5 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement Through Good Leadership

Hello. This is John Garrett coming to you with another episode of Green Apple Slices with the Accountants Group Leader in Canada for Sage, Rachel Fisch. I did it.

Rachel: That wasn’t horrible. Hello, hello. How are you?

John: I had it written down on an index card right in front of me so I could read it properly. Every Monday, we always talk through an article that we find online about employee engagement or corporate culture and things like that. On Wednesdays, I do one-on-one interviews with people which is how we met.

Rachel: It is. Check out Episode 59.

John: Yeah. The article I found here is 5 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement Through Good Leadership. It was on CMSWire, an article by Dom Nicastro. This is what it all comes down to and it’s what we talked about last week with the coaching where managers could really help with that and just goes into that the Gallup hole of course of how 85% of employees worldwide aren’t engaged or are actively disengaged or whatever. They’re just really not into it at all like the working thing.

Here’s just five things that you can do. If you want to see the article and get more into it, you can go to greenapplepodcast.com but I loved how some of these dovetailed exactly with the Green Apple message which is give employees time. Most people want a working engagement that supports their own lifestyle and they could be a little bit flexible, just you’re an adult, we hired you as an adult, we trust you, here’s the work we need done by the state and go crazy like whatever you want to do.

Rachel: I like the engage employees before they start, right? Like the pre-boarding face like let them experience your culture and who you are as a company because I think we’re also in an age where when you are going through the hiring process, it’s not a one-way interview anymore, right? The people who are interviewing with the jobs, they’re interviewing you as much as you are them, and letting them see some of your culture and what that looks like. What they can expect as an employee is going to be a huge piece of exciting factor if that candidate was successful. So yeah, even starting before they start basically.

John: I mean absolutely. That comes down to trust. The more open you are and the more that people see you, the more they’re going to trust. Just by being vulnerable and be you and just letting them see what it’s really like to work here, that’s fantastic because then when they jump in, they’re more excited and they actually know what they’re getting into, provided that you’re being honest with them. There’s that whole part of it. You can also create a sense of community.

That goes back to what we talked about last week as well with the managers, just hire the best people and keep them engaged to make them feel like they’re a part of this and what their job rolls up into the big picture. We’re all in this together sort of a thing. People have to work late and you’re leaving early. Probably not so great.

Rachel: But I think that also in some companies, the connection, the focus is always vertical like through siloes or through surface lines or through whatever you want to call them but I think there’s a lot of power in community building and actually connecting these people to each other. There’s lots of ways that you can be doing that and we’ve talked about common casual spaces.

This article even talks about like if your company has a sports team, they get together and kind of make sure that people are engaged and working on that because I mean, you connect with those people and you’re kind of friends for life, right? But the whole point is that you’re not only kind of concerned or maybe worried about is a little too harsh but that vertical piece but also enabling that horizontal piece in connecting your employees with each other.

John: Yeah, absolutely. Because I mean then you start to have a genuine interest in the other people that are around you and you have a connection with them more than just the work connection. Then you’re able to have more honest feedback with each other because your whole relationship doesn’t predicate on that one bridge. If that bridge becomes shaky, then now you have no relationship at all. It’s no, we’re actually friends when we step out of this conference room, I just disagree with what you’re saying right now.

Rachel: That’s okay. We can still work together.

John: Right, and makes things better. Absolutely. Absolutely. A lot of those connections happen outside of the office where people are more comfortable and more relaxed and everything.

So that’s it. What do you have this week? Because I’m off to Austin, Texas for another Sage Sessions event so I’m pretty excited.

Rachel: What do I have this week? Oh, I’m going to be in Saskatoon and Regina doing some Sage business talks. They are real places. I get to hang out with the group while I’m there in both of those cities so that should be fun.

John: I’m learning through Rachel. I thought there were like five provinces. I had no clue.

Rachel: Ten. It’s ten.

John: It’s ten, but yes. So yeah. Well, have a great trip.

Rachel: And three territories.

John: Hope everyone at Sage Sessions Austin, looking forward to seeing everybody there. We’ll have some fun.

Have a good trip, Rachel.

Rachel: For sure. Thanks. You too, John.