How To Improve Employee Engagement For Free
The Frustration Of Leading People
As a leader, it can be tough trying to get your people to go all-in towards your goals. You might feel frustrated with disengaged employees that demonstrate below-average effort. Sometimes even creating a negative, toxic work environment with high turnover. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Don’t get me wrong; you probably have one or two all-stars who wake up in a good mood, work hard, and always knock it out of the park. But let’s face it, most people are not all-stars. But what if they could be?
What if I told you there was a way to supercharge your staff, improve employee engagement, and feel great about your team, all without spending any money on incentives or time-consuming programs. Would you want to know about it?
How To Bring Out The Best In Your People and Improve Employee Engagement (for free)
One of the keys to eliminating team dysfunction and start bringing out the best in your people is simply recognizing them and showing appreciation for their efforts. Now before you write me off, thinking this is too easy to work, let me give you a few statistics.
An infographic posted by work.com cited a study showing that:
49% of employees said they would leave their current job for a company that recognized employees for their efforts and contributions. That’s almost half of your employees that you might have to replace just because they are not getting the message that you value their contributions.
69% of employees would work harder if they were better recognized Click To Tweet
And 78% of U.S. workers said being recognized motivates them in their job. Can you imagine having a dial you could turn up that would increase the work ethic of your staff? That’s what it’s like when you show appreciation for their efforts. It’s almost too easy to be true, but it is. But why?
Why Appreciation Is So Powerful
The reason appreciation is so powerful is because it’s connected to meeting a core need that we all have. Like giving water to someone dying of thirst in a desert, meeting people’s core needs replenishes them and gives them energy to move ahead. Also, like providing water to that thirsty person, when you meet their need, it shows them that you care about something important to them. By showing you care, you develop a strong connection between the two of you, which leads to commitment, hard work, a positive attitude, and loyalty.
Harvard Business Review
What’s more, according to a Harvard Business Review study, showing appreciation can lead to better employees and more engagement. In their research, they found that when a core need is met, employees reported a 30% higher capacity to focus, almost 50% higher levels of engagement, and a 63% higher chance that employees would stay at the company. Furthermore, when all of their core needs are met, it was found that employee engagement goes through the roof and rockets up from 50%, with one need being met, to 125% with all needs being met.
Gallup
Also, in a Gallup analysis of 263 research studies from 192 companies, it was found that
Corporate cultures with the most engaged staff generated 22% more profit than those with the least engaged people Click To Tweet
As you can see, meeting your employee’s core needs can have a dramatic impact on your people and your profits. In our work with clients, we help them develop thriving productive teams by training leaders on how to bring out the best in their people and create a culture where core needs are met. There are a number of core needs, too many to get into in this brief article, but one of the most important ones is the need to feel appreciated.
What You Are Doing Might Not Work
You may be thinking you already show appreciation and recognize employees for their effort. You may do things like provide an annual review and talk about their strengths and accomplishments. Perhaps you have an employee of the month certificate or throw a pizza party when a team hits their goals. You might even have a fancy award program where your staff can earn prizes.
And, while those things might show your appreciation, they might be a huge waste of money. The reason is that for an employee to feel appreciated, it needs to be specific and consistent. A once a year “attaboy”, casual Friday or an occasional team party certainly doesn’t hurt morale, but it might not have the long term impact you hoped for.
3 Ways To Show Appreciation
I want to show you 3 things you can start doing immediately to begin meeting your employee’s need for appreciation. Meeting this need will start to bring out the best in your people, blow wind in their sails, and improve employee engagement. And all without costing you any money or spending much time implementing a full-blown program. These are simple things you and other leaders in your business can start doing today. In addition to the following list, Gary Chapman and Paul White share some great tips in their book, The 5 Languages of Appreciation In The Workplace.
Words
This first one might be the simplest one of all. Certain people hear the appreciation message best when you use words to tell them how thankful you are for their effort. For your employees that are like this, it’s essential that you are specific and not vague. Giving them a general “good job” is ok, but it’s much better to be precise and say something like this.
“Bill, I wanted to tell you what a great job you did on the last project. The way you worked well with the team to overcome the hurdles you encountered was excellent. Especially when the client changed their mind so many times, you really showed patience. I can tell that your leadership gifts are starting to come alive as I watched the others come together and follow your direction. Thank you for everything you are doing. You are a real asset to our company, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you and your efforts.”
As you can tell, it’s easy to be specific with your words and is much more potent than a simple “good job.”
You can identify people who value encouraging words by how much they encourage others with their words. If they are natural encouragers, then they are probably looking for encouragement in return.
Actions
While some gravitate toward spoken words, others care that you show them how much you appreciate them by your actions. This second way of showing appreciation might look like you offering to assist them with a project. Or asking what they need to make their job easier. Any sort of tangible action you can take to help them get their job done is going to do the trick.
The way to recognize someone who values actions is to look for those that value efficiency and results. These people don’t necessarily want to sit down and have a long talk or chitchat about things. They value productivity, and any way that you can help them be more productive communicates that you appreciate them.
Time
The third way you can show your appreciation is by spending engaged time showing interest in what matters most to them. For this person, it’s not nearly as important they receive encouraging words or help doing the job but that someone stops and spends time showing they care.
This appreciation could look like, stopping by their office, sitting down, putting your cell phone away, and asking about the project they are fired up about. When you do this, be sure to take your time. Get down into the details and let them go on and on. Also, you might ask them about things not related to work. It could be their family or hobbies. Whatever they get excited about is something you could show interest in.
You can identify people who value time because they are usually big talkers, enjoy being with people, and want to tell you all about things that matter to them. By showing interest in the details, you are confirming that you care about what they care about, and this offering of your time communicates your appreciation for them.
Conclusion
Many leaders get frustrated wasting time on people problems, instead of moving their business forward. It’s exhausting dealing with things like:
- average to below-average effort
- team dysfunction and drama
- low employee engagement
- conflict avoidance
- unhealthy communication
- morale killing negativity
The good news is, there is a simple way you can start to bring out the best in your people that doesn’t cost any money and doesn’t take tons of time. By meeting the core need each of us has for appreciation, you can supercharge your staff and turn average employees into all-stars.
By showing appreciation in three specific ways, words, actions, and time, you will begin to transform your team and boost employee engagement. Leading people will become easier, and together you can work toward accomplishing your goals.
I’d Love Your Feedback
I’d love to hear how you have shown appreciation to your people or how others at work have shown it to you. Comment on the post and let us know.
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Thanks,
Charles
P.S. If you want to learn how to create a People Smart Culture that is designed to improve employee engagement, you can download the FREE People Smart Activation Guide™ by clicking here. In this guide, I’ll give you an overview of the three steps to create this culture. Plus, 12 application questions and over 20 specific recommendations we provide our clients when we help them strengthen their culture and maximize their people.
I’m Charles Kown. I love helping leaders accomplish their goals, become their best, and create thriving, productive teams.