If you didn’t get a chance to attend our program meeting in May, employee engagement is the emotional connection people have with their work and their company.  It’s the energy, drive, pride, significance and connection they get from where they work, who they work with and what they do.  And while we could discuss this topic, what it means and how to maximize employee engagement for days (like Zappos does for $6,000 for a three day seminar!), it all boils down to three things.

1. Hire the Right People. This means not only knowing the result needed in each role in your company, but the intangibles as well.  The “soft skills” make the biggest difference and high performance teams know how to both get the results and keep the teamwork alive.  Conversely, when someone is clearly not a fit, not interested in adapting to their role and only concerned with their own outcomes, that person that is a team destroyer.  Like the old adage “Hire slow, fire fast” because it’s the person you don’t fire that has the biggest impact on your culture.

1. Place True Managers in Leadership Roles. Not everyone can be a great manager.  Most people can’t even be a good manager.  Great managers inspire and grow their teams, create environments of trust and accountability as well as let their teams have fun!  The idea that we can promote the person with the best technical skills into a management role is goofy, when management requires an entirely different skill set!

1. Be Clear and Honest. There is nothing more demoralizing than not knowing what to do.  By setting clear outcomes and expectations, we take a huge amount of stress and uncertainty off of our staff.  At the same time, we can’t expect that our communication is always perfect, so there has to be frequent feedback to allow for correction and readjustments.  As opposed to monthly metrics or results, weekly might be a better fit, especially for new employees or those still learning new skills and responsibilities.  These small corrections could have a huge impact in decreasing miscommunications, frustrations and wasted effort.

There is no “secret sauce” to employee engagement.  It is finding the right people, putting them in the right positions and treating people the way THEY want to be treated.  A little bit of attention in these areas can reap huge rewards down the line.  Just think, without employee engagement, we would live in a world without Frappuccino’s!

For more information on employee engagement, recruiting techniques or how to get the best out of your people, contact Dixie Agostino at Dixie@switchgearrecruiting.com