Leaders understand and know that engaged employees are valuable and key to return on investment. They also understand the key elements and characteristics of an engaged employee:

• • Engaged employees are authentic and have a true sense of purpose, choice, and autonomy.
  • Engaged employees are continuous learners and good communicators.
  • Engaged employees build strong relationships with key stakeholders, internally and externally.
  • Engaged employees are reliable and accountable.
  • Engaged employees are loyal and highly connected to the organizational culture and its values.
  • Engaged employees have a strong sense of organizational pride and spirit.
  • Engaged employees are productive and lead by example.
  • Engaged employees are resourceful and seek to ensure value.
  • Engaged employees are energetic and enjoy their time at work.
  • Engaged employees are courageous and confident to do what is right for the progress of the organization and their teams.
  • Engaged employees seek to provide professional excellence and maximize business success.

Leaders also understand the pitfalls and costs associated with unengaged an disengaged employees:

• • Unengaged and disengaged employees are careless.
  • Unengaged and disengaged employees do not care.
  • Unengaged and disengaged employees lack pride and loyalty.
  • Unengaged and disengaged employees are critical and negative.
  • Unengaged and disengaged employees are absent.
  • Unengaged and disengaged employees are often sick or have low energy levels.
  • Unengaged and disengaged employees are often found using social media throughout the workday.
  • Unengaged and disengaged employees object to organizational culture, values, and policies.
  • Unengaged and disengaged employees cost a company on average a third of an employee’s annual salary(registration required).

What leaders often struggle with is realizing and finding ways to nurture employee engagement in their organizations. Research studies tell us, over and over, that leaders often know there needs to be a strategic change in their culture, yet few are willing to commit to making it happen. Those leaders who stand above the rest and are focused on realizing positive returns and organization success by maximizing excellence do these things:

• • Commit to creating transparent, positive, and lasting change in the culture of the organization.
  • Model employee engagement behavior.
  • Involve employees to help develop an action plan and support the process of change.
  • Take every opportunity to align and clearly communicate the organization’s vision, mission and values that support the expected employee behaviors.
  • Develop transparency and flexible communication programs to support the flow and sharing of information.
  • Define and repeatedly share the organization’s engagement language.
  • Invest in and support employee assessment and development at all levels: executive, leadership, emerging leadership, professional, team and organization.
  • Measure, hold accountable and coach disengaged employees.
  • Ensure employee engagement is threaded through the recruitment, hiring, coaching and development of the organization’s initiatives so there is a better job fit, beyond skills and experience. Hire the right people to begin with.
  • Empower employees to go beyond productivity expectations with continuous learning and best practice shares. Eradicate the micromanagement with coaching.
  • Create a culture of joy. When we do things we like, we have a natural tendency to do it repeatedly. Often, the outcome is we get better at it and find ourselves thriving because of it, affording moments of joy, which leads to contentment.
  • Catch employees doing something right and honor it at that moment.

Employee engagement is at the root of an organization’s vision and mission, embedded into its values and lived out in the actions of its leader and employees. Organizations that prioritize effectiveness maximize their bottomline profit results while improving relationships both internally and externally.

These practical steps are teachable moments for leaders who want to coach, honor, and celebrate their employees and catch them doing something great. They truly do help change the culture in organizations when applied. My partner and I see positive outcomes with our clients when they apply these practical steps.

 It does require cognitive leaders who are courageous, humble, and disciplined to do what is right. The impact is positive and leads to continuous value creation when leaders make it a priority and commit to what it takes to develop high levels of employee engagement in their organizations.

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