You’ve heard plenty about how engaged employees outperform the rest. Gallup’s research indicates only 34% of the U.S. workforce is engaged. That begs the question: What about the other 66% of employees who aren’t excited about the work they do, or where they work?
Think about what that means: 2 out of 3 of your employees view your company as nothing more than a job –
- They don’t bring their best game to work
- They don’t involve themselves in doing things better
- They do the job they are told to do and nothing more
Any wonder why productivity lags? Quality suffers? Deliveries are late? Customer satisfaction is low?
IF GOOD (OR MORE LIKE MEDIOCRE) ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU, READ ON TO LEARN HOW TO IMPROVE ENGAGEMENT AT YOUR COMPANY.
Build Effective Teams
Arcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall just published results of a study they’ve worked on for years. The study helps us understand what actually drives employee engagement. It seems we’ve been getting this wrong for years.
Imagine that you have thirteen people. On average, only two of them will give their best at work. The rest is just going through the motions.
However, it’s interesting to see that the share of employees who are fully engaged more than doubles if they are on a team. Just by putting the same people on a well-functioning team, your two engaged employees become four!
What’s even more interesting is that there is one element that can move the needle way further, giving you six fully engaged employees (out of the total thirteen), and that element is the trust people have in their team leader.
So what does that all mean to those of us who want to contribute to creating a work environment where ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results? 
Buckingham and Goodall suggest that since teams are at the fulcrum of work, we should be focusing there and making sure that the teams people belong to are truly engaging.
Here are their main conclusions as to how to make teams drive engagement and performance:
- Focus on trust – emphasize clarity of expectations and playing to people’s strengths
- Design teams for human attention – teams with 5-9 members are proven to develop a personal bond deeper than anything work-related
- Promote team members learning together – teams that learn together work better together
Be the leader you want to be – learn how to build a courageous team
Well done, sir!
You do a nice job blending the stats and referencing industry leaders. Ever consider quoting yourself???
Seriously, GPS’ 10 Immutable Truths. Remember the book, 10 Immutable Truths of Marketing? That bastard sold a gazillion copies…and he was only PARTLY right.
I like that GPS thinks like a small company and works with some bigger ones. I always felt that companies WANTED people and teams that could act like start ups and break thru the clutter.
I was right over 50% of the time. Change isn’t always welcome…but that’s where the perceived value is. Especially when a new person come in and wants to stir things up – make their mark. I subscribed to the Charlotte Business Journal to find out who was recently promoted and then “approached them” with a nice congratulatory letter, and of course, A PHONE CALL!!!!!
Ever consider putting a multiple choice question in the newsletter? The first person answering it gets…blah, blah blah. I will create a contact point and help determine if people are reading the letter.