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The Employee engagement checklist

With no more funding available , and the hiring freeze being lifted at a slow pace , there’s only one way to improve the results of your team .  Each person has the capacity to work at a certain speed , with results that match the percentage of productiveness their working at.  Most employees consistently work at somewhere between 50 – 70% capacity.  At certain parts of your employees career they will become engaged in a certain project , or a job and their productivity will move up  to the 80 – 90 % range.  You can probably think of people in your division  right now who are working at a  massive  productivity rate, and they probably put a big grin on your face.  Most workplace populations  have about 8% of their workforce who work at this high pace consistently, those that are highly engaged in their  work  .   Now the goal of most Leaders is to get the most productivity out of their  employees, so let’s break down why people are engaged, and what you can do to get more engagement without making a dent in the budget.

What engages your Employees:

Simply put, the more a persons job fits  what they had and do hope for out of their life, the more engaged they will be in the work.  If a person grew up wanting to be a fireman, and then got the job, and it matched what they dreamed it would be, (like saving lives, climbing buildings , riding on the side of the big red truck) then they will be highly engaged.  They would work hard to keep their job, to do the job well, and to fulfill their own fantasy about what their job is because they are capable of doing so.  Now let’s take another scenario, where someone dreams of being a fireman, and becomes a  computer programmer .  You can imagine all of the gaps in the experience that would lead to them not wanting to be where they are and actively disengaging from their workplace  ( 68% of the workforce nowadays according to a TowersWatson study).  The problem is they don’t see themselves in the job , and are still either consciously or unconsciously looking for that ideal scenario .  See the multitude of problems here, any ideas crop up about how to prevent this engagement, and light a fire under these employees.  Here’s a few you may not have considered, a sort of checklist for Employee Engagement.

1) Show them how they matter:

Most employees simply don’t see how what they do matters to the company  , or to their lives besides the paycheck  they receive.  If you can show them how their work is important to company goals and values, then they will be more likely to see the value in their own work.   People love to make a difference, and sometimes when they don’t see it in themselves they get lost, disengaged.  Make a very clear path for them to see between what they do, and their companies success.

2) Help them achieve their dreams:

If a person can see how their personal goals in life are achievable through what they are doing in their work they are more likely to engage in their work activities.  Simply ask them what their life goals are, what do they truly want, and then work with them to find how doing their work for the company helps them on their way.  If there is no correlation,  then they are in the wrong job.  No one will stay engaged only for a paycheck.

3) Coach them to success:

Once you have them aligned to work and personal goals, they still may hit a rut or dip.  Wondering what they are doing, or having a challenging situation that they can’t see a way around.  If you, and the leaders in your organization learn the skills of successful coaches, you will effectively be able to help people recover to full capacity earlier.  Effective coaching helps employees see choices instead of only one solution, see the possibilities instead of limitations.  A quick recovery to forward momentum is one of the key factors to continued, long term engagement.

4) Challenge them:

One of the intrinsic motivators of all human beings is problem solving.  If you can keep problem solving as a consistent part of the employee role, then you will be involving the person in one of humanities most powerful drivers.  Make sure you always give people the opportunity to create something by problem solving.

5) Use Employee Assessments:

Simply put, some people just aren’t made for some jobs, and often you can’t tell until it’s too late.  A person in the wrong job, or poor job fit will end up with behavioral issues, and disrupting the workplace.  Effectively using employee assessments will help you determine before the person starts whether they are a good fit for the job, and help you communicate with them effectively.  Good Employee assessments can be tailored to the specific workplace, and be a consistent driver for employee engagement and productivity.

By following this simple checklist, you can improve productivity by over 30% in your company, or division.  Imagine a 30% increase in productivity,  how engaging would that be!

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