The Power of Participation and Employee Engagement in the Workplace
There’s never a more important time to have employee engagement as a top priority than during a culture transformation. On average, about 50% of employees aren’t sure about what they are supposed to do at work every day. When an employee’s manager helps them set clear performance goals, engagement increases to upward of 70%. When there are too many barriers for employees to feel engaged and fully supportive of the cause, the culture fails.
Roadblocks are not unique to any one type of company, but rather, they tend to pop up in every organization regardless of the size or industry. These barriers include lack of structures, broken systems, naysayers, and missed opportunities for training. Each is equally important to resolve in order to achieve full engagement in the workplace.
Leaving attention to the culture as the last priority will always have a mission fail before it begins. That’s because leaders must be aligned with the vision and dedicated to carrying it out with trust, confidence, good communication, and enthusiasm. Simply put: a company can’t be sustainable unless it has a strong culture.
Start with a Solid Structure and Update Systems
Structure is vital. If old structures do not line up with the current vision, amend them or rebuild them altogether to ensure a successful implementation of changes across the company. Without structure, there is chaos. When there’s chaos, there can’t possibly a common vision guiding everyone to the same goal.
Just like structure, systems also need to be addressed when there’s a culture change. You may hear, “that’s how it’s always be done,” by leaders in your company who are used to certain systems. While not all built-in systems need a makeover, there are many that may need to be sunset in order to carry out the new goals ahead.
Decide which systems work best for your company for where you want it to grow now rather than where you wanted it to be a few years ago.
Say Goodbye to Naysayers
Having naysayers are one of the most difficult barriers to overcome because it doesn’t involve processes or procedures. It involves people. Naysayers, unfortunately, usually come in the form of leaders who don’t feel like their participation levels are necessary due to their “rank” within the company. If this type of behavior is not corrected immediately, it will negatively affect other team members and sabotage any chances your company has at success.
Invest in Training
Finally, training is a roadblock that many organizations fail to see. There’s training available and something new to learn for any role. It’s wrong to assume that employees have all they need to get the job done. Ongoing training and investment in employees is crucial for engagement. Think about it; if you don’t invest in your employees, how do you expect them to invest in their jobs?
To improve employee engagement, think about what the individual needs in order to perform the role well. Is the person clear on what’s expected of them and do they have the tools in order to succeed? Do they have the support of strong leadership or are they held back by bad habits? Once you focus on improving engagement in the workplace, you’ll see the true power of a team that fully participates.
You may also be interested in: Top 5 Ways To Increase Employee Engagement
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