Many organisations demonstrate a clear correlation between good employee engagement and good organisational performance. Employee engagement means different things to different people. We think it’s essentially about a genuine two way relationship and open dialogue between leaders, managers and employees.

How do you engage?

There isn’t a simple answer to this. Engagement can take many forms. But it’s not about a one way monologue. It’s about creating opportunities for a two way dialogue where ideas and feedback are listened to and acted on.

‘Acted on’ in this context may only mean considered. Not all ideas will be good ones or appropriate for the organisation. Where this is the case, time should be taken to explain why.

Engagement is not necessarily about face to face communication, but it is about giving people time to digest, understand, ask questions and input their views. First time round, some may take a message on board, but many will ignore it. Repeat the message in many different ways and through a wide variety of media.

We all learn in different ways and engagement on important issues must resonate with the audience – whether that is through writing, through imagery or through speech.

Can good engagement improve customer service?

No matter what the business is, it has customers or service users. Good internal engagement also leads to good external engagement. Understanding the purpose and priorities of the organisation increases the chances of employees becoming highly effective and enthusiastic advocates for the organisation.

And only not with customers - it can positively impact on others within their sphere of influence.

The role of leaders

Leaders at whatever level have a critical role to play and must buy into the concept of engagement if it is to be successful. Understand what motivates their employees to work and what is important to them. To do this, they need to actively listen to the information employees give them.

What’s important is frequently not about financial reward. It’s more likely to be about having the ability to influence issues that affect their future. Establish what each individual is capable of doing and let them have their wings.

And leaders need a good understanding of, and commitment to, the organisation’s mission, vision and values. They must clearly demonstrate those values and live and breathe them through their leadership role.

How many organisations suffer through leaders agreeing to the party line in public and then undermining the position when the difficult conversation has to be had with their teams!

Why does it matter?

People want to feel respected, involved and listened to. Genuine employee engagement provides the potential to make a tangible and measurable difference to the way the organisation operates. People need to be aware of the context in which the organisation is working and their part in delivery. There must be a shared and collective understanding of what the organisation is doing and where it is going.

People want to be consulted as to how improvements could be made. They want the ability to make decisions and carry out their work in their unique way – what works for one person may not work for everyone.

And finally....

Feedback on the engagement process is vital. You may feel you are engaging your audience, but they may not. Ask them what they think? What else could be done or what could be done differently?

And if you want to do this in a creatively, ask them to draw what it feels like! Then stand back and see what picture emerges.