Why Can’t I Get These Employees Engaged?

Today we’ll look at the Gallup’s take on employee engagement, as discussed in a book by Jim Harter, PhD, titled First, Break All the Rules.

Breaking The Rules for The Best Results: Gallup’s View On Employee Engagement

While global leaders and companies understand in theory the importance of employee engagement, the percentage of engaged employees has barely budged since the beginning of the 2000s. And in the United States, 70% of employees are not engaged in their jobs. With Millennials now comprising the largest proportion of the workforce—a generation for whom engagement in their work and the opportunity to focus on their strengths are extremely important issues—it’s more important now than ever for today’s managers to create a strengths-focused, engaging workplace culture.

Gallup recently released a new, expanded edition of its international bestselling management book First, Break All the Rules. This edition, authored by Gallup Press with a foreword by workplace expert Jim Harter, PhD, maintains the narrative of the original 1999 publication and includes updated research conducted over the past 15 years.  In the below Q&A, Harter answers questions about employee engagement and its importance in making an organization successful.

1. Why aren’t more employees engaged, and why is this 70% number of disengaged employees not decreasing? How can managers combat this trend?

The roots to low engagement rest in the fundamentals of performance management that have historically not been optimized. But the good news is that there are high performing organizations and managers to study. The foundational elements that engage employees are all, in part, dependent on a manager’s ability to individualize his or her approach to each employee: setting clear expectations, getting the right materials and equipment, positioning the individual to do what he or she does best, providing the right recognition, and caring about and developing them.

Managers, through their own engagement, their ongoing conversations with employees (or the lack thereof), and their natural abilities and talents to manage employees account for more than 70% of the variance in team engagement.  So, at a fundamental level, improving engagement is about leveraging the innate characteristics of managers and their employees, developing people management skills, and selecting the right people to become managers.

The top two reasons people get into the role of manager are tenure within the organization and success in a prior job unrelated to management. In many cases, the top salespeople, accountants, engineers, and other professionals are not equipped to manage people.  This promotion process in most organizations does nothing to guarantee that the best people developers get into people development roles.

The most progressive organizations have reset the expectations of the role of manager to be as much about people development as it is about direction and correction.  And, from the top of the organization, systems are built to continuously link the approach to performance management with the strategy of the organization, clear ongoing communication, accountability, and development programs.

1. Employee engagement is a hot topic now, especially with the Millennial workforce. Why has it taken this long for engagement to be at the forefront of this workplace/management conversation?

For the past decade, most large organizations have had some type of annual survey called “engagement.”  The trouble is that it has become much like the annual performance review … an event that happens once a year. And for many organizations, these efforts have failed.  During this same time, the most progressive organizations have created an engagement “process” with touchpoints throughout the year that complement performance management.

Unfortunately, these progressive organizations have been more infrequent than common. While in the past, progressive management was deemed as “optional,” the newer Millennial workers are expecting it as a requirement.  They’re a highly connected generation, aware of what is possible from work, and they have grown up highly involved and recognized.

The demands on managers have also increased, with changes in technology, the economy, remote working, matrixed organizations … and a new generation of workers that expect to have high-quality managers who are more akin to “coaches” than “bosses.”

This new breed of workers, who will soon become the majority of the workforce, want ongoing conversations with their supervisors rather than once-per-year performance reviews.  They want to see and feel a purpose in their work rather than only coming to their jobs for a paycheck.  They want to develop and envision their future rather than simply to remain satisfied at their jobs thanks to “perks” and “fun” activities.  They want to develop personally and professionally through focusing on their strengths.  For many, their work is blended into their lives and is more than just a job.

It is interesting that many of the core requirements for great managing are unchanged from years ago—defining clear and organizationally aligned outcomes, individualized strengths-based development, accountability, career growth opportunities, etc.—but some elements need more intentionality than others.

For example, in a highly matrixed environment, people are often more collaborative, although clarification of expectations is less frequent.  In a remote working situation, autonomy is improved, but collaboration needs more intentionality.  With technology comes potential for greater connectedness … a double-edged sword that can both increase flexibility and blend work into nonwork time.

Great managers figure out these subtleties and manage the person and the situation to achieve outcomes.   While the situations for managers are changing, the principles great managers follow are timeless.

1. Engaged employees produce more and are happier according to Gallup. What kind of managers are developing these engaged employees and offices?

The managers who are doing the best job of engaging employees know their own strengths and leverage them in their own unique management style, are engaged themselves, and continually develop their people management skills.  They select employees for natural capacity to do the required work, define the right outcomes for the work, focus on developing the strengths of each person, and continually fine-tune each job to fit the person and his or her ideal development path.

Contrast this from a traditional approach of selecting based mainly on a résumé of experiences or subjective opinion, setting expectations by legislating each step, motivation through overcoming weaknesses, and development through promotion to the next rung on the ladder.

1. Having great snack selections, a game room, open office plans, etc., are some ways companies try to engage Millennials. Do those really work, and how can managers keep this generation engaged in their jobs?

While these types of “perks” may create interest in your organization or even satisfy people in the short term, they won’t engage them in their work.  Without the foundation of great managing, these perks are a waste of money.   In looking for an employer, Millennials want opportunities to learn and grow, a quality manager and quality management, interesting work, and opportunities for advancement.

According to Gallup, 59% say opportunities to learn and grow are extremely important to them.  Only 18% say having a “fun” place to work, and only 15% say having an informal work environment, are extremely important to them.  The top four things Millennials want managers to focus on are job clarity and priorities, ongoing feedback and communication, opportunities to learn and grow, and accountability.

Perks may be “nice to have” but are not what Millennials are asking for.  They want meaningful work where they have a chance to develop.  Any organization that leads its offering with “perks” is out of touch with its workforce.

Tomorrow, we’ll hear more from Gallup on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to employee engagement.