Before I dive into employee engagement and its importance, let’s get grounded on what this term means. I love Gallup’s definition of employee engagement,
“The involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace.”1
The reason I have an employee engagement and leadership practice is that I have found that many organizations and people within those organizations don’t concentrate on this when it’s such an imperative part to being successful in the long-term. Gallup says,
“Engagement remains an essential requirement for producing high-quality work. The organizations that learn to develop a culture of engagement and high performance have a competitive edge, positioning them for success regardless of the changes they encounter.”
Gallup has found positive business outcomes associated with increases in employee engagement; outcomes such as increases in profitability and customer loyalty and decreases in absenteeism, safety incidents, and turnover, among others.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are organizations who care about their employees and have a culture of strong employee engagement. But with anything, no one / no organization is perfect (that concept doesn’t exist) and you must be intentional to meet your employee’s needs. Let’s dive into the 5 needs and 12 statements every organization should consider.
Every employee wants to feel heard, understood, connected, appreciated, and fulfilled in their workplace.
Heard and Understood –
FYI - I tend to put these two needs together.
Question for you - what do these needs mean to you?
For me, this means:
Someone listens and understands
People ask questions to make sure they get it
Someone knows where I stand on things
My opinion counts
If you took 1 step to meet an employee’s need to be heard and understood, I strongly encourage you to exercise the emotional intelligence (EQ) leadership skill of empathy.
Empathy is about understanding, recognizing/appreciating, and articulating in your own words that person’s thoughts/feelings/beliefs/opinions/etc.
It’s about listening to understand vs. listening to reply.
For more tips, see my previous publications that dive into empathy.
Connected –
Question for you - what does this need mean to you?
For me, this means:
I feel connected to the bigger picture / the team / the organization
I have a connection to mission, vision, values, and purpose
I am connected to larger world / community
I know how my goals fit in with the team and organization
I know my expectations
I feel part of something
I understand the business / how it works (business acumen)
I have relationships with others, even friends / best friends at work
If you took 1 step to meet an employee’s need to be connected, I strongly encourage you to make sure they understand how they fit in to the bigger picture.
Employees want to know that the work they do matters.
Appreciated –
Question for you - what does this need mean to you?
For me, this means:
I am consistently being thanked / recognized
I received feedback – in moment and continuous (both positive and developmental)
I feel valued
I’m given the right tools to do my job – my needs are appreciated
My progress is communicated to me
If you took 1 step to meet an employee’s need to be appreciated, I strongly encourage you to give them a piece of STAR feedback.
Feedback that is direct, specific, timely, and genuine makes employees feel like they are appreciated and you care.
They aren’t just receiving a generic “Thank you” or “Good job.”
And by the way, STAR stands for ST-Situation/Task, A-Action, R-Result – want more information, reach out as I have coaching and training for this!
Fulfilled –
Question for you - what does this need mean to you?
For me, this means:
I get to focus on what motivates me
I focus on what makes me happy
I get to focus on my strengths – do what I do best everyday
I have opportunities to learn and grow
Career development is encouraged
I have work life integration (my definition; every human is different)
I have lower stress and higher well-being/happiness and optimism
I have multiple stress tolerance techniques
If you took 1 step to meet an employee’s need to be fulfilled, I strongly encourage you to ask them what drives them/makes them happy.
When you know this, you are better able to support them in their journey by matching roles and responsibilities, projects, and developmental opportunities to their strengths and motivations.
Now that we’ve discussed the 5 employee needs, you may ask yourself if there’s a holistic way to understand all employee needs across a department or organization. This brings me to a Gallup offering called the Q12© survey which assesses employee engagement. You want your employees to strongly agree with the following 12 statements:
Q01. I know what is expected of me at work.
Q02. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
Q03. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
Q04. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
Q05. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
Q06. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
Q07. At work, my opinions seem to count.
Q08. The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important.
Q09. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
Q10. I have a best friend at work.
Q11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
Q12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
I wrote a previous publication exploring these statements, check it out here: https://www.badeauconsulting.com/post/pulse-point-let-s-get-back-to-basics-what-do-employees-need
Building a culture of employee engagement where employee needs are all met is not an overnight process. The important part is to get started one baby step at a time. To assess where you and your organization are in your employee engagement culture journey, download my “Culture Pulse: Employee Engagement Questionnaire” here: https://www.badeauconsulting.com/culturepulseeequestionnaire
Need someone to dig into employee engagement and leadership work with you? Reach out for coaching, training, or consulting here: https://www.badeauconsulting.com/
I look forward to providing monthly pulse points to help you stay up to date with how the workplace culture scene is evolving.
About Jaclyn T. Badeau, CPA, CGMA, MBA, EQ Certified
Jaclyn Badeau is the Founder and President of Badeau Consulting. She specializes in employee engagement initiatives that help companies inspire confidence back into their team for innovation and growth. Jaclyn’s background in cultivating high performing teams, delivering coaching and mentoring, serving as a global business risk advisor, and facilitating internal and external leadership training to a global workforce gives her the unique perspective of what employees need and what works. She is also a multi award recipient and passionate about sharing her expertise and knowledge in volunteer advisory and leadership positions roles for many associations and not-for-profits.
About Pulse Point
Pulse Point is a monthly blog to stay up to date with how the workplace culture scene is evolving.
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