When considering how to move a team to take action on the most important elements of your business, there isn’t a better place to start than looking deeply at their engagement levels. Engagement is a clear indicator of how connected, or committed, they are to your organizational purpose, their training experience, the expectations being set for them, and the culture of action. As we’ve discussed in almost all of our blogs and podcasts, the first thing we need to do as leaders is look in the mirror.
As with most things regarding execution in a team, the leader is the key to performing at the high levels we expect, and engagement is no exception. The team’s understanding of their responsibilities, their talent levels, and their belief in expectations and purpose falls squarely on the shoulders of the people leading them, and are key elements to establishing engagement. There is great power in knowing this. We can take that information to prepare our efforts, or adjust our behaviors accordingly if we are not seeing the engagement we feel is necessary to produce the results we seek.
Gapology gives us a clear formula to tackle all of this in a strategic manner. Let’s use the Performance Gaps and their Root Solutions as our guide to looking at the things we need to do.
Close the Knowledge Gap
Have we measured how engaged is the team now? Do we have measurement processes to determine and leverage this? Have we determined the necessary engagement level that is needed to be successful?
Training Root Solution:
Have we provided the necessary skills and knowledge to excel and engage in their roles?
Teaching Root Solution:
What ongoing mentorship and coaching programs are in place to grow their skills and build engagement?
Talent Root Solution:
Do we have the right people in the right positions on the team to influence each other to perform and remain engaged in their roles?
Close the Importance Gap
Have we connected the team to the organizational or departmental purpose? Have we ensured that we have clearly explained and demonstrated its importance? Have we communicated that their individual role is critical to achieving the purpose?
Expectations Root Solution:
Have we set clear behavioral and result expectations for each role?
Communication Root Solution:
Do we have a regular leadership rhythm for providing direction, support, and recognition to the team?
Prioritization Root Solution:
Have we established a process for prioritizing efforts? Have we made it clear what the order of activities needs to be?
Close the Action Gap
Have we created a culture of commitment around engagement? Is it celebrated or course-corrected when necessary?
Accountability Root Solution:
Have we established a regular process for analyzing results? Have we built a well-known recognition method into our analysis?
Commitment Root Solution:
Have we looked at signs of commitment, or any lack of it, within the team? Do we do this at the project level?
Culture Root Solution:
Have we established a culture of action and engagement? Is engagement recognized? Do all team members celebrate the engagement of their fellow team members?
In today’s fast-paced, remote workforce world, employee engagement is more important, and harder to determine, than ever. It will take a considerable amount of focus and dedication on the part of each leader to analyze the levels and put the necessary plans in place to achieve the levels we want. With that will come the need to be open to the reality of our own performance, as we will most certainly discover that their engagement levels are primarily determined by our own.
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