The good news? Employee engagement is on the rise. The bad news? In spite of a modest gain, only 31.5% of American workers are engaged at work according to a Gallup poll. As a manager or leader what does this mean for you? It likely means that only ⅓ of your team wants to come to work on any given day. So how do you know which team members want to be on your team?
1.Mondays and Fridays
Briefly evaluate how many of your employees are calling in sick on Mondays and Fridays. Teams that have employees who would rather be at home are usually dotted with people who are in fact staying home at the beginning of the week, or the end of the week. If they’re using their vacation time, that’s another story. Vacationing employees are likely spending their time doing something they enjoy, and returning to work happy, relaxed and ready to do their best work. Stacking up sick days or finding reasons to come into work late or leave early regularly can indicate a team member’s desire to be anywhere but in the office.
2.Volunteers
When your team is working on a new company initiative, or it’s clear that the process you’ve been using for the last decade is broken, does anyone on your team jump at the chance to get involved? Or do you have to nominate someone to work with you to get it done? If your team members are openly and actively asking for projects that are outside of their “job description” or would raise their profile within your organization, you have nothing to worry about. However, if you ask for assistance and your request is met with blank stares and an undeniable feeling of “don’t pick me,” your team could likely use some help in the engagement department.
3.No Blame Game
Most of the time your team comes to work, completes their tasks effectively and leaves without incident. On occasion, the wheels come off the bus, something goes wrong, and the situation requires further investigation to determine where the problem started. The investigation isn’t intended for calling out the person who made the mistake, rather determining how the problem started and working toward a solution to prevent it from reoccurring. If your team is willing to talk openly and honestly about the issue, and the stakeholder responsible owns up to their participation, your team does not play the blame game. However, if you can’t seem to get a straight answer out of anyone, and the only thing you understand after several conversations is who is not responsible, your team might be seasoned blame game professionals. The bigger picture issue goes beyond engagement in this situation. There could be a culture issue lurking that’s driven by fear of taking responsibility for a mistake. One way to diagnose this is to ask a tough question, “Are you afraid if you tell me that you had a part in this that you could be fired?” It’s a direct approach, but it should tell you if fear is driving their behavior versus just being complacent in their work.
4.Referrals
Let’s say you have an open position on your team or in another area of the company. Are your employees referring their friends and family to apply for the position? Are they inquiring about the company’s referral program and looking to get the word out to their network about the job? If your employees are acting like brand ambassadors for your team and the company by trying to recruit their personal contacts to join your team, they likely enjoy their jobs enough to recommend it to people they care about. If your team doesn’t seem interested in getting a referral bonus or talking about their work to anyone in their lives, it’s likely a subtle signal that they’re not your biggest champions. -This isn’t always the case, however. There are certain people who can love their jobs and companies, but aim to keep their professional and personal lives separate.
5.Development
You probably don’t know how each member of your team is spending every minute away from the office, and that’s okay. However, you likely know which members of your team are pursuing an advanced degree, taking classes for personal or professional development, or are volunteering in your community. Team members that are actively taking steps outside of work to learn something new, continue their learning on a self-directed level or finding a way to benefit the community should be supported in their endeavors. Make sure you’re not a manager that frowns upon needing to leave work right at 5pm so they can make it to one of these activities. -This does not indicate an attitude of wanting to come up with an excuse to not be at work. Rather, it should demonstrate their drive to gain knowledge and experiences that will ultimately add to their success at work.
You don’t need an anonymous survey to determine if your employees are engaged. Take a look at these five behaviors to identify the level of engagement on your team. It would practically be a miracle if 100 percent of your team is actually engaged, but if you’re feeling like your team is hovering around that 31.5% statistic, you might have some work to do to re-engage your employees, and you’re not alone. Next month we’ll give you strategies to remind your team of why they want to work for you.