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<\/p>\nEmployee engagement has taken center stage in keeping your team motivated and productive. So it\u2019s likely that your company has implemented some type of employee engagement program to make your individuals feel valued and driven by their work.<\/p>\n
But how can you tell if engagement has actually increased at your organization? This infographic will show you the 9 most undeniable signs that your employee engagement program isn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n
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Above and beyond effort is arguably the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of your employee engagement program. When your team is engaged<\/a>, each individual is motivated to achieve the goals and uphold the values of the company.<\/p>\n Individuals are not just doing their job to earn a paycheck. Instead, they want your organization\u2019s product or service to be better. They believe that they represent the brand and minimum effort won\u2019t get them to be where they want to be.<\/p>\n These are the individuals who give maximum effort both within your organization and outside of it. You\u2019ll rarely find someone who wants to do amazing things at the company but is lazy about their personal life.<\/p>\n Here are some examples of maximum effort:<\/p>\n Research has shown that employees are happier<\/a> with their jobs when they have friendships with their co-workers.<\/p>\n I find more and more similarities between organizations and sports teams. When your team gets along well, they not only work for themselves but for the person next to them. They say the best sports teams are there for each other in and out of the locker room.<\/p>\n Do a lot of people at your office choose to spend time together outside of work? Do you have company happy hours and activities that people choose<\/i> to attend?<\/p>\n Great camaraderie extends beyond just having fun with the people you work with. It creates a common sense of purpose and reminds people that they\u2019re \u201cin it together\u201d.<\/p>\n In the past, I\u2019ve worked at companies where your job title defines you. You come in each day, put your head down and do the work listed in your job description. If someone held a higher position than you, than their opinion was more valued than yours. I\u2019m now fortunate to work at a place with a flat organizational structure where you opinion matters on Day #1.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also easy to spot when someone is \u201ccruising\u201d at work because they\u2019ve been with the company for so long. This can be absolutely poisonous for your business\u2019s growth. You want your team to be comprised of individuals who care more about where they\u2019re going within the company rather than where they\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n A flat structure is when there are few levels of hierarchy between management and staff level employees. It gives each individual more responsibility and autonomy to make decisions and help move the company forward.<\/p>\n While a flat organization structure typically makes more sense for smaller companies, some of the same principles can be applied for larger organizations. For example, you could hold skip level meetings where employees get to meet with their boss\u2019s boss. If you\u2019re a CEO or business owner, you could also try holding designated office hours each week for anyone to come in and meet with you.<\/p>\n The important thing is that you create more opportunity for one-on-one interaction throughout the organization. In fact, a Gallup study<\/a> found that employees who meet weekly with their managers are almost 3 times as likely to be engaged than those who don\u2019t have weekly meetings.<\/p>\n Another sign that your employee engagement program objectives aren’t effective is when the goals of your team aren\u2019t directly related to your company\u2019s \u201cwhy\u201d. If you haven\u2019t already watched Simon Sinek\u2019s TED talk called \u201cStart with why\u201d, take a moment to watch this important excerpt from his presentation.<\/p>\n To sum it up briefly, companies need to focus on their \u201cwhy\u201d more than their \u201cwhat\u201d.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\n A car insurance company doesn\u2019t just sell car insurance \u2013 they provide people with peace-of-mind in knowing their property will be protected in the unfortunate event that they get into an accident.<\/p>\n At SnackNation, our purpose isn\u2019t just to provide companies around the country with healthy snacks. Our mission is to make offices healthier, happier and more productive<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our friend Ms. Career Girl<\/a>‘s mission isn’t just to supply career advice, but rather to help people live a happy, healthier, life in a career they love.<\/p>\n Focus on your \u201cwhy\u201d (i.e. your purpose), constantly talk about it and relate everything you do as a business to it. That\u2019s how you inspire the rest of your team to believe in the company\u2019s vision on a daily basis.<\/p>\n Do you know someone who absolutely loves where they work and what they do? Those are the companies that have created a tribe. A group of people who feel connected with one another and who personally care about the health of the company.<\/p>\n How can you spot a lack of pride where you work? Here are some unmistakable signs:<\/p>\n If your team hides company apparel in the bottom drawer of their desk, they likely have zero pride in your organization… or you may just have a bad graphic designer \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n When there\u2019s an open position at the company and nobody even thinks to refer a friend, that\u2019s another obvious indicator of low pride in the organization.<\/p>\n If the people who visit your office don\u2019t leave feeling better than when they arrived, your team doesn\u2019t care about what they do.<\/p>\n When your sales team, account managers and customer support talk to customers, what is the experience they\u2019re delivering to the person on the other end? Do they go above and beyond (like #1 on this list) to deliver the best experience possible to that customer?<\/p>\n Zappos is a company that nails customer engagement as a result of high employee engagement. They give their team full autonomy in making customer-service decisions, regardless if they\u2019re a manager or not. Their main objective is to deliver \u201cWow\u201d moments during every interaction with a customer. It would be pretty difficult for someone who doesn\u2019t care about the company to continually deliver that type of experience. <\/p>\n Proactive contributors are those employees who are vocal about their own ideas and continually offer recommendations on how to improve the business.<\/p>\n What traits does a proactive contributor possess?<\/p>\n In our list of employee engagement ideas<\/a>, HR Pro Tim Sackett shared that you can boost engagement by giving your people \u201cinside\u201d information.<\/p>\n Employees who want to be in the circle of trust are obviously invested in the company. If they don\u2019t care then they just come into the office, do their job, and leave \u2013 no desire to know the direction and behind-the-scenes activity of the company.<\/p>\n Teams that are engaged want to know what\u2019s going on with the company, whether it\u2019s good or bad.<\/p>\n There are individuals who seek out opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. If they need to learn a new skill, they go out and learn it on their own. Instead of looking for instructions, they create the manual.<\/p>\n Those are the signs of engaged team members. They invest in themselves because they know it will make them more effective at work and in life. And those are the people who will help grow the company along with themselves.<\/p>\n A manager\u2019s most important job is to help the individuals on their team get better everyday. A great manager<\/a> trusts their employees to get the job done without having to micromanage them.<\/p>\n So if nobody is investing in personal development, your employee engagement program is not doing its job.<\/p>\n\n
2. Lack of camaraderie<\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n3. Job title and tenure more important than contributions<\/b><\/h3>\n
4. Indifference to the company\u2019s vision<\/b><\/h3>\n
5. No pride in the organization<\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n6. Customer engagement is not a priority <\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n7. Reactive contributions <\/b><\/h3>\n
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8. No desire to be \u201cin the know\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n
9. Nobody invests in personal development<\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nConclusion<\/b><\/h3>\n