By Mary Klett, ASA Communications Team

A recent study by Dale Carnegie found that at no matter what level, the single most important – and often underutilized – resource for employee engagement is an employee’s supervisor.

My first job out of college was in a company of two people. So yes, there was a lot of engagement between the two of us. (I would joke with people that I was a VP right out of college.) But because we were so small, she knew we needed to mesh personality-wise as well as work-wise. 

It’s common sense. Who will the new guy lean on for information, direction, instruction? His manager. What managers say, and how they say it, profoundly affects employees’ attitudes about their jobs, their company, and even themselves. Yet managers are rarely given additional time for developing relationships with an employee, thinking that it will come naturally. Still, in a manager’s hectic daily schedule, these relationships are what get short-changed. 

Source: Employee Engagement White Paper. Managers Matter: A Relationship-Centered Approach to Engagement by Dale Carnegie Research Institute, 2018.

Almost every company out there is touting how employees are their #1 priority. Yet most have not created an environment that encourages their leaders to engage with employees.

The Dale Carnegie study showed that leaders who make the commitment to engage their

employees personally benefit from having an engaged team: 

93% of surveyed leaders agree that employees who are fully-engaged produce better results than those who aren’t. 

86% agree that their job is easier when their direct reports are fully-engaged.

75% agree that their job is less stressful when their direct reports are fully-engaged.

According to Dale Carnegie research, there are six practices proven essential for relationship centered leadership.

• Provide growth and development opportunities – Align goals with that of your organization or department and provide active support and encouragement.
• Mentor and coach – Model positive and appropriate behavior and be available for timely coaching and advice.
• Help employees build networks – Make introductions, create opportunities for visibility, empower them to partner with others, and seize opportunities for connections.
• Remove obstacles and provide resources – Support the agreed upon career goals, help eliminate barriers, and enable them to succeed.
• Hold accountable to high performance – Communicate high expectations and measure and reward efforts that go above and beyond expectations.
• Show that you care – Become genuinely interested in employees as people and place value on their health and well-being.
  

Career goals will be different for each individual. Conduct informal talks that let managers know their employees better – as individuals. 

Together with good listening skills, here are some questions that can help leaders begin a meaningful engagement conversation:

1. What are the things you feel you do well?

2. What are you passionate about, personally and professionally?

3. What current challenges might be impacting your performance?

4. What recent accomplishments make you most proud?

5. What opportunities do you see for bringing about greater satisfaction in your job?

6. What motivates you and how do you like to be rewarded?

And speaking of rewards. Everyone likes genuine praise. If they did something right – let them know. One teacher encouraged a poorly performing student by praising the few right answers, rather than focusing on the number of wrong answers. It changed their whole perspective. 

Leadership has to focus on encouraging and supporting engagement at all levels to grow their business, their leaders and their employees. And yes, I grew a lot in my first two years working for the President of the company, and there are definite perks of working in a small business. But no matter what size of a company, it really IS about the people – and how they engage with each other and with the customers. 

Read the full report, “Managers Matter: A Relationship-Centered Approach to Engagement.” 

Note: Marcey Walsh and Robert Graves of Dale Carnegie, will be presenting about “Leading Across Generations” at SUBExcel 2021 in February. They’ll be speaking about leadership and how to lead in a multi-generational work environment.