Michael Jordan once said, “Talent wins games, but a team wins championships“. Talent, by itself, is useless if it isn’t drived at achieving corporate goals. Engaging employees with the company and its results is key to making it work.
If you are a team leader, you will know how important it is for all collaborators to be on the same page. To do this, it is necessary to make them understand what the company’s mission is and what their role is in achieving the objectives.
By doing so, the company’s challenges become personal challenges, and this makes employees more motivated and committed to feeling them as their own.
The cornerstone of this strategy is communication. Without clear and fluid communication, it will be very difficult for employees to understand the importance of their work, and how it influences the performance of the entire organization.
Good leaders are not the ones who grow up in front of their team. Are the ones that make employees grow, making them feel important, listened to and valued. A good leader does not command. A leader directs and builds the future of the company together with the members of the team.
How to engage a work team?
As we have already said, communication is the essential part of an engagement strategy. Without it, even the most talented and potential employees can feel lost. Helping them get involved in the company’s mission requires spreading the clear message that their daily effort is necessary.
But it also implies listening to their ideas and proposals, becoming aware of what their main concerns are and carrying out actions that show that, as leaders, we are really interested in them being part of a common project.
5 strategies to engage employees with the organization
1. Spend some of your time getting to know your team
There are managers who feel “uncomfortable” with the fact that employees have a relevant role in a project. However, it is more than proven that employees who feel valued and satisfied are also the most productive ones.
Devoting part of your working hours to getting to know your employees is one of the most direct and easiest ways to engage them with the company. This will allow you to know what their needs are, their objectives within the organization and where they want to go.
With this information, HR managers will be able to manage individualized development plans that keep motivation and engagement levels very high.
2. Set shared goals and objectives
Employees, as individual professionals, have goals to achieve satisfaction on a personal level. But as a manager, you know that your job is to ensure that the department you manage achieves optimal results. This duality in goals can sometimes conflict with the expectations of your team members.
To avoid situations that could endanger the stability of the company, you can try to set shared goals. Invite your collaborators to establish their own strategic objectives, so that they can take on the company’s challenges as their own.
In this way, you ensure that employees will always act in the best interest of the company.
3. Share the company’s philosophy
To engage employees in company results, it is essential that they understand its purpose. With that, you will make them aware of the organization’s mission, vision and values.
Communication must be constant. Keep your team members updated on the business situation: share progress, problems, intentions and results with them.
Secrecy breeds mistrust, and keeping employees unaware of the reality of the company is the best way to make them feel no empathy or motivation.
4. Boost recognition for a job well done
Motivational strategies are an example of positive reinforcement that helps employees stay proactive and willing to do their best.
Wage incentives are a good satisfaction mechanism, but they are not the only one or the most effective. In fact, recognizing the value of your team and rewarding their efforts does not have to incur an additional cost for the company.
There are many ways to thank the efforts that employees make on a daily basis. And, although in a company no one is essential, it is important that the collaborators feel necessary.
Listen to their ideas, implement those that have a positive impact on the business, and welcome contributions that are less relevant.
5. Cultivate a good work environment
In Team Insights we have highlighted the benefits for the company of having a pleasant working environment.
Having a great and satisfying workspace goes beyond offering fruit on Fridays. Actually, what the workers are looking for is a place where they can be comfortable and calm being themselves without fear of being judged for their decisions.
Psychological safety, teamwork and a good relationship with bosses and colleagues are the essential ingredients to create an optimal environment to stimulate continuous learning, motivation and performance.
How to know if your workers are engaged with the company?
Knowing the level of commitment of your team may seem difficult, but it is much easier than you imagine. All you have to do is: asking. And with Team Insights you have two ways to do it.
The first one is using the eNPS measurement system. This metric allows you to know in what degree your employees are engaged with the company, dividing workers into three categories according to their scores: detractors, passives and promoters.
The more promoters, the more employees involved with your company.
The second one is through employee engagement surveys. Using this tool you can find out the level of general engagement. We have key questions specially designed for this purpose. These questions cover important aspects such as development, training, leadership, recognition and rewards or culture and values, among others, which directly influence whether or not an employee gets engaged with the company.
The advantage of using this type of survey is that you will not only know how involved your team is with the organization, but it also allows you to identify the dimensions that most affect this result. So, you can enhance your strengths, and cover areas for improvement.
You can start using Team Insights right now. You just have to sign in up, follow the steps, and that’s it! You can now start measuring and improving your company to make it a space where your teams are highly engaged.
