Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition - 32

A SOLUTION FOR EVERY ROLE
Employee engagement requires daily practice and it's a
responsibility shared by every role in the organization:
Individuals. Create the right environment for employees to
own their roles in the organization. Help them assess their
goals, skills and priorities. Put together a plan for higher
levels of contribution. Make them accountable for taking
action on areas they can improve.
Managers. Encourage managers to engage others while
engaging themselves. Give them the tools to coach others
and continually align employees to the organization's
priorities. Recognize their efforts and results. Empower them
to engage themselves.
Executives. Part of the role of a leader is to view leadership
through the eyes of the followers. They should reinforce
community, strive for authenticity, inspire excitement and
recognize the contributions of their people.

Clearly these items can be addressed in engagement initiatives,
but your leadership training must equip managers and senior
leaders to commit to making this work. There is no point
encouraging individuals to ACT if they are not being actively
encouraged by those higher up in the company.
Managers
Managers tend to be on the sharp end of the wedge when it
comes to engagement. They are under pressure from senior
management to produce results, burdened with expectations
around engaging their teams and often divided between
managing others and completing their own tasks. When the
annual engagement survey rolls around, the action plans land
on their shoulders and, typically, they have been given little
context and participation is mandatory. But managers need
to address their own personal engagement first. After they do
this, managers need to CARE about the engagement of others,
namely:
* Coach individuals toward maximum contribution and
satisfaction.
* Align and constantly realign individuals to the organization's
strategy, mission and values.
* Recognize attitude, effort and results.
* Engage in dialogue about what's important to both parties,
while at the same time engaging themselves.
Engagement is a case of give and take of contribution and
gaining satisfaction. Once engagement has been achieved,
many factors may cause it to become out of balance, one being
the constant shifting and redirecting of organizational strategy
and direction. As each department or team changes track, it is up
to the manager to ensure employees make course corrections to
stay aligned with the most immediate priorities.
32

It takes more than management to make this equation work, it
takes true leadership. Your leadership development efforts need
to equip managers to CARE about their teams and to take the
lead in communicating priorities and keeping the team aligned.
Executives
Executives are not in the position to coach and align the personal
interests of every employee. Their role is about making the
destination clear, developing and communicating strategies and
creating a culture that values performance while simultaneously
creating an inspired, engaged workforce. Especially during times
of change, executives must set the direction the workforce aligns
to, communicate that direction clearly, set milestones and create
a culture that fuels engagement and business results. At the
same time, they must fulfill the role of manager and individual as
previously described. This is a tall order.
One must look at the priorities of executives in leading a workforce
to higher engagement from the perspective of the leaders'
followers. The focus therefore is not on the intrinsic qualities that
make an effective leader, but instead it is about asking, "What
are the needs of followers that a leader must fulfill?" It is useful
to talk about how you build your CASE (community, authenticity,
significance and excitement). These are the core needs of the
21st century workforce and are essential in delivering results as
well as engagement:
* Community for a sense of belonging and purpose.
* Authenticity as a basis for trust and inspiration.
* Significance to recognize individuals' contributions.
* Excitement to constantly encourage and raise the bar on
high performance.
There are many skills that leadership development efforts can
address, but if they are not helping leaders have a more positive
influence over their followers, what impact can the training have?
Development efforts must be focused on making progress with
real work and designed with a continuous learning approach,
always connecting to the next experience, the needs of the
business and developing perspective and skill on an ongoing
basis to positively impact engagement levels. If you help leaders
make their CASE, they will be more effective at soliciting the right
type of contribution from those they lead, as well as creating a
culture in which each employee is able to thrive.

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IS ENGAGEMENT
Employee engagement is increasingly understood as the fuel
that drives the organization forward. Having a firm handle on
the engagement lever through two-way communication, clear
business goals and a solid set of metrics, you can track all
important steps in building a culture of engagement. Effective
leadership is engagement. Having leaders who can help cascade
the vision and inspire others to exceptional performance is an
equally important part of making engagement flourish in your
team, department and company.
Fraser Marlow is head of the leadership practice at BlessingWhite, a
division of GP Strategies. Email Fraser.
Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Leadership 2015 Special Edition
