Again it is times of change. It is not just the weather. Not just the interest rates.

Every once in a decade, we will have changes in the job environment, driven by external factors. In 2024, the change is due to:

• Over hiring during COVID for moonshots – now companies are focused on revenue projects
• Companies are saying NO to WFH. Large companies are aiming to bring back people to work. This changes a lot of family personal for employees.
• AI is simplifying a lot of jobs – the programmer, the analyst, the copywriter and many others are benefiting and doing more with AI – eliminating the need for more jobs.

In this time of change, the employees are liable to feel over worked, stressed, and disconnected.

“ According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, employees who feel connected to their organization’s mission are 4.6 times more likely to be engaged. This engagement leads to higher productivity, better retention rates, and improved overall business performance. ”

How do we connect the employee back to the organisational’s mission and its values?

Employee engagement refers to the level of involvement, commitment, and enthusiasm employees exhibit towards their work and the workplace.

It is a measure of how emotionally invested employees are in their roles and their connection to the company. Engaged employees are typically more productive, contribute positively to the organization, and are less likely to leave.

Engagement goes beyond job satisfaction and includes an employee’s motivation to help their organization succeed, suggesting a two-way relationship between the employer and the employee. It is a crucial aspect that influences overall workforce effectiveness and organizational health.

“ A report by the Work Institute showed that organizations with a strong sense of mission and purpose reduce voluntary turnover by up to 49%. Employees who align with the mission are more likely to stay longer, reducing costly turnover. ”

Employee Engagement shows up in way the employees react to the mission of the company and to each other.

Conviction on the mission, commitment to the team

1. Employees believe that the mission they are upto is difficult, but it is possible given the great team we have together.
2. Employees think deeply about the hurdles faced by the company in its direction and work out solutions to handle the same. They communicate the solution.
3. They are open about ideas and solutions that others bring into their line of work. They experiment with these and see how to best take forward.
4. They bring in additional ideas – they value add on the ideas heard from others in the company, and make things more comprehensive.
5. Rhythm of work: Every company has a specific ‘rhythm’ of work, based on its mission and its evolution. It can be Speed, Profits, Moonshots, Experiments, Safety, Customer Satisfaction and what not. They company seeks to optimise itself for that ‘rhythm’. An engaged employee adjusts their ‘rhythm’ to the need of the company.
6. They effectively represent the company and its mission with conviction in front of other stake holders like customers, partners, potential employees.
7. They are open with information and knowledge with other employees, for they are working for the betterment of the company. They train and develop junior and new employees.
8. They follow-up on ‘idea leads’. Often we get ‘idea leads’: A new company, or business model or reference on the net that we get inspired from. When shared with them, the employee researches it (without too much follow-up) and present.
9. The fill in the gaps, even without being asked.
10. They are prepared for meetings, demos, events with deep commitment.
11. They represent the values of the company.

“ An article from Harvard Business Review highlights that employees who find meaning in their work are more than three times as likely to stay with their organization and are significantly more productive. This is because mission-driven employees often feel they are contributing to something larger than themselves. ”

Simple, a company with employees who are minimally engaged to its mission cannot survive. It is the survival of the ‘most engaged’.

• The company’s ability to achieve its mission is based on all its employees and their alignment with the mission.
• Engaged employees produce better business outcome – across industries, company sizes and nationalities
• Lack of engagement can be an organizational risk.

Furthermore, employee engagement is not just about a warm feeling or a paycheck; it is about providing employees with a sense of purpose and meaning in their work, recognizing their unique contributions, and fostering positive relationships, especially with managers who can coach and develop them.

Managers are particularly vital as they account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. Therefore, a good strategy must include a focus on employee engagement to leverage these benefits and achieve improved business outcomes.

“ Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report found that 73% of employees who believe they work for a purpose-driven organization are engaged, compared to only 23% who don’t feel connected to their organization’s mission. This sense of purpose directly correlates with performance, motivation, and innovation. ”

Align

When in doubt communicate. When you have clarity communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. That is the core mantra of Employee Engagement.

Communication can be on long and short term goals of the company.

• What is our purpose? Why should we all come together?
• What are the values of the company?
• What is our mission at the current moment?
• What is the strategy to achieve the mission?
• Where are we in the current moment?
• How does each team work towards this?
• What is the role every person is expected to play in achieving the goal?

