Articles on how to enable high levels of engagement are a dime a dozen. Some offer great insights on how to drive action and get results with thousands of consultants out there eagerly awaiting the opportunity to help your organization attain that elusive Gold Standard.
The good news – if your organization is actively pursuing either an engagement program launch or continuous improvement program, well done. Only 25% of organizations have an engagement strategy.
The bad news – you are only half way there. A recent study by the Harvard Business Review at the Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence in collaboration with the Faas Foundationfound that one in five employees were feeling both high engagement and high burnout. These folks are your employees that do whatever it takes to get the job done; usually surfacing murmurs of “how do they do it” admiration from their peers.
3 actions to take to reduce burnout while driving towards high engagement
- Provide employees consistent social & emotional intelligence training to encourage healthy relationships with colleagues reducing unhealthy conflict on teams and cross-functionally. Enabling healthy conflict within the workplace leads to new ideas, successful projects and happier employees.
- Ensure all employees have a close friend they can confide in at work by providing opportunities to meet and mix on a consistent basis. A Gallup study shows that 70% of employees say friends at work is the most important element of a happy work life and also results in the increased ability to deal with stressful situations.
- Have consistent touch points with your employees at all levels. Most companies are pretty great at middle management having regular one-on-one’s with their teams but does your organization ensure the same with leadership and the executive? Regardless of level, people need regular check in’s to provide opportunity for support and acknowledgement to reduce the risk of burnout.
Engagement is key, it’s what we should strive for as leaders and employees. But what we want is smart engagement – the kind that leads to enthusiasm, motivation and productivity, without the burnout. – Emma Seppala and Julia Moeller, Harvard Business Review
Anita Sutton is a Serial Socialpreneur and Fierce Do-Gooder. With over 15 years leadership experience in the Tech world under her belt, Anita chose to get off the corporate ladder and dive two feet in to social entrepreneurship where she founded SEED Learning, a mobile health company focused on reducing bullying, suicide and crime and severing the cycle of poverty globally through the use of their AI powered voice apps and wearables and social & emotional intelligence training.
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Originally published at www.seedlearning.org