Engagement Down - Create Engaged Leaders

Employee engagement is critical for motivation.

According to the latest Gullap Survey, engagement is sitting at 20% globally, trending down from a peak of 23% in 2022, 2023.

Looking at the regional split, NZ is a bit better however this is still only sitting at a level of 23%. Unfortunately, there is a a progressive increase in stress which is following the trend for the last 10 years with 45% stating they feel stressed on a daily basis. if we consider part of the survey results - people in management positions - slightly more are engaged and even more are stressed!

And to cap this all off, the percentage of employees who feel that they are thriving is on a continuing downward trend for the last decade reaching 55% in the current survey.

Is Australia the place to go?

The numbers are even worse for Australia sitting at a level of only 21% engaged and 50% feeling stress every day.

The largest factor identified in the engagement level downturn?

A lower level of engagement in managers.

If managers in the organisation are not engaged, this has a direct impact on employees - not a positive outlook for the future.

What does the impact of disengaged employees look like within an organisation compared to engaged employees?

• 18% lower productivity

• 60% reduction in achieving quality levels

• 10x the rate of errors

• 37% increase in absenteeism

Which all translates to impacting your customers - fewer sales, more complaints, growing frustration and brand damage while the organisation is dealing with higher levels of staff turnover, fewer people to cover work due to absenteeism, increasing stress levels and a degrading culture.

So, how can you boost this engagement?

Implementing AI, when used appropriately, can assist employees to achieve more in a shorter period. A task that may have taken 5 days may be reduced to 3 days through the use of AI to generate initial content which the employee can correct and build on. However, what is typically being experienced is that an employee is expected to complete even more work, increasing stress. As with all previous "solutions" that will transform productivity, there is no silver bullet. Current experiences with the use of AI show very minimal overall increase in productivity. As with any new solution, effective outcomes are only gained through strong proactive change management, training and support.

Engagement can be positively boosted through good people management skills. For the majority of managers, these are skills that need to be developed to enable them to support and coach individuals and teams to be successful.

The key areas that make a difference?

Effective communication techniques and relationship building.

It isn't just about what is said, it is also important how it is delivered. The value gained from clear, relevant and concise conversations is unparalleled, particularly when delivered using techniques that quickly create a connection.

These are skills that are difficult to naturally learn over time and require the development of a level of self awareness that we typically just don't have the time to constructively work through - and so, the result of a lack of investment in individuals to develop these skills leads to increased stress and frustration creating a drop in engagement.

While the reducing engagement levels of employees is a challenge, when this occurs in leaders, the result is an accelerated impact across the organisation. If a leader is not engaged, there is very little chance that an employee will be engaged and even if they were engaged, this quickly changes with a demotivated leader.

So, what is available to address this issue?

1) The development of techniques to enable clear, concise and responsive communication.

Providing your leaders with the skills to think on their feet in any situation - whether in a casual conversation, dealing with Q and A or planning a presentation to deliver a key message. Having the ability to think clearly, speak confidently and respond quickly is invaluable.

When we are under pressure or get caught with that unexpected tricky comment that puts us on the back foot, our responses are typically messy. We can struggle to collect our thoughts about what we really need to say and provide a wandering response which includes repetition and filler words or in our rush to answer, we assume what our listener needs to hear without understanding their question or need.

Being able to speak in a way that creates confidence and leaves people with ideas that are easy to recall brings a transformation to the work environment. If a leader feels confident that the information they have delivered is clearly understood, avoiding frustration and stress, this will contribute to increasing their engagement level. Frustration and stress are strong contributors to reducing engagement.

Think on Your Feet® is an example of a development opportunity to build the techniques think clearly, speak confidently and respond quickly.

2) Being able to quickly develop relationships with anyone in the moment.

Very often, people will feel disengaged when they do not feel a connection with someone. Working with the other person is frustrating, hard and ultimately avoided. Within an organisation, this leads to a breakdown in teams that can spiral in to open conflict. At the very least, this will lead to lower productivity, higher quality issues and absenteeism.

As a leader, leading by example is a strong motivational technique. It set expectations for behaviours and conduct with others. However, it only works if the leader can create a relationship with their employees. What works for one person does not work for another.

A key skill for a leader to develop is the ability to quickly determine what someone's preferred style of communication is and adjust their own style to align.

This is the art of developing versatility.

Research has proven that people who are versatile in their communication styles are more confident and successful. If we speak to everyone in the same way, the outcomes will always be the same. If we are always very direct and to the point, people who have a different communication style will feel dismissed or that their ideas are disregarded.

...and the disengagement spiral begins.

TRACOM Social Styles® is a opportunity for leaders to gain and practice the skills to quickly recognise what the communication style is of someone else in the moment....and how they can flex their style to connect quickly as well as techniques to recognise and effectively reduce stress in other people.

Disengagement is unfortunately easy to achieve. Preventing or reversing it doesn't take much. Creating engaged leaders leads to engaged staff.

Investing in people creates success.