Engagement & Culture:
The Art Of People In Partnership
Published: September 6, 2024
In this article, we’re exploring the subject of ‘Engagement & Culture’ and providing you with a 5-minute read on how best to engage your employees and get the very best for your business.
How To Create A Culture Of Engagement
Every business has a culture of its own and, sometimes, the culture of a company can even change from department to department. For better or worse, a company’s culture is sometimes cultivated deliberately, but all too often happens by pure accident. Whether the culture in your company is good, bad or indifferent, it is part of every management and leadership role to help create and maintain a positive culture by demonstrating and living up to a set of positive values which align to the brand and customer needs. In our experience, the best cultures are all about ‘people in partnership’… where everyone sees their colleagues as customers who they need to (and want to) serve well… and where everybody is working in one another’s best interests and those of the paying customer as part of the value-chain – for the good of all and by the help of all!
Whether you are CEO/MD, Head Of HR or other Head Of Department, employee engagement needs to be at the very heart of your business strategy. It is a well-proven fact that happy employees work harder, work smarter and will stay in the business longer. But what do we mean by ‘employee engagement’ and how do you get the best from your team?
In a nutshell, employee engagement is about motivating people to give their best every day… to be ‘on-top-of-role’… aligned and committed to the goals of the company, whilst contributing towards their own sense of personal well-being and achievement.
From Manager To Leader
The power of any leader is ultimately given to them by their followers. However, the last thing you want to create is a follow-the-leader ‘dependency culture’ or ‘I just do as I’m told’ attitude. It is, therefore, every leader and manager’s responsibility to define clear roles, responsibilities and authority, along with providing clear vision, values and guidance on where the organisation is going and why… ‘the north star’… but this must come from the very top of the organisation! Even then, it is only through each employee’s personal alignment to the vision and values of the company that they can find their own on-top-of-role motivation and professional pride. It is vital, therefore, that you provide everyone in the organisation (including yourself) with the level of support, training and professional skills required to navigate their role well – individually and collectively – without having to ask for direction every five minutes.
“Many people will cite leaving their job because of poor management; but when you drill down further, most people leave because of poor working culture. In reality, these two things are inextricably linked!”
Developing a culture of ‘north star thinking’ throughout the organisation will quickly empower employees to grow in capacity, capability and to take on more responsibility – which in turn will improve levels of wellbeing, job-satisfaction and quality business outcomes. Done consistently, this will lead to improved energy and focus towards new product/service innovation, and invariably support top/bottom-line ‘sustainable business growth’ – a virtuous circle of people in partnership!
So… if you are looking towards improving organisation-wide culture through improved management and leadership development, the Enrichyou Business & Leadership Academy service can help your organisation at a pace and budget to suit your situation. Our comprehensive Academy programmes can be provided as individual courses to fill particular management skills gaps, or as part of a continuous management and leadership development strategy.
To find our more about our Business Academy programmes, contact us directly by email or phone on 01733 645001.
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