How energised do you feel about going to work?
Do you wish you could be more productive?
Are you keen to get the best commitment and performance from your people?
Perhaps as a leader you believe that it should be up to the individual to look after their own wellbeing?
Well, here is why I believe that as a leader, you should care:
ENGAGEMENT + WELLBEING = PERFORMANCE
So what does that mean?
People are essentially social beings and crave connection with one another and a feeling that they belong to “the tribe”. Key to this is treating people as a “whole” person, allowing them to bring their true self to the workplace.
This is a huge shift from just a couple of decades ago when you were expected to turn up at an office, wearing not only the corporate dark suit but also the corporate mask. Emotions were to be checked at the door, along with any stories of personal trials and tribulations. We were taught to compartmentalise our lives.
Well, life has changed and we don’t close the office door at 5pm and leave our work behind us so easily. We are contactable at all hours of night and day, we are interacting frequently with clients and staff around the globe meaning our days stretch as we work in several different times zones.
There is a growing realisation that if we want access to the whole gene pool then we need to provide a broader array of work options to suit different people and to address the whole human being who walks through the door not just the cookie cutter corporate persona.
5 keys to engagement
Engagement has been very popular topic in management and leadership literature for the last few years and has been defined as the willingness to expend additional effort to get a job done. So how to increase engagement? These are the key components:
Wellbeing
If engagement is primarily about the willingness to go the extra mile then that willingness alone may not be enough to enable them to deliver on their potential. This is where we come to the question of wellbeing and that is what I will cover in Part 2 of this post next week, which will cover the key elements of wellbeing both inside and outside the workplace.
Improved performance = Greater Profits!
Business training and literature has long recognised that the biggest asset of a business is its people, however this is only really true when those people are full engaged in what they are doing and are well enough to bring the energy our fast moving world requires.
Gallup’s research has shown that productivity and profitability are both improved by increasing engagement levels, as a result of greater customer satisfaction and lower staff turnover amongst other factors.
And recognising that extrinsic benefits such as bonuses and benefits are limited in their capacity to engage people means it is crucial to get to know the people around us at work so that we can understand their intrinsic motivators, and work together to improve life for all of us, whilst also delivering great business results. And that must be a great reason to care!
If you would like to explore ways to engage your staff (or yourself!) through leadership development training or one-on-one coaching please contact me at [email protected]
Do you wish you could be more productive?
Are you keen to get the best commitment and performance from your people?
Perhaps as a leader you believe that it should be up to the individual to look after their own wellbeing?
Well, here is why I believe that as a leader, you should care:
ENGAGEMENT + WELLBEING = PERFORMANCE
So what does that mean?
People are essentially social beings and crave connection with one another and a feeling that they belong to “the tribe”. Key to this is treating people as a “whole” person, allowing them to bring their true self to the workplace.
This is a huge shift from just a couple of decades ago when you were expected to turn up at an office, wearing not only the corporate dark suit but also the corporate mask. Emotions were to be checked at the door, along with any stories of personal trials and tribulations. We were taught to compartmentalise our lives.
Well, life has changed and we don’t close the office door at 5pm and leave our work behind us so easily. We are contactable at all hours of night and day, we are interacting frequently with clients and staff around the globe meaning our days stretch as we work in several different times zones.
There is a growing realisation that if we want access to the whole gene pool then we need to provide a broader array of work options to suit different people and to address the whole human being who walks through the door not just the cookie cutter corporate persona.
5 keys to engagement
Engagement has been very popular topic in management and leadership literature for the last few years and has been defined as the willingness to expend additional effort to get a job done. So how to increase engagement? These are the key components:
- Trust: The first step in getting people to engage with the organisation and their roles is to provide an environment where they feel safe and supported. Building trust between leaders and followers and between team mates is crucial to developing a culture where people can deliver their best work. An environment of encouragement will allow people to take risks and think creatively;
- Purpose: Identifying the purpose of the business (or team) and the core values which support that allow you to build a culture focused on all working towards the same goals. People want to leave work feeling the sense of fulfilment that they worked towards something meaningful;
- Communication: If you have identified the purpose of your organisation or team then it is important to keep talking about it, and living true to its values. It is also important to communicate as openly with staff as possible on all aspects of company performance as uncertainty breeds insecurity and disengagement;
- Empowerment: Hire staff with great attitudes and an openness to learning, help them to build the skills you and they need, and then trust in them and allow them to make decisions about how they do their work;
- Strengths: Research by Gallup has repeatedly shown that when people use their strengths and have an opportunity to do what they do best then they are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs. This is an area in which I particularly enjoy working with people as they discover not only what their strengths are but also how to use them optimally and draw on them when they need them.
Wellbeing
If engagement is primarily about the willingness to go the extra mile then that willingness alone may not be enough to enable them to deliver on their potential. This is where we come to the question of wellbeing and that is what I will cover in Part 2 of this post next week, which will cover the key elements of wellbeing both inside and outside the workplace.
Improved performance = Greater Profits!
Business training and literature has long recognised that the biggest asset of a business is its people, however this is only really true when those people are full engaged in what they are doing and are well enough to bring the energy our fast moving world requires.
Gallup’s research has shown that productivity and profitability are both improved by increasing engagement levels, as a result of greater customer satisfaction and lower staff turnover amongst other factors.
And recognising that extrinsic benefits such as bonuses and benefits are limited in their capacity to engage people means it is crucial to get to know the people around us at work so that we can understand their intrinsic motivators, and work together to improve life for all of us, whilst also delivering great business results. And that must be a great reason to care!
If you would like to explore ways to engage your staff (or yourself!) through leadership development training or one-on-one coaching please contact me at [email protected]
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