We spend more hours at work than we do anything else. This means anything we do to enhance the experience of work represents a significant increase to quality of life overall. Employee engagement isn't just about the bottom-line; although there's a clear link to business results, it dually influences our overall well-being as well as our potential to perform.
From our work across industries over the past two years, we've found that engaged teams are more than 25 percent productive than those with languishing or below average engagement. With the disciplines of the of industrial-organizational psychology, we apply the science of engagement uniquely to each organization we support to build irresistible and remarkable places to work that both attract and retain top talent.
We live in an age of constantly shifting dynamics between employers and employees . Intense responsibility now falls on leadership to create an "irresistible organization." In such an environment, employees are not just task-completers; they are engaged contributors to a meaningful mission. This means what makes you irresistible isn't off-the-shelf people programs. It's a holistic strategy that enhances the complete employee experience and journey, from hiring to retirement.
Before diving into our actionable strategies, let's clarify what engagement truly means. Psychologists and research define three core factors of employee engagement:
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
These elements are not independent; they interact to create a strong and flourishing state of employee engagement. And now, without further ado, let’s explore how you can foster these crucial elements within your organization with six workable strategies.
Difficult tasks (or those that just aren't our vibe), stressful weeks, and setbacks can stagnate our sense of vigor if they are not tied to a why our greater purpose. At an organization or team level, our CultureMap process articulates where a team is compared to where they want to be in the future. The CultureMap guides leaders through articulating their values and a clear sense of purpose. When this higher purpose is connected to our day-to-day challenges it keeps our cups full and burnout at bay.
An inspiring culture that's strongly connected to operations, however, can only take us so far; especially if our team lacks the skills, values, mindsets, and abilities to consistently execute. That's why our suite of hiring and development tools support team members and leaders in identifying their strengths, areas of interest, and potential for growth. Leveraging data-driven insights, we've guided organizations in making remarkable hiring and promotion decisions, as well as strategically allocating resources for employee development.
Our CultureMap, hiring, and development solutions capitalize on the science of goal-setting. While you've likely heard of goal-setting, the theory and research behind it suggests that people are more likely to be engaged when they have challenging but attainable and realistic goals that connect to their values. Our solutions connect these goals with individual skills and business objectives, driving business results and personal flourishing.
Think about a training or meeting you attended last week. How much of what was reviewed and discussed do you think you remember now? Unfortunately, research around learning and the forgetting curve, suggest likely less than 20 percent. That's not a happy percentage and why we aggressively attack the challenge of behavior change through continuous professional development.
For several organizations we've built a Growth Journey for leaders that combines development assessments with several small group meetings over six months to a year. Our employee development solutions, backed by rigorous scientific research, offer a cycle of skill application, personalized feedback, and progressive challenges.
Photo by Mārtiņš Zemlickis on Unsplash
The concept of deliberate practice comes into play here. According to psychologist K. Anders Ericsson, expertise is achieved through cycles of focused effort and feedback. Our solutions mimic this by providing opportunities for employees to apply their skills, receive real-time feedback, and tackle increasingly complex tasks, thereby keeping them deeply absorbed in their work.
Performance management and active listening strategies communicate and celebrate the positive impact employees have within their team and the broader organization. Active listening strategies, like ongoing feedback surveys, or regularly scheduled engagement surveys, provide opportunities for people to share their perceptions and for leaders and teams to innovate and elevate the employee experience. This increases everyone's feelings of influence and impact. Regular performance feedback, which could be 360-degree feedback, gathering self and supervisor input at regular intervals for discussion, or even an informal weekly-to-twice-a-month connect, is a realistic and actionable way to shine a light on contributions.
According to self-determination theory, people are supercharged with motivation when they feel competent and see the amazing value in their actions. By measuring and sharing the impact of individual efforts, we transform work into a meaningful experience that sparks deep emotional investment in the job.
A one-size-fits-all approach to career development is outdated and ineffective. With our expertise in industrial-organizational psychology and how to drive business results, we start with an understanding of your vision and strategy. Using validated and practical psychometric assessments, we develop scientifically-grounded insights to design tailored career paths that don't just fit into your company's strategic vision but are also aligned with individual capabilities, ambitions, and motivations.
Another solution we frequently engineer, perhaps even before implementing assessments, is a competency model or framework. Competencies are clusters of behaviors, skills, knowledge, values and mindsets that support performance. When developed intentionally, they build a strong framework for how you hire, develop, promote, and lead.
Importantly, defining career paths and competencies are designed with DEIB principles at their core. By providing equitable growth opportunities and recognizing the unique skills and experiences that each individual brings, we take measurable steps to strengthen inclusivity and belonging.
The concept of job crafting suggests that employees who see a future within the organization are more likely to be engaged. With a competency framework in place, employees are given a framework and resources to advance into roles that connect with their strengths and potential.
Increasing employee autonomy isn't just a trend; it's rooted in psychological principles that indicate a direct correlation between autonomy and employee engagement. Backed by theories like Self-Determination Theory, that we shared earlier, autonomy is one of the core human needs that drives motivation.
Our listening tools (whether performance feedback, surveys, focus groups, or the CultureMap) can highlight job groups and teams lacking autonomy. Using data, we can often statistically link reduced autonomy to root causes, and the economic and performance loss to the organization. Debrief and goal-setting meetings provide an opportunity to set goals and implement change to increase employee involvement in decision-making, project ownership, and active involvement in work processes.
The benefits of autonomy environment are rooted in Self-Determination Theory, which posits that autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fundamental needs that drive intrinsic motivation and engagement. We can achieve even greater results by connecting autonomy to our sense of connection to others and competence.
Trust is at the center of a thriving organizational culture. Every strategy we've covered here highlights opportunities for building trust as well as how to strengthen it even further. Not surprisingly, lack of trust can quickly derail any engagement, culture, and performance effort.
Earning trust is front of mind for us in all we do. As we support organizations with our solutions, we establish a communications plan to communicate to all stakeholders what to expect from the process and how their opinions, data, and input will be shared.
What drives trust? It's one of those things we can't define but know when it's missing. According to the Trust Equation formulated by organizational theorists, credibility, reliability, and intimacy are factors that build trust. We also seek to understand if employees feel trusted to perform, if they can trust others, and if they trust leadership. These three components as well as the Trust Equation give us objectivity around something that's often based on gut and intuition.
People are the heart and soul of any organization. Our reason for being is creating an environment where engagement, employee well-being, DEIB, and high performance coexist harmoniously.
Our team is dedicated to partnering with you in transforming your workplace into an arena where employees feel valued, motivated, and empowered. We know that true success lies in creating a culture that not only engages employees but also retains their talent and maximizes their potential in ways that drive your unique vision.