Employee engagement is often assumed to be a policy that, after establishment, needs to be communicated downwards. But in reality, it is not, it is a living ecosystem nurtured at the level of the grassroots. Within this ecosystem, there are managers of your corporate space that act as the heart of the whole arrangement. They are the creators of your company’s culture, whom you have to report to regarding your daily tasks, and also the main influencers of the experiences that old and new employees have. In order to boost the impact of your office’s employee engagement strategy, you must ensure that even the heart of the entire culture is involved, equipped, and empowered to drive the engagement factor within their teams too.
Do you want to witness the same kind of productive and energetic employment engagement at your end, too, but have no clue how to go about it? Then, allow the blog to wipe away your stress. We will discuss why involving your managers is necessary for this activity and the multiple ways of including them for the best results.
Why Are Managers Crucial for Employee Engagement?
Before we directly move on to the ways, it’s essential for you to learn why managers are important for employee engagement:
A Major Influence
In the corporate world, managers are the individuals who interact directly with employees on a daily basis. They are well aware of their team members’ strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, instead of exploiting the employees under their authority, they motivate them by affirming their talent and capability to overcome any challenge. Being close to the employees allows managers to plan and customise initiatives based on the individual needs and preferences of their team members. Not involving them would be a significant mistake, as they can have a major influence on their employees as well.
Champions Of The Culture
The heads or managers also play a pivotal role in integrating the company’s values and culture into routine practices. They set the tone for the teams they work with, fostering and enhancing a positive and supportive work environment. Consequently, this effort allows them to be champions of the office culture.
Feedback
Yes, managers have to provide feedback to higher management regarding any big milestone their team achieves, such as a project concept that went viral in the corporate sector. They also have to develop plans to support the growth of their employees so their efforts feel acknowledged. Hence, their actions tend to have a direct impact on the value of their teams, making their involvement in the engagement part necessary.
Some Strategies For Involving Managers In Your Employee Engagement Strategy
Now that you know why it is crucial to involve managers, let’s share some strategies or ways for including them in your employee engagement training. They are as follows:
Empower and Educate
First, you need to empower and educate in this manner:
Describe The Manager’s Role
Avoid assuming that your manager will know how to follow the flow or contribute to the engagement. You need to clarify their role in this case, so provide them with a clear outline and expectations. Address their doubts, if any. This will reduce the chances of misunderstandings, and your manager will be able to impress you and other employees, resulting in maximum impact.
Provide Resources and Training
After explaining their role in the specific project, you also need to provide your manager with relevant and important resources and training. This means equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively engage their teams. How? You need to train them to:
- Communicate with employees in an effective manner and teach them techniques for providing constructive feedback as well.
- Recognize and reward employees whenever their contributions prove to be beneficial for the company.
- Polish their mentoring and coaching skills.
- Understand the concerns of the employees, whether they are experiencing a tough time in the office, and address them accordingly.
- Utilize tools and platforms designed for employee engagement to make things easier and quicker.
Give Freedom
It’s highly possible that your managers might have really creative initiatives to implement within their teams, so give them the freedom to experiment with those techniques. You never know, after watching those strategies, you may end up using their style as an example. Therefore, motivate them to try and tailor strategies, if necessary.
Promote Open Communication and Feedback
In the list of ways of involving managers in your employee management feedback, you must promote open communication and feedback in the following ways:
Arrange Regular Meetings
Instead of sticking to weekly meetings, arrange regular ones with your managers. What will you do here? It’s pretty simple. You will encourage them to discuss their employees’ engagement levels, whether they are progressing or going in the opposite direction. Try your best to be open and transparent with them, sharing the best approaches and addressing any barriers they or their employees are currently facing.
Listen To the Manager’s Feedback
Call your company’s manager to your chamber and listen to their feedback, too. Encourage them to speak about how effective their initiatives regarding employee engagement are. Listening to them will help you learn about areas that still need improvement, and you will also feel satisfied that the decided strategies are relevant and fruitful.
Conclusion
We hope you grasped the main point of the blog: why manager involvement is essential and the effective methods for including them. Now, you can apply this in your workplace to observe how your managers collaborate and bring out the best in their employees.