Simply Engaging

 Engaging employees is one of the many challenges for today’s managers. This has always been true but never more so than in 2021.

Here are a couple of suggestions for you to try to increase employee engagement:

• Solving all the issues facing your team at any one time can be exhausting for any manager. Ask your employees for suggestions to improve productivity or resolve a particularly tricky issue with a customer or client. Take time at each staff meeting or in one-on-one meetings with your employees to ask for their ideas. Simply put—give them a voice.

• Consider asking your employees what processes, reports, or paperwork gets in their way. You may learn that some of what you think is motivating them isn’t and is counterproductive. You certainly don’t want to be a demotivating manager. 

• Refrain from immediately rejecting ideas. Nothing will shut down new ideas quicker than being told “that won’t work” or “we’ve tried that before.” Instead, take the time to consider or even brainstorm these ideas. You might be surprised at the results.

It may take a while for them to be comfortable making suggestions, but give it time. You may solve a problem while finding a new way to energize your staff.

You’ve probably heard that people don’t leave organizations. Rather, they leave managers. Look at the people who manage or supervise others in your organization. 

• Do they listen to their employees? 
• Do they know how to counsel employees who are underperforming? 
• Are they providing coaching to their superstars? 

If the answer is no to any of these questions, the managers and employees may need professional development.

What engagement ideas work for you? We’d love to hear your best engagement ideas so send them on, and we’ll share them in future blogs. In the meantime, you can find additional information about employee engagement in The Big Book of HR which is available on Amazon  https://tinyurl.com/ya5vheak has a chapter devoted to the subject. 

Barbara Mitchell

Don’t Ignore Employee Issues

We’re in unusual times. Work has been disrupted. People are working from home and managers are concerned about productivity. Even though studies show that employees are more productive when they work offsite, current circumstances are highly unusual. There are some many additional distractions – partners, pets and children. Nevertheless, managers can’t overlook performance issues even when times are tough.

Most of us have never worked in this kind of circumstances before, and we may think there isn’t a playbook on what to do. Actually, there is. Follow your organization’s guidance and policies on performance management. But in times of crises, tread lightly. Here are some thoughts,  

• Empathy. Whatever the issue is, this is the time to be empathetic. That’s not to say you let serious issues slide because we’re in a time of crisis, but go a little slower and gentler than usual before you take any management action.

• Communicate. As in any issue, you’ll want to talk to the employee. This is complicated if you and the employee are not physically in the same place, but you can use Zoom or Skype or other platform your organization uses to communicate virtually.

• Get the facts. Ask open ended questions and listen carefully to responses. Your intent is to get the employee’s perspective. The key here is to keep an open mind. You may think you understand the issue or situation, but you may not have all the facts.

• Clarify. Clear up any misunderstandings about your expectations. Clarity on expectations is extremely important to a successful working relationship.

Yes, even during a pandemic, employees behave badly at work—even if they’re working from their own home. Relaxed environments and atmospheres break down boundaries. There have been concerns about on-line harassment and cyberbullying. At the same time, everyone’s stress level is high. Remind employees that your conduct policies still apply even in a drastically changed workplace, and follow your disciplinary processes if you decide action is required.

The Manager’s Answer Book provides a roadmap for coaching and counseling employees.  See page 59 to 61 for actions you can take to help an employee get back on track—even during a pandemic. In this time of crisis, we suggest you grant a bit more grace than usual; but no matter the employee issue, deal with it in a timely and professional manner.