It’s not a new question, but certainly a relevant one. And one that is on the minds of leaders and human resource professionals across the country.
With these demanding economic times, we continue to see the effects from budget constraints, workforce reductions and the challenge of needing to do more with less. Tough times usually result in loyalty to employers being questioned, employees trying to understand what the plan is to secure the future and most importantly, where they fit in. Leaders need to be prepared to answer these questions in order to win the war for talent and re-build their employee’s belief in the organization and its destination.
Leaders have the unique opportunity to drive performance through people. They have the strongest connection to their employees and can make the difference in ensuring employees are invested in the future success of the organization.
Did you know that the single most important driver of an employee’s level of engagement is the relationship they have with their direct supervisor?
To me, engagement means we capture the hearts and minds of employees. Engagement goes beyond commitment. It’s about creating advocates in your organization - people who understand the purpose of your business and who are passionate about it. It’s about communicating openly. Sharing the vision for your organization and helping people understand their role in creating the future. It’s about enabling development opportunities and challenging people to grow. It’s about finding ways to leverage the creativity of the talent in your organization and valuing the contributions of your employees.
I know that if engagement is going to have any sticking power in an organization, it has to come from a place of authenticity. You can’t ‘do’ employee engagement you can only create an environment that enables it. As a leader myself, I know this isn’t always easy. In fact, our current inter-generational workforce has in some ways made it even more complex. Today, we need to earn engagement from our people where in previous decades, it was expected. I welcome the challenge. I believe I should be at the forefront fostering an environment of trust, collaboration and open communication and I expect the same of our CMC leadership team.
Building an engaged workforce isn’t only critical to your short-term success, it is a foundation pillar to the long-term sustainability of your organization. It is something that has to be thoughtfully planned and consistently nurtured. Given that part of our mission at Canadian Management Centre is to prepare the next generation of leaders to thrive in tomorrow’s marketplace, we wanted to take the opportunity during this period to showcase the topic of employee engagement with our clients.
Included in this edition of our catalogue are a few resources to support the exploration of employee engagement in your organization. We’ve included articles and recommended resources which investigate the cost of disengagement, questions you should be asking yourself about your employees and suggestions on ways you can successfully engage the people in your organization. We hope you will find these resources of value and invite you to share some of what you’re currently doing to engage the hearts and minds of your employees. Join our on-going conversation on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/canadian-management-centre
About John Wright:
John has over 25 years of senior leadership experience in B2B and B2C professional services, John understands the importance of aligning people to business strategy. For John, cultivating engagement creates a positive company environment that boosts both individual employee commitment and organization-wide performance.
