So first, let me explain my colourful language.
When I speak on the impact that leaders have on employee engagement, I share my concept of what engagement means. It’s simply how much employees care.
I’ll ask the audience to describe a workplace that has high levels of engagement. The responses include; people are happy, they feel empowered, listened to, work harder etc.
I then ask what does a workplace that has low levels of engagement look like – more often than you will believe, someone will say ‘people there don’t give a sh!t’. Coarse? Yes, but almost every head in the audience nods in agreement.
I am in the process of writing a book called ‘Care Factor 100’ – how to engage your people and improve your culture. It covers the link between engagement levels and organisational outcomes like profitability, productivity, quality, safety and absenteeism, and the evidence is compelling.
The book also provides a simple, practical approach to increasing the ‘Care Factor’ of your employees. In a nutshell,
- make your expectations of your people crystal clear
- give them regular honest feedback on their performance (good and bad)
- share the organisation’s vision, purpose, key result areas and goals, and put all these into action plans that people understand
- give people opportunities to grow and develop
- create an environment where people feel like they belong.
Could your people care more? I’d love to help.
