With new research showing just how widespread lack of engagement among U.S. employees is, learn more about fighting this issue from the Harvard Business Review blog post \u201cDisengaged Employees? Do Something About It.\u201d Recent data from Gallup shows that an astounding seven of ten U.S. workers are either \u201cchecked out\u201d or actively hostile towards their employers. And there\u2019s a mountain of research showing how important engagement is for profitability, customer satisfaction, turnover, and more. Engagement is very personal and not straightforward to address, but there are some general steps that should be taken in order to improve:<\/p>\n
Understand the basics of positive psychology and engagement research.<\/b>\u00a0As alluded to previously, there\u2019s plenty of research on employee engagement, and significant influences such as social support and feedback have been identified. Another important factor on engagement is autonomy. Self-determination theory, a well-established psychological phenomena, states that people do better when they\u2019re empowered to make choices and decisions for themselves. There\u2019s tons more information out there \u2013 use it!<\/p>\n
Find out what engages your employees, not someone else\u2019s.<\/b>\u00a0Knowing the research is a start, but you also need to identify what works best with your specific employees. One thing to consider is that most employments look at engagement from the negative perspective \u2013 what\u2019s going wrong and why workers aren\u2019t properly engaged. Instead, try to figure out what\u00a0is<\/i>\u00a0working and replicate it. Look at your most engaged employees and help others model what they do.<\/p>\n
Encourage grassroots engagement.<\/b>\u00a0The difficult thing about engagement is that it\u2019s not something that you can simply demand \u2013 it has to be natural. But what you can do is ignite it. Once you figure out what keeps your employees engaged, spread it far and wide. Engagement is contagious and easier to spread to other employees from peers than from the boss.<\/p>\n
Recognize engagement as a moving target, and check back often.<\/b>\u00a0Engagement fluctuates daily and can vary greatly through changing circumstances. To keep up with the variations, you\u2019ll first need to keep yourself engaged and in touch with the pulse of the business so you can react accordingly.<\/p>\n