This article looks at the third key element of employee engagement - relationships.
Relationships
Strong relationships are absolutely essential when creating an engaged team. Employees are usually more inclined to work harder and go the extra mile if they have a great relationship with their manager. However, there are a raft of relationships, all of which need to be nurtured, if a team is to be truly engaged.
These include solid relationships with their peers, other departments, and even with the organisation itself. These are outlined below in more detail.
Managers
This is the most important relationship of all - the one between the employee and his manager. Try to build relationships with your team members that extend beyond conversations that are work-related. Take an active interest in their personal lives, ask them on a regular basis about their families, partners, hobbies, etc, and show a genuine care for their welfare. Be visible as much as possible by sitting with the team or by spending time with them.
Whilst direct managers have the greatest influence on an employee's engagement levels, senior and executive managers also have a role to play. If they take the time to converse with front-line team members, get results, ask for and respond to feedback, and communicate regularly with employees, then engagement levels will increase.
Peers
If your employees have colleagues with whom they get along, it's likely they'll enjoy coming to work and their engagement levels will subsequently rise. Think about the team you have now. Do your employees have at least one close friend within the team? This is a good indicator of team cohesion. A network of employees will work more efficiently, positively, and with fewer clashes if there is cohesiveness within the team.
Foster an environment where your employees are able to build such relationships with each other. Consider using team building activities, encourage a significant amount of interaction amongst your employees, and organise events outside of work where your employees can socialise and connect.
Other departments also play a part in your employees' engagement in a similar way. If your employees have built close relationships with other departments, they'll spend less time talking negatively about each other. Organise events where your employees can get to know employees from these areas. For example, organise cross-departmental team meetings, social events, etc.
Another factor that determines how employees develop relationships with their peers is via the quality of their peers' work. For example, if one employee is working hard and producing work of exceptional quality, but the second employee is slacking off and producing below-average work results, the first employee will become less engaged. For this reason, be quick to recognise employees who aren't performing at the required level, and take action to improve their performance.
Organisation
Many managers are surprised to learn that an employee's relationship with the organisation is a significant contributor to how engaged he'll be in the workplace. In fact, the organisation's role is huge with many factors influencing the employee's perception of the organisation. Listed below are the major determinant aspects of an organisation which have an effect on engagement:
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Goals - the vision and direction in which the company is headed; its medium and long-term strategies; and its objectives and how it plans to achieve these.
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Values - their alignment with the employee's values; how well the organisation actually practices its values; and how these values are communicated, displayed, and linked to the industry's code of ethics.
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Culture - the behaviours and beliefs of the organisation needs to match those of the employees'; the collective attitude of an organisation's employees needs to not impact negatively on those that don't conform; and the management team must act as role models and conduct themselves in a manner that's representative of an ideal corporate culture.
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Office politics - whilst this is evident in every organisation, there are ways to minimise it, such as: avoid talking about people in a negative way, give credit where credit's due, help people to achieve their potential, stay focused on the organisation's vision and values, and don't succumb to devious peer pressure.
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Customers - the organisation's emphasis on customer service needs to match those of the employee; employees who deal with customers must feel that the organisation acts on customers' complaints; and when an organisation has an excellent reputation among customers, employees tend to feel pride working for the organisation, and so they subsequently become engaged.
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Processes - complex processes and excessive authorisations result in a bureaucratic culture that makes certain tasks too difficult to complete; employee engagement can be enhanced by simplifying processes and procedures; and a continual focus on the improvement of processes and the adoption of new technologies provides employees with the assurance that the organisation is progressive and competitive.
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Safety - employees feel engaged when they see their employer doing everything they can to minimise occupational incidents, such as the following actions: thorough hazard identification processes where potential accidents are eliminated before they occur; regular training provided to employees and managers to minimise accidents by being able to recognise hazards; clear signs warning employees of dangers and providing information on safety practices; regular safety audits conducted by an independent department or organisation; and empathy and consideration to be shown at times when accidents occur.
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Community - employees highly regard working for employers that actively support the community in ways that include: assisting local community groups; social responsibility in terms of human rights and business ethics; involvement in charities; and care for the environment by recycling and minimising harmful waste.
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Work location - The proximity of the workplace to an employee's home, the status associated with the location of the workplace, and the facilities and décor of the workplace are all mitigating factors in how work location affects employee engagement.
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Job security - With employees around the world ranking this as a very high priority, employee engagement is higher when the chances of retrenchment or restructure are low.
Read the article 'The First Key Element Of Employee Engagement - Recruitment'
Read the article 'The Second Key Element Of Employee Engagement - Support'
Read the article 'The Fourth Key Element Of Employee Engagement - Opportunities'
Buy James Adonis’ Audio Seminar CD from the Resource Centre:
Employee Engagement: Solved!