In our last blog [1], we explored how employee engagement could be built through focused efforts to engage unique employee thinking and work styles [2]. But the way employees act and interact is a huge factor in employee engagement as well. Demonstrated behaviors can make or break corporate culture and boost or sap employee engagement.
Employees’ expressiveness, assertiveness, and flexibility can combine to create a workflow that heightens development and engagement—but only if management can tap into the full spectrum of behavioral tendencies, bringing all employees’ ideas and actions to the table. It is important to realize that employees can fall on a full spectrum of Expressiveness. Expressiveness provides team members with the ability to communicate with others at all levels of the organization. Recognizing that gregarious, external processors thrive in conversation and verbal interaction can facilitate a strong engagement factor for these employees.
Those on the more quiet end of the communicative scale of Expressiveness should be approached in ways that make them feel comfortable, like 1-on-1 conversations and written interactions.
More or less verbal engagement does not mean greater or less competency in work. It only means that different channels will be approached in communication. Fostering a peaceful environment ensures that people can take their ideas and drive them forward at an agreeable pace. Employee Assertiveness is on a spectrum as well, and again, the most crucial factor is recognizing where employees lie in their desire to push ideas forward in a driving manner versus engender a more amiable environment.
- For those on the driving end of the Assertiveness spectrum, debate is crucial. Allow these individuals to be decisive and push ideas. This will further greater collaboration and push the agenda of employee engagement into drive.
- For those on the peacekeeping end of Assertiveness, playing the role of the voice of reason comes naturally. Train these individuals on how to enter debates and reward their nature for compromise.
Flexibility can be viewed with a spontaneous end and a focused end, with the degree for openness to change as a key differentiating factor.
- For those on the spontaneous end of the Flexibility spectrum, providing support for new, shifting, innovative projects and ideas is a productivity booster. This productivity can be used to channel teamwork and engagement, and create ways for organizational pivots to happen.
- Employees who prefer definition and solidity represent the focused end of the Flexibility scale. These members are comfortable following a clear plan. They don’t necessarily push for change; however, this does not mean they’re closed to new ideas and directions—ensure their input is heard because their perspectives are critical, especially when new directives are being floated.
Every company approaches their relationship with employees and the workplace differently. By listening to employee feedback, accommodating their thinking and behavioral preferences, and implementing changes accordingly, organizations can drive employee engagement in a more personalized and productive manner.