Employee engagement Is worth your time
For years, people leaders have known they NEED to focus on building a culture of engagement, but often, because of competing priorities in the workplace, the activities required to cultivate impactful engagement gets pushed to the back burner.
I get it! When you have to-do’s that have deadlines like scheduling, payroll, supply maintenance, hiring, onboarding, off boarding, customer needs, etc., it may feel impossible to find time to create meaningful moments with your team, but did you know if you do the work on the front end to build engagement, it will absolutely impact the level of discretionary effort you team puts in and it will impact you, so I want to challenge you to change your thinking.
Consider what it would mean for your own wellbeing and work/life balance if you could do both
Recently, I was chatting with a colleague who is reaping the benefits of doing just that. This individual supervises a group of high school and college aged employees. Several days ago, on the July 4th holiday, one of his team members sent a text in their group thread saying he was sick and wouldn’t be able to work his shift that evening. My colleague replied asking if anyone was available to cover the shift. Almost immediately an employee volunteered to come in earlier than scheduled to cover.
My colleague also replied and said he’d come in at closing time to help since it’s normally a two person job to close for the evening. But guess what happened? His team of Gen Z employees quickly chimed in and collaborated amongst themselves to keep their supervisor from having to come to work that evening.
The fact that a group of young people solved the problem on their own is one thing, but even greater than that is they stepped up to protect their boss’s time which speaks volumes to the culture my colleague has created with his team.
I asked what he does to inspire this team of young employees and he said ‘Nothing major, I just show up for them how I want them to show up for us. I help when they need help, I ask for their input on decisions then I listen, and I talk to them frequently and get to know them…what they do outside of work, what they enjoy, and so on to show them I care about them.’
The simple act of showing up for your team inspires them to show up for you
What do you need to do differently on the front end to have a positive impact on your ability to retain a talented team who will show up for you? If you’re not sure how to start, Ignite Leadership & Talent Consulting can help.
