As we enter the new era of how we are doing business we have to consider how work environments have changed due to the pandemic.
Organizations not only had to adapt their ways of offering products and services to what is needed in a crisis but how they are dealing with employees as COVID-19 enforced new ways of thinking when it comes to leading in remote environments.
People found themselves suddenly working from home which came with overwhelm, uncertainty, and a lack of clarity about how to continue to deliver at work when faced with distance from co-workers, with their kids’ homeschooling, and taking care of others.
So, the question that comes up is, how will leadership be able to balance engagement and outcomes when people are out of “reach”.
The answer is: no one can!
If employees were not engaged before COVID1-19 hit they won’t be now with their newly gained “freedom” as to how some of them are referring to remote work.
On the flip side, if people were engaged in contributing to team goals prior, then they will likely continue supporting positive outcomes when working from home.
Engagement happens out of intrinsic motivation!
Three factors are influencing the quality and results of engagement when we look at what and how employees are doing:
1. Organizational Fit
Engagement starts with the intrinsic motivation of an individual with the desire to contribute to an outcome dear to their heart.
Workwise this means that leadership must first and foremost find out if a person’s motivation and goal align with the company values, the service, and the product.
So, it starts with recruiting and hiring the right people for the organization’s mission to facilitate a sense of belonging, engagement, and productivity.
Recruitment is a crucial part of hiring the right fit for a modern workplace with individual self-management and responsibility for the organizational big picture.
2. Job Fit
How many times have you heard people talk about their accomplishments and integrity in their previous jobs during the candidate interview that leads you to hire them, but then you find out that this employee is actually not doing well, or – worst case – nothing but counting hours to the weekend.
Here comes the hard truth: it is your failure as a leader!
If it is not the missing appreciation from your side it is the mistake to hire or promote someone for the wrong position.
The person above is simply not feeling that the job gives meaning and purpose to what they are doing or, even worse, does not understand what their role is due to lack of clarity.
To foster engagement, it is inevitable that the job role is the right one that drives the team member’s strengths and professionalism.
3. Process Management
Another factor that can kill engagement if not dealt with the right way is the internal process management of an organization.
How many layers of hierarchy, how many steps to archive a client’s conversation, and how simple or complicated is the organization’s CRM?
If your policy and processes make people work until late at night at home, you can be sure that the engagement goes to sleep with them.
Simplicity is everything. Facilitate an easy-to-go-with process handling by simplifying reporting structures, systems, and policies.
Encourage people to focus on the things that matter: teamwork and goals.
If you hire the right people and if you lead people right you don’t have to burn yourself out by trying to motivate employees with traditional incentives – they are engaged because they can live what they are passionate about and you give them the tools to apply their strengths and knowledge for a company’s mission to contribute to outcomes and success.
>> To find out if these three factors are given within your organizational structure to reach the goal that you have on your table: I am here to have a look behind the scenes to do the check for you!
