Engaging Leaders to Engage Your Workforce

Employee engagement is a team sport. While Human Resources (HR) departments are often tasked with designing programmes that elevate motivation and in effect, set up the plays for others to execute, their efforts will stall before they reach the goal if they cannot align with their colleagues. 

One position that proves to be especially important in scoring higher engagement rates is senior leadership. Organisations with strong employee commitment are three times more likely than those lagging behind to have senior leaders who prioritise engagement. These businesses are also 2.8 times more likely to continuously improve and maintain a positive workplace climate. 

When C-suite executives play their position by driving culture forward and modeling desired behaviours, the whole company is better positioned to win. 

Connect Culture to the Big Picture 

Senior leaders need to recognise their responsibility for engagement and not merely delegate these initiatives to HR. Here are three steps senior leadership and HR can start collaborating on:  

#1 – Align Culture & Strategy 

While C-suite executives are often committed to strategic planning, they may not realise the part that culture plays in their success. Remind senior leaders that creating a positive environment where staff are motivated and inspired is not just about feeling good. It’s about building the systems that drive their organisation toward its targeted outcomes and improved performance. Providing data about the impact of an engaging culture on annual returns and the bottom line can help executives take an active interest in both aspects of business. 

#2 – Solicit Input 

Spend time speaking to the collective executive team as well as each individual member about the company’s current and desired state for employee engagement. In these discussions, adopt a first-third Expressive approach so you can hear your executives’ perceptions as well as understand what they see as areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. Then, collate and share this information so HR and the C-suite can discuss priorities. 

#3 – Select Metrics Together 

Expand on the observations in step two by providing existing data on your staff engagement levels and sentiments about the employee experience. If needed, take time to get feedback through pulse surveys so you can identify a baseline. Then, collaborate with leadership to determine your top goals for your culture initiatives as well as your engagement targets. Remember: What doesn’t get measured rarely gets managed, so be sure to integrate the objectives into the business’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and performance appraisals.  

Build the Foundation for Understanding 

After aligning on the value of culture and how it will be measured, it’s essential that staff across the organisation recognise the actions and behaviours that will lead to the anticipated outcomes. To start: 

#1 – Co-create Core Elements 

Work with senior leaders by providing opportunities through workshops, programmes or conversations to bring meaning to the company’s core values and the desired state for your environment. Developing a shared vision for what the workplace will look like, feel like and sound like is vital to ensure the C-suite (and employees) can walk the talk. 

#2 – Socialise The Definitions 

With clarity around your values and ethos, the next step involves sharing these descriptions with the rest of the organisation. Using a holistic approach (we call this the WEapproach), be sure to address: 

• Why culture and values are vital to the entity’s success 
• How the definitions came to be 
• Who participated in the co-creation 
• What possibilities this alignment will inspire 

Be mindful to also provide opportunities to solicit feedback from staff and address outstanding questions. 

#3 – Craft Team Norms 

Use a ground-up and top-down approach to identify the guidelines that staff will adopt to bring the desired ethos to life. By defining the norms that govern what the values look like in action, personnel will have a strong understanding of what it means to be part of the organisation and be active participants in transforming behaviours to the preferred state.  

Elevate Mindsets 

In addition to modeling the norms and values, leaders can drive engagement by ensuring employees feel supported and capable of doing their best work. To help them cultivate this atmosphere, empower executives with common mantras that can be easily recalled to align their behaviours. Three of my favourites include: 

#1 – I assume positive intent. 

Assuming positive intent is about believing that a person means well and is trying their best. Adopting this mindset allows individuals to check biases as well as respond rather than react to challenges when they arise. Positive intent helps employees realise that they can share their authentic thoughts without judgement, which contributes to a more productive culture. 

#2 – I will listen to understand, not to respond. 

This mantra will create space for staff members to share and promote their opinions. Having a strong sense of psychological safety is imperative in an engaging environment. Additionally, leaders who embrace this practice will find that their staff have greater autonomy, as they can offer their own expertise and recommendations rather than wait for their manager’s directives, which in turn supports engagement. 

#3 – My preference may not be your preference. 

Our research at Emergenetics International indicates that at least 85% of the world will think differently from you, so it’s important that senior executives appreciate that their way of doing things is not the only way to successfully accomplish a task. By being open to other perspectives and approaches, leaders will foster an inclusive atmosphere where the best ideas win, and staff are encouraged to work in the way that serves them best.  

As the captains of your team, C-suite executives have a responsibility to support the KPIs and goals of your entire organisation. By co-creating a people strategy in partnerships with leaders, HR will deliver win-win-win experiences for their business where staff are motivated, objectives are achieved and companies thrive.  

How can Emergenetics help you strengthen employee engagement? Fill out the form below to learn how our Thinking and Behavioural insights can positively transform your culture! 

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