The success of your organization depends on your ability as a leader to develop, maintain, and nurture the relationships you have with your people. But you can’t have positive relationships with your team if they are stuck in a place of being unproductive, uninspired, and unengaged.

My belief in the power of employee engagement lies at the heart of what I do as a leadership consultant because I believe that successful organizations are made up of people who are positively and powerfully invested in their people and overall organizational success.

Employee engagement doesn’t just happen by itself. The fires of engagement need to be lit by leaders like you; leaders who are willing to connect with their people and give them the inspiration necessary to achieve success.

A New Year and a New Opportunity to Engage Your Employees

Now that the New Year is upon us, I think it’s a good time to refocus on what employee engagement truly means in our rapidly changing and complex world.

People today are yearning for meaning in their lives and in their work. They want to believe in the work they are doing, and they want to know that they are making a real difference. When work is meaningful, employees are much more engaged. But when work becomes just another aspect of life in a world full of worry, employees become apathetic and unwilling to put forth their best and most inspired efforts.

Fostering a culture of employee engagement these days might seem especially difficult, given the cultural, political, and economic landscape. But the rewards have never been greater for those leaders who are committed and invested in making a difference for their people and their organization.

With that in mind, let’s look at the trends for employee engagement in 2018.

Giving People the Proper Tools & Support

Chances are, your workforce is made up of a group of unique individuals, each of whom offers something special to the organization. And each unique individual on your team has their own preferred, most effective way of doing things. Some team members might work remotely, relying on the wonders of technology to perform. Others work in the office and prefer “old-school” methods.

Are you giving your team members what they need to succeed, or are you forcing them to conform to a narrow view of what work should look like?

It’s time to embrace the differences among the members of your workforce. This means getting to know them as individuals and understanding that when their individual needs and preferences are being met, they will be more engaged, committed, and produce great work.

Practically speaking, this means acknowledging everyone, including those who are remote as well as those working in your physical office space--everyone requires support and development. It is our responsibility as leaders to recognize who requires regular coaching and support vs. those that are performing at a high level and may require less of your time on a regular basis. Too often I see remote workers left in the dust to fend for themselves, as the “out-of-sight out-of-mind” saying is adopted. That is not leadership, that is abdicating responsibility as a leader. We also need to ensure that we are investing in modern technological tools to set our people up for success vs. archaic work methods that hamper performance.

In my view, organizations that are the most successful in 2018 will be the ones who have leaders that take real responsibility not only for their own behavior, thinking, and leadership competencies but those who also take real responsibility for developing and supporting their people. The old cliché stands true today, take care of your people and they will take care of your business.

Focus on Careers Instead of Jobs

Leaders in 2018 will need to engage their employees by focusing less on helping them perform specific jobs and more on supporting them achieve their career goals. Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting you do not support them in their current role, but the workforce today demands a career path and a plan to achieve it.

Engaged employees love what they do, but they also understand that the job they are doing today is part of a trajectory that will give them lifelong career fulfillment. People who see no future in their careers become unhappy quickly and they see no need to perform at a high level. That’s a recipe for disastrous disengagement! This is particularly a stronger trend with millennials and Gen Z that will start entering the workforce this year. If they do not see a future and a path to help them achieve their goals, research shows they will leave within two years.

I highly recommend that leaders start looking more at the big picture of their people’s careers and aspirations. By giving people a path forward to a bright future, you give them the inspiration and engagement they will need to perform well today.

Empathy and Understanding for the Total Employee Experience

Employees are not just people who show up in the office five days a week to perform certain job tasks. Employees and leaders both see their work as just a single component of a complete life that includes family, hobbies, beliefs, friendships, and a host of other crucial facets of existence.

Leaders need to explore other aspects beyond work and create deeper relationships if they want to foster positive employee engagement. Leadership is about creating positive meaningful connections with others, not just about the work at hand. It’s about understanding more about them as people, and the things that they do outside the office often matter more than what they do for your organization.

I recommend taking the time to know your people as people above all else.

Understand that their experience as employees fits within a much broader context. They don’t just show up for work and then disappear at the end of the day; they go home to rich, full lives that are enhanced when they feel good about the work they do.

Learn about your people’s aspirations, dreams, goals, and beliefs. Try to understand them as people who do more than just work. Communicate with them about their successes and challenges in all aspects of life. Then you can truly work toward building the type of engagement that ensures success for your organization well beyond the new year ahead.

What Employee Engagement Trends Do You See for 2018?

I’d love to know what you think about the subject of employee engagement in 2018. Do you agree with the trends as I see them? Or do you have other ideas about the meaning of engagement in our wild world? Send me an email to let me know your thoughts!

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