A surprising 70% of employees report that they are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” in their workplace, according to the latest research from Gallup’s “State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders”. Lack of employee engagement detrimentally impacts workplace performance and costs employers an estimated $450 billion to $550 billion annually, reports Gallup. Disengaged employees are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays, and drive customers away.

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A surprising 70% of employees report that they are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” in their workplace, according to the latest
research from Gallup’s “State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders”. Lack of
employee engagement detrimentally impacts workplace performance and costs employers an estimated $450 billion to $550 billion
annually, reports Gallup. Disengaged employees are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers,
miss workdays, and drive customers away.
As General Manager for Information Technology recruitment, I can attest that the old adage “employees join great companies but quit
bad bosses” continues to ring true. Talented employees are extremely scarce in competitive industries; if your company fails to value
these individuals and creates a culture of frustration, rather than engagement, then you’re likely to lose this employee.
If workplace performance is struggling, a shift in employee engagement can help boost growth through innovative ideas, increased
customer acquisition and entrepreneurial energy. Consider these key leadership attributes and traits that drive employee engagement:
Engage through open communication. Foster a culture of open communication. Over time, the inability to express minor
frustrations can lead to employee resentment and disengagement. Nip these problems in the bud with an open door policy.
Employees feel valued when you listen and respect their opinions, even if you ultimately make different decisions.
Provide targeted feedback. Don’t wait until the end of the year for a performance review; provide specific feedback for each project.
Employees are more engaged when they feel their performance matters for each project and they are given specific ways to improve
their work. Talented employees deserve and need to be recognized; if you don’t have a culture where you engaged employees and
allow them to participate in the process, your employees are likely to feel like they are being “used” rather than valuable team
members.
Reinforce and reward the right soft skills. Although we traditionally place significant emphasis on educational attainment and
professional skills, soft skills – such as collaborative problem solving, flexibility/adaptability, and the ability to learn from criticism – are
just as important for employee engagement. Reinforce the importance of these soft skills through promotion. Select managers with the
right talents for empowering, supporting and engaging their staff.
Increase opportunities for telecommuting. Employees who work remotely are more engaged and ultimately log more hours at work
each week, according to Gallup. In fact, Gallup found that allowing employees to work remotely has a bigger impact on engagement
than other workplace perks like increased vacation time or flextime.
Ultimately, winning customers and larger marketplace share starts by winning the hearts and minds of employees through better
employee engagement.
If you are a supervisor, how do you keep your employees engaged? I welcome your thoughts on key leadership attributes for
employee engagement below.
Leadership Attributes that Drive Employee Engagement
by
Jim Thompson
General Manager – Information Technology