Teamwork & Leadership = Engagement

Andy McComments off.

New research by ADP, a leading provider of human resources software and services, suggests that without effective Leadership engagement is destined to suffer.  According to ADP, only about 16 percent of all employees say they are “fully engaged” in the workplace.

Which raises an obvious question: What about the other 84 percent?

 

How Teamwork and Leadership Promote Engagement

A cursory glance at some of ADP’s supplementary findings and it becomes clear why some employees are engaged, and why so many really aren’t.

• For starters, the ADP research shows that those employees who view themselves as part of a team are far more likely to be fully engaged. Actually, it’s not even close. Employees who identify as members of a team are 2.3 times more likely to say they’re engaged.
• Another big factor? Having a leader who inspires trust. The employees who say they trust their leader are 12 times more likely to say they are engaged!

It may also be worth noting that ADP found some pretty big fluctuations in engagement from one country to the next, but the U.S. is pretty close to average (about 17 percent of American employees say they are fully engaged).

 

 

Leadership is a Key Driver of Engagement

In some ways, it should be no surprise that team leadership drives engagements as leaders are in the trenches with their fellow colleagues day-in and day-out, sharing directly in the wins and losses and being held accountable for the results.

Because of this close interaction, leaders generally have the opportunity to connect with employees on a far more personal level than the typical manager does. A good leader knows how to find and fire-up the motivation inside good colleagues.

Good team leaders generally:

• Develop a strategy the team will use to reach its goal
• Provide any training that team members need
• Communicate clear instructions to team members
• Listen to team members’ feedback
• Monitor team members’ participation to ensure the training they are being provided is being put into use, and also to see if any additional training is needed
• Manage the flow of day to day operations
• Create and distribute reports to update colleagues and managers on the progress

Great team leaders take it up a notch by having:

• A clear elevating goal — they have a vision
• Results driven structure — visions have a business goal
• Competent team members — with the right number and mix of diversity and personalities
• Unified commitment — they are a team, not a group
• A collaborative climate — aligned towards a common purpose
• High standards of excellence — they have group norms
• Principled leadership — the central driver of excellence
• External support — they have adequate resources

A lot of time and attention is given to the idea of boosting employee engagement. Sadly, if this research is to be believed, a lot of that effort is in vain. And yet there are some simple ways in which leaders can build engagement, especially when they focus on creating true team environments.

 

 

engagement, leadership, teamwork Posted in: Leadership, Performance