If your employees aren’t engaged in the workplace, it’s time to talk with their managers. While nobody can force employees to feel engaged and committed to their jobs or their organizations, managers and leaders have the greatest opportunity to light the spark of engagement in them.
That’s because an employee’s level of engagement is closely linked with his or her perceptions of the leadership—and for most employees, the immediate manager is the leader who matters most. For instance, today’s employees want to find a sense of understanding, belonging, and well-being at work—and managers are positioned to help establish that sense of belonging through live contact, visibility, and strong relationships. According to Oracle Human Capital Management’s recent employee engagement survey of nearly 5,000 global employees, those employees who have a close working relationship with a manager are far more likely to have faith in their leadership and enjoy greater feelings of well-being on the job.
But most employees don’t have a positive, open relationship with their managers. Among those responding to the Oracle HCM survey, just 47% of employees said their leaders are available and approachable. On a related note, only 44% said they have confidence in the leadership of their company.
The most-engaged employees have leaders who don’t just take an interest in their performance during their annual reviews. Instead, their leaders work toward continuous, open communication that builds relationships with employees, reassuring them when they’re doing a good job or providing constructive feedback to help them improve.
HR leaders can help ensure that ground-level managers are fueling employee engagement by training them to build strong relationships with their workers. Train your managers to turn these six actions into habits that fuel employee engagement:
When managers and leaders take these steps, Oracle HCM research shows that employees will become more deeply engaged in their work. And engaged employees are not only more likely to stick around for the long term, they’re also more likely to be more productive and effective.