Companies want profitability. Engagement drives profitability, so companies want more engagement. But what drives engagement?
i4cp has studied this and they outline their findings in the report, “Employee Engagement: Strategies and Practices.” The blog post announcing the study offers “10 Steps to Rev Up Employee Engagement.”
Number six strikes a chord with me. It’s “Focus on developing better leaders and managers.” That just makes sense. According to Bob Sutton, in his book, Good Boss, Bad Boss:
“Employees’ immediate bosses have far more impact on engagement and performance than whether their companies are rated as great or lousy places to work.”
That begs the question of how talent development is connected to all this. The answer is in the following quote from the i4cp report.
“Managers who invest time in getting to know their employees and provide them with regular feedback, coaching and development opportunities are more likely to have effective, highly engaged teams that contribute to the success of the organization.”
There are two talent development challenges there. The first is providing development opportunities for everyone. I know that those Hi-Pos are important, but those front line workers are critical and one thing they want is the opportunity to grow and develop.
The managers who can make that possible don’t just happen. They’re the result of my STDS success formula. Those letters stand for Selection, Training, Development and Support.
Select men and women who are likely to succeed as a boss. Make an extra effort to select people who like helping others succeed.
Train new bosses in more than the policy manual. Introduce them to methods for having conversations about performance and coaching.
Develop your managers. Pay special attention to the skills that help team members succeed and develop.
Support your managers. Mentors and peer support groups can make the difference between long term success and burnout.
Want profit? Foster engagement. Want engagement? Improve the quality of your front line managers and workers. It’s all about talent development.
