Employee Engagement: The Room Where It Happens

modern board room with sparkling waters set out on the table and a presentation screen with a blue sky and some clouds pictured

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Let’s talk about Employee Engagement.

According to Gallup, 2019 saw employee engagement rise to 35%, with those actively disengaged tied at its lowest 13%. This leaves 52% in the not engaged category. Keep in mind, these numbers are before the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests resulting from the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylors.

These statistics and the general conversation leads me to think about the table at every company and organization where the decisions are made and the room where it happens (or the virtual room, these days).

In order to increase engagement, how can you widen the table and invite more employees to be engaged or engage others?

In 2020, Capitol Consulting (the leadership development arm of ICAP, now known as Human Potential Advisors) launched a pilot program, where a group of consultants collaborate with company owners to improve their employee experience. This group discussed topics such as benefits, connection to our team, and networking with each other.

In my years at ICAP and in my work in leadership and culture development, it’s become immensely clear to me that the more we invest in our team, the more we thrive as a company. At ICAP, while their cost per employee is often larger than competitors, their average consultant tenure is over 3 years with our longest being 13 years. With that retention level, they are comfortable with the investment.

With mid-level and large-scale companies, this strategy may not work. If your organization has over 500 employees with multiple locations, it might not be feasible, but you can adapt the strategy to fit your needs.

If your company is large enough, you could set up roundtables with key employees in each division with the head of that department present. Your focus could be on key action items, removing obstacles, as well as employee experience or morale.

Create a list of key areas of improvement or benefits that would benefit team members (not a beer tap in the break room). That feedback could be rolled up to the C-suite to be reviewed annually to determine where the gaps are.

I believe there is great value in investing in your team. It saves money on retention and hiring and creates opportunities for personal development for leaders and team members.

As we continue to work through this pandemic, how are you creating engagement at your organization?

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