The Value Of Engagement And Emotional Intelligence

If you want employee engagement, you have to show that you care

One of the most valuable exercises an organization can undertake to ensure that they are delivering on the promises that it's made to its staff is to run an engagement survey.
 
Surveys provide cultural data that indicate how employees ‘feel’ about the organization. It's not enough to simply run the survey, harvest the comments and think that it's proof to staff that the organisation cares. No-one buys that. In the same way that they see right through the muffins, celebrations and personal development programs that happen the week before the engagement survey is run.
 

Achieving a good engagement score (anything above 65/100 is good, 85 and above is great!) relies on individuals caring about their work, their teammates and what the organization is trying to achieve. And in order for employees to feel this, the organization has to do their bit too.
 
It’s just not enough to say that culture is the most important thing, then implement an open plan office or promise to deliver everything in an ‘agile’ way. These quick-fix approaches to culture are the very things that destroy trust and confidence and prove that the organization really doesn’t care at all.

Cultures Require Two Key Ingredients

The prevailing organization culture is determined by two things; the collective emotional intelligence being displayed by its employees and how engaged they feel with what the organization is trying to achieve. Where both are prevalent then a vibrant culture will ensue. However, if engagement is missing, then the organization may have a pleasant culture or worse a stagnant one.
 
Pleasant cultures are too nice. There is lots of good intent, but it's often misplaced. Everyone is pretending that everything is good, but they're not so sure. Group interactions are inefficient and lots of time is spent talking about anything but the important issues to be addressed. There is lots of empathy, but also a sense that everything is hard to do. No-one feels passionately enough about the organization to take meaningful action.
 
Stagnant cultures, however, are bad for everyone. No-one really understands why they're doing what they're doing or else don't believe it can be done. There's no sense of teamwork and interaction is low. Nobody is pushing themselves or their teammates to be better at what they do and there is a noticeable lack of energy and passion. No-one feels passionately enough about the organization to take any action!
 
Lifting engagement requires an agreement on the culture required to get the job done and the commitment to do so. If someone doesn't feel connected to something then they have to be shown that the work they are doing is achievable, of value and that they have the support of the people around them to get there. Otherwise, they have to be managed out of the organization before they drag everyone’s engagement down with them.
 
Often engagement is lost the second that a new person walks through the door. If the manager and team are not there to greet them and make them feel welcome, then the enthusiasm built during the interview process is lost and it can take months to recover.
 
By the same token, if on day one, the team gathers to welcome the new person, share a little bit about themselves, ensure that they have everything they need to do their job and immediately include them in day-to-day activity, then engagement is high. Not only for the new person, but also for those on the team who gain a huge sense of satisfaction for making another human feel welcome.
 
This requires consistent attention to culture definition and evolution and the payback from doing so provides more than high engagement. 

The Value of Engagement and Emotional Intelligence 

When an organization takes deliberate action to build a vibrant culture, this is the first demonstration that they care about their employees. When they’re willing to spend time and money and to challenge some of the accepted cultural norms and out-of-date behaviors, then immediately the engagement will rise.
 
You often see this when a new manager is appointed to an underperforming team. The turnaround is often seen as miraculous, yet all the manager has done is to allow the team to co-create something that they then care enough about to want to see succeed.
 
They build relationships, define the way that they’ll work together and continually influence those that get in the way of good teamwork. And the payback is fantastic, not just in terms of engagement. According to the Gallup State of the American Workforce Report, improved engagement also gives rise to greater productivity, sales, customer satisfaction and ultimately profitability. That’s the true value of vibrant cultures where employees feel engaged. 

Engagement is Good, Now What?

With concerted effort, getting to a vibrant culture can take anything up to 18 months. Once the engagement is high, the challenge then becomes about staying there, because (to paraphrase Marshall Goldsmith) what got you here, won’t keep you there.
 
Organizations need to double down on their commitment to culture and to continually evolving the staff experience. As soon as it ceases to become a priority and activities implemented to show that the organizations care, are lost to busy work or budget cuts, then engagement will decrease.
 
Building a culture where engagement is high is a continual process with no end date. With the right level of investment and care, then everyone is engaged and that’s great for happiness AND the bottom line.

Author Bio 

Colin D Ellis is a Culture Change Expert, an award-winning international speaker and a best-selling author. His latest book ‘Culture Fix: How to Create a Great Place to Work’ (Wiley $21) has seen him travel all over the world to help organizations transform the way they get things done.   Visit www.culturefix.xyz Connect Colin D Ellis Follow @colindellis