Manager’s Role in Employee Engagement: Best Practices

“Sam, a manager in an IT firm, once had a very productive team. But, with time the performance of his team started falling. Sick leaves, frequent breaks, less productivity was an everyday thing. 

Inability to take challenges, no out of box ideas, lack of communication within the team and the heads was becoming a challenge.” 

Sam was clueless why this is happening. In Spite of so many perks and high package, company is providing why this issue is creeping in !!!

Does this story seem familiar to you? Are you struggling with the same issue?

Here is the answer, the core problem here is the lack of engagement between the Managers and the team.

Gallup’s research shows that the manager’s role in employee engagement is at least 70% of variance. However, The fact that only 20% of employees are engaged globally indicates how most managers have failed to keep their employees engaged.

What happens if you fail to engage your employees? 

The Company “Caterpillar” made $8.8 million annual savings from decreased attrition, and absenteeism in a European plant, and a $2 million increase in profit- all with increased employee engagement.

On the other hand, poor employee engagement sits at the heart of decreasing productivity or increasing recruitment to fill the skills gaps.

It can significantly affect your organization’s business performance. 

Disengaged employees underperform and tend to do the bare minimum. They can strain your time and resources. They have no real connection with their job.

“Disengaged employees cost U.S. companies up to $550 billion every year.”

Manager’s Role in Employee Engagement

Research shows that manager capability positively affects employee engagement and performance.  Gallup’s report Titled, State of the American Manager, also exhibits the important links between talent, engagement, and business outcomes.

Managers are the connecting line between the company and employees. Employees generally measure their connection and engagement with the organization through their relationship with the manager.

What Managers should do to engage their teams?

1Communicate with the team

Employee engagement is not static. So if you have noticed signs of disengagement in some of your employees, it is not the end of the word. You can re-engage them with the right communication. 

To establish a genuine relationship check in on how they are doing both personally and professionally. 

In other words,  involve your employees in high-quality 2-way communication to produce positive outcomes.

We can put it as E= MC²

Where E= Employee engagement

M= Manager’s efforts

C²=Two way communication

Gallup survey shows that when managers hold regular meetings, employees are three times more likely to be engaged. You should also schedule conversations with remote workers at least once a week since only chats can dehumanize the relationship.

2Make team aware of the company and leadership strategy

When your team doesn’t work in sync with the strategy of higher management, no matter how hard they work, the results will not show up. Which will in turn lead to non-performance of the team.

So, as a manager that your team is aware about the company and leadership strategy when working towards achieving a certain goal.

This will also help you and your team know where you are exactly standing and what should be your strategy to move forward.

3Provide Support and Assistance

Adopt a people-oriented management style to increase engagement. Make your employees feel that they can reach out to you for support or to help them proceed in the right direction. 

You also need to recognize that  “one size fits all” won’t help you make employees more engaged. Therefore, you need to find out what resources and benefits your employees desire especially now when the world is infected with the Pandemic. It will create a sense of obligation that will eventually be returned with greater levels of engagement.

Reminder: Don’t confuse micromanagement with support. \

4Recognition Matters

Imagine, you worked hard to make a project work. Now, After its success, your contribution is not recognized by anyone. How would you feel?

Your employees will feel the same if you don’t make your employees feel valued at work.

Recognition is one of the most common reasons for disengagement in the workplace. In a survey, 69% of employees confirmed that they’d work harder if they were better appreciated.

“Recognition can increase employees’ engagement, performance, and productivity by 14%.” 

Therefore how you recognize employees’ talents and contributions can impact the engagement of the wider team.

Start with initiating an employee recognition strategy to demonstrate that you care. Make it specific, timely, and frequent.

5State Clear Goals and align teams

In a Gallup survey, only 20% of U.S. employees have had a conversation about their goals with their manager in the last six months. 

If you are also making the same mistake, it’s time to have a conversation with your employees and help them set work priorities and clear goals.

Let your employees know what is expected of them at work.

Make these conversations more frequent so that they have priorities clear and are accountable for their work.

6Feedback to Action

“Employee Voice” plays a significant role in employee engagement. It is, therefore, crucial to listen to what your employees have to say and take their feedback.

Apart from having a proper feedback system in place, managers can initiate a one-on-one feedback system. 

But in the end, what’s more, important is transforming their feedback into action for continuous improvement and employee satisfaction.

When employees feel heard, employee engagement will also improve.

7Employee wellness programs

According to a Glassdoor survey, the conception of wellness has to go beyond traditional health measures. 

Employee engagement and wellness go hand in hand. When a company looks after an employee’s non-work areas of life by offering flexible work schedules, mandatory leaves, wellness programs will make them more evolved.

The feeling of being taken care of will inculcate the feeling of belongingness in the team and they will work with more energy and synergy for the organization. 

How Peoplebox Coaching Can Enhance a Manager’s Role in Employee Engagement?

With Peoplebox coaching, Manager’s Role in Employee Engagement becomes easier.

With a combination of AI + experienced leadership coaches, Peoplebox coaching will help you convert employee feedback into actions, and build authentic connections and collaboration with your employees.