Having actively engaged employees is critical to creating a successful and thriving business. Employees and team members who are engaged, involved with, and excited about their jobs become strong assets for you as well as for your company. But we’ve all experienced an employee who was NOT engaged or excited about coming to work!
In 2018, Gallup did a study on engagement in the workplace, and announced that only 34% of employees are considered actively engaged in their jobs.
What does that mean for business owners? Only one in three employees is that dynamic team member who is a strong asset to your company. Two thirds of employees meet the criteria for some level of disengagement, which is not great news for small businesses!
A disengaged employee base means a bland and toxic workplace where people just slink by without giving their best. It’s not just destructive for company culture, but it ends up costing companies in profits too: mediocre culture creates mediocre service, and mediocre service results in lost customers.
There are 3 parts of fixing this issue…
Hiring people properly: making sure you’re taking the time with your hiring process to ensure you’re getting the right people on board.
Training people properly: taking the time to give your new employees all the training they will need to complete and excel at their jobs.
Managing people properly: this one is the most important, and the one most business owners struggle with.
The reason this is the most important, is because I’ve seen company after company who have hired great people and given great training and still struggle with engagement in the workplace because those people aren’t being managed properly. Those great people aren’t being managed in a way that helps them live and thrive in their energy advantage (the space where they are the most jazzed and do the most good because they love what they do).
The tool I’ve found most effective to combat disengagement in a small business is Monthly One-On-Ones following a very specific agenda.