(Photo courtesy of socialmonsters.org)
Search the term “employee engagement” on Google’s scholar engine and you will find more than 375,000 scientific and scholarly articles on the subject. Engagement has direct links to retention, productivity, and corporate responsibility so it has earned a high spot on researcher’s to-do list. What they have found out will help your business create an engaging work culture.
Work Centrality
We spend around one third of our day at work. For many of us, the percentage is much higher. Most of our self-worth and social life revolves around our work day. The acknowledgement of workplace centrality is one of the primary components of an engaging environment. Research shows, when an employee recognizes the centrality of the job that employee is more likely to create an employee-company relationship. There are certain obvious ways of increasing work centrality, like good pay and greater responsibility. Well defined job descriptions and an opportunity to learn processes outside of the job requirements will also give the employee a sense of workplace centrality and engagement.
Social Environment
It doesn’t take a research scientist to know that a fun and enjoyable place to work will help create a bond between an employee and a company. Of course researchers need to look at all of their assumptions and what they found is that a health social workplace environment is the No. 1 determinant of employee engagement. To create a social workplace, offer opportunities to get together. Picnics, gym classes, and after-hour parties all let your employees interact on a social level. Since this workplace environment is good for productivity, it may seem counterintuitive but a birthday celebration during office hours will actually increase your company’s workflow.
Daily Transformation
Research on military cadets that kept a daily log of their leader’s behaviors and the effects on their engagement showed that daily transformational leadership created strong bonds with the organization. Transformational leadership is designed to promote change in an individual or social system. It needs to be individualized and intellectual, providing inspiration and a role model for behavior. This takes more effort than a Dilbert-style motivational one-liner. It takes conversation with the employee and a concern for his or her well-being and goals.
Psychological Contract
At the time of hiring, there are both legal and psychological contracts that are made. The psychological contract is the one that drives the employee’s engagement and job satisfaction. It is a mutual recognition that agreements have been made. A legal contract may define the salary amount but the psychological contract lets the employee know that she can pay the rent. On the company’s side, managers can expect a certain amount of work and a work ethic. For both, it allows for a future to be created. Have a heart-to-heart with your employees, developing a psychological contract from which both can create their dreams.
Team Clustering
In any business, teamwork is important. Bringing the individuals together in a proper team is an art. In an article published in the American Society for Clinical Pathology, scientists used a version of the classic suggestion box to cluster members into functional teams. Because these teams had the same goals, mission, and worldview, they were more effective and promoted greater engagement and task satisfaction. When using teams, bring them together by goal and belief, not simply skill and volunteerism.
