August 19, 2009
Leaders have as much “responsible opportunity” to generate employee engagement throughout their businesses as anyone. Keep in mind, that a leader can operate at any level, in any position within an organization. Whether bearing a title of authority or just the ability to influence others, a leader can promote the culture of engagement.
Here are 5 ways business leaders can promote engagement among employees:
Ready, steady attention to management
An effectively engaging business employs a philosophy of management that focuses on seeing that employees engage in what they do, rather than just do it. An effective leader dedicates her attention to how thoroughly and how well managers develop their employees with focus on engagement.
Ready, steady communication w/ managers
In addition to observing the performance of managers as regards engaging their employees, a leader keeps up continuous communication with those managers. This communication is conceptual as well as tactical. The leader seeks information as to the manager’s perceptions and measurements of leadership. The leader provides resources to the manager to stimulate greater engagement efforts.
Demonstrate leadership-by-engagement
Engagement demonstrated by leadership stimulates employees’ appreciation that engagement is part of the business culture. A leader should not only lead the organization but also give evidence that he supports the practices of employee engagement as fundamental to the culture..
Observe engagement in competitive businesses
Gathering and communicating knowledge from competitors serves the leader, the employees, and the business itself. If a leader truly desires her organization to engage and achieve greater success, she makes time and effort to study competitors and learn how they achieve such success.
Observe engagement in different industries
Taking that knowledge to a higher level, the leader looks outside the industry to study successful engagement. By understanding how dissimilar businesses achieve higher levels of engagement (and so, higher levels of success), a creative leader adapts that information to innovative engagement practices in her business.
Tags: Employee Engagement, Leadership
