Disengaged employees can be a real drain on businesses. They can negatively impact the people they work with, as well as the bottom line. Often the problem lies not so much with the employee, but rather in a lack of clarity given to the employee about his or her responsibilities.
According to the Blessing White 2008 study “The State of Employee Engagement,” employees at the lowest level of contribution need greater clarity about their tasks and the reasons for doing them. This is a two-fold issue: first is the issue of clarity and second is the issue of understanding the reasons for what is being asked.
Being clear about what is expected of an employee means communicating in a manner that leaves no ambiguity about their responsibilities. Writing down goals and expectations, meeting with employees and discussing the expectations, answering their questions, and asking for and giving regular feedback will help ensure there aren’t any misunderstandings or lack of clarity.
But what if an employee doesn’t really understand why he is doing what is asked of him? What if he doesn’t see how his efforts contribute to the company? Or that his work is of any value?
Perhaps even more important than clarity about expectations is clarity about an employee’s value within the organization. Everyone, from the mailroom on up, needs to feel that they perform a necessary and important function in the organization. Spelling this out for your employees upfront, when they are first hired, can clear the way for immediate higher engagement. And, reminding employees of their value, by pointing it out on an ongoing basis, will continue to elicit higher contributions from them. But this value should be real. If someone is not performing some necessary and important function in the organization, maybe the position should be eliminated.
So, elevate employee engagement. Be clear about your expectations. And be especially clear about the value you place on your employee’s work.
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