 "Employee engagement redefined")
Leaders already know that keeping their teams motivated, engaged and driven to succeed is a demanding task in itself. But in today's world it's even harder because leaders have to keep their people engaged while responding to huge, disruptive changes in how we work and what we care about in the workplace. It's a big challenge, but the first step to overcoming it is knowing what the changes are. In Hay Group's new book, Leadership 2030, we've identified six 'megatrends' that are transforming societies and the global business environment as we know it:
Right now, employee engagement is already a moving target. To successfully keep people engaged and on track to deliver business results, leaders must respond to trends outside the organisation because they will affect what happens inside it. The six megatrends bring about a multitude of challenges - here we've identified four core responses to help you, as leaders, successfully navigate them.
Employee engagement and the new imperatives for leadership
Imperative #1: Instil confidence - one must be confident about the direction one's organisation is taking. How engaged employees feel is influenced not only by their current work experiences but also by their view of the future. For people to commit, they need to have confidence that a company is well-led, heading in the right direction, and well-positioned to deliver products and services they know customers want. You need to communicate regularly and personally about changes in your organisation and what they will mean for individuals and teams. Making sure you and your peers at all levels know about changes and receive the same messages about them is essential to promote consistent understanding across the organisation. Managers in particular play an important "sense-making" role in times of change, helping employees understand new developments in the organisation and their implications for teams and job responsibilities. Y
Imperative #2: Have integrity: Consider a quote of Miles White, chairman and CEO, Abbott: "Today we're in an all-out war for reputation, our companies are battling - to an unprecedented extent - for our most vital assets: our own identities." That battle is playing out on many different fronts. Companies are facing increasing pressure from the media and from political and regulatory scrutiny. But increasingly too there is a power shift in play, brought by digitisation, toward consumers and employees. A single voice can undermine a company's reputation.
Imperative #3: Be transparent: Importantly, employee engagement is an exchange relationship. If you want your employees to do and deliver more, it's essential that they feel valued, believe that their extra efforts are appreciated and that, over time, there will be a balance between total rewards and contributions.
- Globalisation 2.0: Economic power is shifting from Western economies to emerging markets, so we're seeing more diverse market needs, more collaboration across countries, and global competition for talent.
- Environmental crisis: The world is facing a disruptive combination of climate change and scarce raw materials that brings the perfect storm of challenges for businesses: increasing costs, fluctuating values and concerned stakeholders.
- Demographic change: Aging populations are changing the face of the global workforce and exacerbating the war for talent.
- Individualism: Growing freedom of choice is eroding loyalty and forcing organisations to respond to individual needs in an increasingly diverse workforce.
- Digitisation: Work is going remote and the boundaries between professional and personal lives are blurring, as people increasingly live life online.
- Technology convergence: A combination of nano, bio, information and cognitive sciences is set to spur a wave of powerful technological breakthroughs - speeding up the pace of change and creating new product markets.
Right now, employee engagement is already a moving target. To successfully keep people engaged and on track to deliver business results, leaders must respond to trends outside the organisation because they will affect what happens inside it. The six megatrends bring about a multitude of challenges - here we've identified four core responses to help you, as leaders, successfully navigate them.
Employee engagement and the new imperatives for leadership
Imperative #1: Instil confidence - one must be confident about the direction one's organisation is taking. How engaged employees feel is influenced not only by their current work experiences but also by their view of the future. For people to commit, they need to have confidence that a company is well-led, heading in the right direction, and well-positioned to deliver products and services they know customers want. You need to communicate regularly and personally about changes in your organisation and what they will mean for individuals and teams. Making sure you and your peers at all levels know about changes and receive the same messages about them is essential to promote consistent understanding across the organisation. Managers in particular play an important "sense-making" role in times of change, helping employees understand new developments in the organisation and their implications for teams and job responsibilities. Y
Imperative #2: Have integrity: Consider a quote of Miles White, chairman and CEO, Abbott: "Today we're in an all-out war for reputation, our companies are battling - to an unprecedented extent - for our most vital assets: our own identities." That battle is playing out on many different fronts. Companies are facing increasing pressure from the media and from political and regulatory scrutiny. But increasingly too there is a power shift in play, brought by digitisation, toward consumers and employees. A single voice can undermine a company's reputation.
Imperative #3: Be transparent: Importantly, employee engagement is an exchange relationship. If you want your employees to do and deliver more, it's essential that they feel valued, believe that their extra efforts are appreciated and that, over time, there will be a balance between total rewards and contributions.
The author is Mark Royal, senior consultant, Hay Group Insight. Re-printed with permission. Link: https://bsmedia.business-standard.comblog. haygroup.com/the-rules-of-engagement-are-changing-four-ways-you-can-ride-the-wave-successfully/