Leadership for Team Engagement

We’ve hit a crisis point in terms of the number of people who feel passion, engagement and joy at work, according to author and corporate coach Kathleen Redmond in Newmarket, Ont. and Lois Tori, a coach, trainer and consultant with more than 15 years of experience working with senior leaders. They both gave concrete recommendations on how to change this situation of employee engagement at the Live Healthy, Work Smart Your Workplace Conference ’09 in Ottawa, Ont.

While one might think that in this economic climate people would be more engaged at work, in reality more people are actually becoming disengaged. Redmond calls this the “turtle effect”—people are fearful, so they tighten up. According to a recent Towers Perrin survey, only 17% of the workplace is fully engaged, that is, excited about their jobs, energized, and happy to go the extra mile. Another 17% is already disengaged. The remaining 66% of the workplace is moderately engaged. This proportion of workers can go either way in terms of engagement. Which way they go depends on two factors: The leadership of the organization. (It’s important that leadership is open and honest), and their relationship with their leader.

Redmond and Tori believe there are things we can do at every level to engage talent. “People don’t want to live being disengaged—it’s uncomfortable,” says Redmond. Engaging people is important as there is a direct impact on enhanced engagement, improving quality, decreasing costs and customer service.

A brainstorming session at the conference revealed benefits when people were more engaged. These include:

• •  Greater creativity and innovation
• •  Decreased stress
• •  Improved morale
• •  Improved productivity and efficiency
• •  More proactive staff and better outcomes
• •  Happy, fun environment
• •  Less absenteeism
• •  Lower turnover
• •  Increased customer satisfaction
• •  Spend less money/make more
• •  Becoming an employer of choice and therefore attracting more talent
• •  People doing more with less

And there are also benefits to leaders. Leaders will spend their time and energy better, know how to roll with resistance, and attract more engaged people. They will also have more time to think strategically and reflect.

Studies show that engagement increases when people:

• •  Feel significant. When they see results, have a sense of accomplishment, and purpose
• •  Have the tools and resources they need to get the job done
• •  Get recognition. People need to feel valued, and have colleagues know and utilize their strengths
• •  Have opportunities for learning and growth
• •  Receive fair compensation
• •  Feel a sense of satisfaction
• •  Have clear goals
• •  Feel cared about
• • Have a sense of camaraderie, and fun, enjoy their work, and have an opportunity to talk to each other

Team engagement:

As an example of team engagement, Tori recounts her experience at the Royal Bank. The bank adopted Variety Village in Scarborough, an organization that works with the physically challenged, to encourage their physical health and confidence. The first year they did a golf-inspired fundraiser and raised $600. Through team engagement, this increased to $500,000 within seven years. Tori outlined recommendations that made their team successful:

• •  Be focused, and prioritize goal setting. “We said we can raise $100,000, and then we went out and did it.”
• •  Have brainstorming sessions where all ideas are considered by the group, and the diversity of the team is celebrated.
• •  Have concrete vision, and see the significance of what is being done.
• •  Be passionate, and have fun.
• •  Provide recognition along the way: have management provide feedback, and truly value all of the talents that are brought to the table.

This exemplifies the strategies leaders need to make to engage workers at the individual and team level:
1.    CLARIFY THE CULTURE: Know what is it your organization wants to accomplish.

2.    KNOW YOUR OWN CHARACTER: The more you know about who you are will increase your ability to be an effective leader.

3.    RESPECT YOURSELF: Ask yourself, does this feel right for me?

4.    RESPECT OTHERS: Make sure that the work environment feels safe, and is a good fit for co-workers.

5.    HARNESSING CONFLICT: Be open to having the conversation about what’s going on when conflict erupts.

To be successful Redmond believes it’s all about character and authentic inside-out leadership. This approach to leadership starts with individual character, and then expands to strategies. And Redmond is not talking about people being angelic. “The concern is more concrete. For example, what is your response when a mistake is made? People will not take risks if there are dire consequences, such as public shaming. Engagement is both fragile and crucial, and we all need to be more mindful of it.”

By: Jen Amos

Originally published in volume 12, issue 1 of Your Workplace magazine