Employee engagement is an employee's emotional and behavioral connection to their job. The more engaged employees are, the more likely they are to:
- Be happy in their jobs and report a high degree of professional well-being.
- Serve students and others effectively.
- Collaborate productively with colleagues.
- Avoid safety incidents at work.
- Stay with the university longer.
- Have a strong and positive sense of mission-driven purpose.
- Take initiative at work; start new projects; go above and beyond as they're able.
- Show a higher degree of flexibility and resilience during organizational change or when things go wrong.
Employee Engagement
The manager-employee relationship is one of the most important in the workplace. Based on Gallup research*, local supervisors and managers account for at least 70% of the factors affecting employee engagement and play the most significant role in building engagement. Anyone who supervises the work of others, directs work, or is responsible for managing an academic or administrative program, unit, department, or team should incorporate engagement strategies into their interactions with employees and integrate them into their daily work. Proactively using employee engagement strategies IS NOT about creating additional work. Rather, it IS about enhancing and building on the work you are already doing. The recommended actions are intended to reinforce strategies you already use or generate new ideas.
*The Gallup Manager Assessment: Technical Report, Gallup, 2013
Principles
Engagement strategies are based on core principles we share as colleagues and as a community. Each of these guiding principles should be exemplified within the framework of each strategy:
- Focus on the people not just the process.
Make room for the human element in every project and task. - Seek to understand.
Find out where people are coming from and learn more about their point of view and perspective before drawing conclusions and passing judgment. - Recognize and embrace difference.
Remember and remind others that it is our differences that make us stronger; our varied backgrounds and experiences give use more insight and knowledge to leverage. - Create and promote an inclusive culture.
Provide safe spaces for employees to be themselves so they feel welcome and have a sense of belonging. - Lean on each other.
Reach out to others to get a renewed sense of purpose and to offer others encouragement and support.
Strategies
Employee engagement strategies are categorized by key areas that positively impact an employee's experience and promotes engagement.
