Employee engagement has never been more important than in these COVID times. Employees and management are stressed and unsure of job security and company stability. A decrease in employee engagement has led to poor leadership, poor performance, and overall disengaged employees.
Because it matters
Poor performance within an organization’s employees is reflective of poor leadership. Management’s ownership of the process is critical to avoid failure and negatively impact safety, communication, quality, and production. There is a direct correlation between engaged management and the success of their employees.
- $450-$500 billion will be lost in the U.S. due to disengaged employees.
- 51% more employee theft with a noticeable increase in time theft, including inaccurate time clock entries, extended unclocked lunch breaks, distraction due to social media and online searching, and general disconnection with peers and management.
- Increased turnover is connected to disengaged employees searching for new opportunities.
Leaders within an organization need to engage with their teams to follow them in terms of safety, quality assurance, production, and interpersonal communication. A strong management team leads by example, and followers trust the process will succeed.
Four things all followers need
Successful leaders who encourage people to follow demonstrate the benefits by delivering success to their team and ultimately the overall organization. Following builds strength and increased performance.
Just as a business high performer or successful athlete trains and builds strength and success, the same hold true for employees and management as they build engagement. Four critical components engaged followers will subscribe to:
- Trust in the system, organization, and leadership
- Compassion for the people around them. Empathy builds a solid and interdependent team working together towards success.
- Stability in the organization to support my success both professionally and personally.
- Employees hope that possibilities exist for advancement and success.
Scott McKenna, President of Catamount Consulting of New York, states, “These four components are no longer a theory or principle. It is 100% a science-based on research and directly tied into Maslow’s hierarchy.” Although slightly unorthodox, Maslow’s Hierarchy is undoubtedly applicable to the construction and mining industries. As humans, we work and live to achieve financial and emotional success. Understanding human motivation is critical to successful engagement.
Maslow’s Hierarchy and Employee Motivation
Abraham Maslow, a humanist psychologist, believed that people’s actions are motivated by satisfying particular basic needs. So, instead of studying problematic behavior, Maslow focused on what makes people happy and motivates them to succeed.
Our training sessions help managers and leaders understand why as a critical component for motivating employees to work better, smarter, and become engaged employees. The five components of Maslow’s Hierarchy are:
Physiological needs. (basic needs of food, water, and shelter). Mindfulness and being present are critical to beginning the process towards self-actualization. It requires a shift from survival thoughts and actions to rational thoughtfulness.
Safety needs. Connection with meaningful relationships with employees.
Belongingness and love needs. Vulnerability to accept you and trust you as a leader. Open yourself to admitting errors and being human demonstrating to employees that mistakes happen and are recoverable.
Esteem needs. Esteem is a psychological need encompassing feelings of accomplishment and, for example, demonstrating to your employees and team the importance and value of completing a project and enjoying the achievement.
Self-actualization (end game/achieving full potential) Confidence and growth are earned when you empower your people to be engaged.
As leaders, we have to assume the employees have the basic physiological needs of security and job safety; then, we can work on embracing belongingness and engagement. The more we as managers understand the brain science aspects of management, the better leaders we come. And then our people will follow- and succeed.
Reinvent what leadership is, and employee engagement will thrive
It is time to step out of the old-school mindset of management philosophies. The “carry a big stick and don’t be afraid to use it” is being replaced with authentic leaders who are unafraid of a high five or demonstrate empathy when things are difficult. The number one reason people leave a job is attributed to poor management, not money.
Reinventing your leadership persona will make a difference.
- Increased profits
- Improved employee retention
- Decreased accidents and incidents
- Better ability to recruit good talent
The ability to improve employee engagement and improve project deliverables is within your reach. Know your abilities and comfort level and engage with other management team members to help. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and together, you can create a strong and effective management team.
Build a robust working environment for employee engagement
Take extreme ownership of your team to build a culture of engagement and support. Contact us to learn more and take your organization to the next level of safety, performance, and employee retention.
Scott McKenna is the President of Catamount Consulting. He is a certified instructor with the Mine Safety Health Administration, and an OSHA Certified Construction Trainer. He has over 24 years of experience in the mining and construction industries and is active in multiple organizations. He has authored or contributed to several published articles and lectures on a regular basis to a wide variety of business and safety professionals. The Catamount Team provides expertise in all facets of construction, manufacturing, mining, firearms, and all components of the business. Scott is the head assistant varsity wrestling coach at Warrensburg Central School and has been for nearly 20 years. Over the last 5 years, the team has compiled over 100 wins and five consecutive years of Championship Seasons as well as qualifying multiple wrestlers for the prestigious New York State Championships. McKenna believes that we are all coaches within the People Business. Regardless of Your Team, you must have high levels of emotional intelligence to assure everyone around you is coached to their particular level of high performance.
Contact Scott at smckenna@catamountconsultingllc.com
Stacy Spector is a coach with Catamount Consulting and a practicing attorney in the Glens Falls, New York area. She spent nearly 15 years, along with her teacher husband and fellow Catamount team member, Jason Spector, in the areas of Empathy and Social-Emotional support for students and teachers. She now uses the empathy space as a foundation for her work in leadership training for all organizations. Stacy’s unique background and experience offer a broad range of value to many individuals and groups in relation to employee engagement, culture building, and mindset mastery. Stacy is a wife, mother of two great boys, and enjoys many unique hobbies including, natural bodybuilding and anything fitness-related, muscle cars, and crafting new creations in her “She Shed”. Stacy’s mission is to help people provide compassionate empathy for each other in any environment.
Contact Stacy at – sspector@catamountconsutingllc.com
