The four enablers of engagement

Engage for Success have been researching employee engagement since 2008 when the UK Government commissioned a report into the impact of employee engagement on organisations. 

They’ve identified four enablers that organisations need to have in place to achieve high levels of engagement:

Strategic narrative 

Us humans love stories. Since we first gathered in caves, we’ve used stories to communicate, entertain, and learn. While we’ve since swapped caves for hybrid working arrangements, our need for narrative remains.

• When we turn up to work, we want to feel part of something bigger. We want to understand the meaning behind our work – what our organisation’s purpose is, the strategy behind it and its plans for the future. 
• If we understand the vision of where our organisation is heading, we can start to imagine ourselves as part of the story. Instead of work being just a job, it can become a way of achieving the growth and career aspirations we all have. 
• Senior leadership clearly has a huge role to play in setting the strategic narrative. However, that story then needs to be adapted to be relevant to each team and individual – which is where you come in. 

This 10-minute video teaches us the surprising truth about what motivates humans.

Employee voice

It’s not enough for us just to know where our organisation is heading, we want to be able to play a part in helping get there. That means being able to share ideas, expertise, and experience – and to feel our input is valued. This ability to have a say and to be listened to is at the heart of employee voice. 

Digital tools have made it easier than ever for organisations (and people) managers to enable their people to have a voice. When they’re listened to, the benefits can be massive.

Organisational integrity

A strategic narrative and employee voice can only take you so far. If your employees don’t trust the organisation to actually walk the talk, all you’re doing is blowing hot air. This is where organisational integrity comes in. 

You can develop your integrity and build up trust by keeping your promises, leading by example, encouraging open dialogue, and apologising for mistakes. 

Engaging managers

According to Gallup, 70% of the variation in employee engagement is determined solely by the manager. That indicates the hugely important role that managers play in team engagement. 

Get it right, and you’ll be helping yourself to become more driven, more capable, more adaptable, and more resilient. Developing these traits will help your people to thrive in a climate of increasing complexity, challenge, and change. 

That obviously brings a tonne of benefits to your organisation. But there are also huge benefits to you personally and professionally – for instance, teams that are highly engaged perform better, are more adaptable to change, and are more enjoyable to manage. 

This two-minute video explains a bit more about what’s involved.

Want to find out more? 

We partnered with Engage for Success to create a free eLearning course on employee engagement for managers. There’s also a wealth of information available on the Engaging Managers’ Zone.