Value Framework

It is not enough just to state the Company Values and provide an explanation of them. Engagement to the framework comes in when you translate the value into practical day to day examples. These are conveyed during meetings, during trainings and in the course of everyday business of the company.

For example,

‘Our value says, ‘We value collaboration’.

An example is when a person says they need guidance on some work. You just do not give them ‘corridor advise’. You ask them questions. You understand their knowledge level in that area. You share resources with them to learn. You put them in contact with others who have navigated the problem. You give them time so that they can be trained. Then, when they are trained you celebrate their success.

‘Our value says, ‘We are ethical. We treat others like how we would like to be treated’.

You pass a huddle area. You can see that some manager is screaming at their team member for some work that was not done. At that moment, you might diplomatically handle it by asking them to go into an adjoining room. Later, you call the manager and tell them why it is not part of the culture to scream at the member, but to invoke quite action.

Our value says, ‘We understand our customer’s business and the impact we have in their business’

The customer comes back with a business requirement. May be you cannot meet the requirement in the moment. You advise the customer on the best way to solve the problem, after doing your own research. It might involve some ‘break fixes’ in your current solution or some other solution altogether. When their objectives are met, you explore if you could incorporate it in your roadmap and get the benefit for yourselves.

Celebrate

Figure out a reason to Celebrate with the team. It need not be expensive celebrations, it can just be a canteen coffee or a chat with all of them together. It could be on the occasion of Birthdays, milestone Work anniversaries, Personal milestones (He is a new father!, She is engaged), Company Milestones (7 year anniversary).

In the normal world, Celebration is after success. In the world of employee engagement, Success is because of Celebration together.

Recognize

Recognition reinforces behavior. It also serves as a way of setting an example for others to follow. Recognition can be for:

• Great performance in the job
• Being aligned to the mission of the company
• Performance to Values
• Setting a great example
• Or just being a good human being in some sphere of life.

Recognition can be done through Posts, Badges, Certificates, or Awards so that the user has a permanent record of what they achieved.

Provide Feedback

Misalignment and brownian motion is the norm. So, if the organization has to work with one alignment, a great deal of fine tuning is required. This is especially true if the organization is doing a course change and the skills expected from the people are different from what it was earlier. They will be found lacking, but they might not even know why they are suddenly found lacking, in one area or the other.

Managers have the dharma to provide structured feedback on the new reality, orient them to different courses they have to take to adopt to the new reality, and align them.

Train

We all have heard of it before.

“ Manager: What if I train him, and he leaves? CEO: What if you don’t train him, and he stays?  ”

Training represents the next level proficiency. The next level execution. The next level achievement. It is a great lever of motivation and retention.

You need a coach to discover every employee’s ‘next level’. You need a guide to point to the learning they need to go through, with a 360 training plan. And walk them through the learning journey, to the other side of success.

So, your team should always ask the question, ‘What’s Next?’.

Equip

As the employee goes through the journey with your organisation, they cross different life stages. What they need to know as per life stages are different. The organisation needs to eqiup the person for these aspects of life.

• For example, where will the graduate trainee learn about filing taxes?
• Where will a new father learn about emotional balance?
• Where will a young lady learn about retirement investments?

The organisation needs to equip them for life stages, and that will enhance the employee engagement.

Many more dimensions

One could think of many other dimensions. How about picnics? Those flashy coupons when you just got a badge? That foreign travel for the meeting? That resort stay? That club membership.

I am sure there are many other means to engage, motivate and retain. Some methods that have a ‘$ value’ attached to it can be easily measured, compared and rejected.

When you spend actual money on such initiatives, a reduced budget will be a source of employee de-motivation. There needs to be a balance.

Summary

The changing job environment in 2024 is driven by over-hiring during COVID, a shift towards revenue-focused projects, companies saying no to remote work, and the rise of AI simplifying roles, reducing the need for more jobs. These changes create stress and disconnection among employees. Employee engagement, which fosters emotional investment in work, is essential for business success, boosting productivity and retention. Organizations can enhance engagement by aligning employees with the company’s mission, recognizing their efforts, celebrating achievements, providing feedback, and offering training and life-stage support to ensure holistic development.