Engagement From the Bottom Up

At this point, you’ve had the opportunity to process the scores for your team from the Employee Engagement Survey. You’ve probably shared that information with your team, or are doing so very soon. So what happens next?
 
An article in Forbes addressed this issue. They suggested that too many organizations try to create solutions from the top of the organization, which all are expected to follow. The author, Kevin Kruse, suggests this is the wrong direction. Here’s his thoughts:
 
“…the problem with this brainstorm-at-the-top approach is that over 70% of the variance in engagement correlates to the manager (source: Gallup Business Journal, April 8, 2015). In other words, who your boss is counts more than anything. Front line leaders are the regulators of engagement.”
 
Kruse goes on to talk about sharing the information with the team:
 
“…have managers share their results with their own teams. This is not an HR meeting, nothing fancy or formal. Grab a pizza, get in a conference room and do it over a long lunch.
 
“The manager is the facilitator in this meeting, not the problem solver.
 
“She should ask, ‘What areas did we do well in? What should we focus on for improvement?’ Managers shouldn’t try to improve every domain they are scored on; when everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. Instead, pick just one or two areas to target for improvement in each six month time period.
“Managers need to elicit ideas. For example, ‘OK we’re going to target communication over the next two quarters since that’s our lowest score. What can we do better to improve communication?’
 
“Because the front line workers are the ones who completed the survey, they are the only ones who can tell you what needs to change. The answers can’t come from above.
 
“After team members seem to have contributed all the ideas they can, the manager-facilitator should ask the Magic Engagement Question: ‘What would have to happen in order for you to score this topic a 5 (or Strongly Agree) the next time we are given this survey?’
 
“That final question will likely cut to the real issue that is on everyone’s mind and enable them to offer their most targeted solutions.”
 
In Called to Lead, Section 3, we find this statement about asking the team for their input: “Asking empowers – When you ask for people’s opinions and take them seriously, you send a powerful message: “You have great ideas. I believe in you. You can do this.” That’s a recipe for employee engagement.
 
 
 
 

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