in which employees feel motivated, fulfilled, happy and involved. The changes have been massive. Now that my employees are engaged they yield higher levels of commitment to my organization's vision, goals, strategies, and lower levels of intentions to leave. These elements group up and lay the foundation of the engagement in my organization - the enthusiasm, commitment, and willingness to contribute to the success of the organization by going above and beyond. 

Does engagement really matter?

If you want me to answer it in just a word - Yes! The facts and numbers back this claim. The Gallup report highlighted some dramatic statistics. We leaders for sure want highly engaged business units as it shows:

• 24% lower turnover of the staff
• 17% higher productivity
• 41% reduced absenteeism
• 21% higher profitability
• 40% fewer quality concerns

This statistic is more than enough to show that for us, leaders, improving employee experience and engagement is no longer a matter of choice for our organization. Having an agile performance management tool is all it takes for the organization to boost its employee engagement and experience without compromising the functioning of the organization. The tool that brings your employees the Joy Of Performing by enabling you to set organizational objectives, monitor your team's progress, provide in-time feedback, and most importantly - make your employees aware of how their contribution helps the organization to attain its main objectives. The result? Highly engaged and productive employees who are fully committed to driving the organization towards the desired success. 

What should we as leaders do?

The days when setting up a ping-pong table, scattering a few bean bags, and providing barista-quality coffee was considered to be a top-notch employee experience and engagement have become a thing of the past and won't cut it presently. We have to rethink our strategies and take significant steps as engaged and happy employees will stick around, go above and beyond and make our businesses more profitable. There's no time to waste so just wear the hat of responsibility already and get down to work: 

Staying vision focused

It is only when we the leaders embody the vision and value of our organization, we can influence our employees to a great extent. The leaders have to be absolutely clear about where the organization has to go and the plan that is needed to direct it there. It's our responsibility to encourage and inspire our workforce to follow the vision of the organization by establishing clear-cut goals. The belief has to be in a collaborative goal-setting methodology that will enable the employees to align their objectives with that of the business. By conceding our commitment towards the organization's goal setting and vision, our employees are bound to be obligated and engaged in their roles and the organization. 

Meaningful recognition

Recognizing and rewarding my employees for their efforts worked wonders for me when I was on the hunt to find an effective way to improve the employee experience and engagement in my organization. The employees thrive on being recognized for their valued contribution and good work. Leaders that recognize their employees in momentous ways are far more likely to lead an engaged and high-performing team. Personalized rewards show our employees that the leaders do care about them and value their efforts. However, we've got to ensure that the recognition should be timely, detailed, and meaningful. This shows that the leaders have paid close attention to their work and we're not just tossing around empty phrases. 

Enable a positive culture

Now, a positive culture is meant to be established and not just written on the whiteboard placed in the corner of the organization. I have witnessed the employee experience getting greatly enhanced when the working environment is turned into a fun, favorable, and positive one. Apart from making infrastructural changes, we have to assure that an amicable working relationship exists within the system where everyone supports, values, and respects one another. It is our responsibility to make the work-life of our employees as exciting as possible. In a happy and positive workplace, our employees communicate openly and establish authentic relationships with their colleagues. In such a culture, everyone pulls in the same direction and remains as engaged as they can ever be. 

As elaborated enough above, whether it's about employee experience or employee engagement, it initiates right from us - the leaders!