Employee engagement is key for retention & retention is key for future-proofing the organization.
While it may seem like the entirety of HR’s focus should be on recruitment (and for many, this is a stark reality at present), the other side of that recruiting coin is retention. Interestingly enough, even back in 1973, Harvard Business Review published an article on “Why Employees Stay” that cited employee engagement as a focal point for consideration. More recently, Gallup conducted a workplace assessment and focused on developing a culture of engagement in order to improve employee experience, and by extension, engagement. Building resilient teams is another hot topic, with many of the qualities cited correlating directly to employee engagement. As we wade through the noise of The Great Resignation and its implications for our workforces, People Operations, and HR leaders are well-positioned to support our managers and team leads in continuing to plan for the future of business.
Recently, I had an opportunity to attend a course on Effective 1:1s with LifeLabs Learning where they defined employee engagement as “a combination of commitment to the organization, and an eager willingness to help colleagues”. For fully engaged employees, there is a willingness to use discretionary effort to reach a higher impact that can’t be demanded of individuals, but can be influenced through thoughtful management conversations.
Building on the idea that employee engagement is key for retention, and retention is necessary for future-proofing the organization, we can identify four key areas to evaluate as you organize your team growth strategy.
The first two areas provide foundational support to improving career development, individual autonomy, and educational opportunities for team members; key components of building an engaged workforce.
Gap Analysis for Succession Planning: It is important to identify key roles in the organization, and where other team members may have overlapping skills or knowledge. This can help you understand who on the team is positioned for potential promotion, who needs cross-functional training, and where your risk is if someone in a key role leaves suddenly.
Knowledge Management Mapping: Identify how knowledge is shared across the organization. How is training conducted? Do you have systems or processes that require legacy knowledge? How do you update those resources to make knowledge available to the wider team and support cross-functional training?
The second two areas focus directly on supporting the individual employee into a growth mindset.
Management Training: Do you have a strong management training program in place? Programs should go beyond the legal and HR-related items and dive into how managers can effectively coach their team members and support their goals and development. Attention should also be paid to a manager’s soft skills; are they collaborative? Are they open to feedback and do they actively solicit it from their teams? Do they view their role as supportive and in service to their teams or do they view their role as one in which they just tell people what to do? With proper guidance and training, a manager should not only be able to move priorities forward, but also inspire their teams to go that extra mile.
Culture of Feedback and Conversation: Done well, regular 1:1s can transform a team from just doing their job, to actively innovating and moving the company forward. Building a culture of feedback and regular meetings takes time, and should be done carefully, intentionally, and consistently. 1:1s held at a regular cadence (weekly, biweekly, or monthly) give employees the opportunity to follow up on project achievements, seek guidance for roadblocks, and share goals with their manager who can support their movement forward.
Planning for team growth takes time and careful planning, but can be transformative as employees understand the meaning and impact behind their work and find a pathway toward success.