Previously, Kiley Mutschler, a regional manager with Active Wellness, shared recommendations to support an engaging and interactive hiring experience, and the three C’s of onboarding new employees. In this article, she shares tools to help strengthen employee engagement, experience and performance.
Gallup defines employee engagement as “the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and their workplace.” Employees want to know how they fit into the organization, where they have opportunities to grow and where they can begin to make an immediate impact. To ensure your employees remain with you throughout the next phase of their careers, whether a brand new employee or one that is more tenured, you will need to provide continuous support and development opportunities throughout their time with you.
“A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for finding potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.” – Brene Brown
Use these tools to help strengthen employee engagement, experience and performance:
Engagement
Engagement begins as part of the onboarding process and the majority of this responsibility falls on the manager. Employees should feel and know their work has a purpose that ultimately supports and enhances the organization. Managers are responsible for meeting the basic needs of their employees so that the individuals and the team can be successful. As a leader, you should be spending quality time with your team, making sure they have what they need to do their job, feel supported by you and ultimately perform to their full potential. In doing this, both an individualized and team approach is important, as true engagement involves a cohesive unit moving forward together.
Coaching and Feedback
Consistency is key. Regularly scheduled 1-1 and team meetings are important, this dedicated time is a valuable tool to connect and check-in with your team on a consistent basis. If you are not connecting with someone regularly, it is hard to praise them for their strengths or coach them in areas for improvement. While scheduled time is invaluable, so are the informal touchpoints and daily feedback. According to Gallup, employees who receive feedback daily are three times more likely to feel engaged at work than those who do not.
Learn More: Effective Communication – How to Enhance Communication with Your Team
It is important to remember that feedback is multidirectional. Managers are not the only ones giving the feedback but should be openly asking for and receiving feedback from the team. People and processes cannot improve and evolve without feedback.
Development and Growth Opportunity
Invest in your people. Make sure you are aware of their goals, personal and professional, and find opportunities for them to use their strengths to grow and develop within your organization. Commit to continuing education, conferences, community and continuous recognition of their strengths. While not everyone on your team has a desire for management, acknowledge other opportunities for growth that you can provide. Create a roadmap with the people on your team so everyone is working together and moving to drive the business and their careers forward.
“Challenge directly while showing that you care personally.” – Kim Scott
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Kiley Mutschler is a regional manager with Active Wellness, overseeing corporate and multi-tenant fitness centers in Texas, Arizona and Canada. She has over 10 years of experience managing people at all levels; responsible for hiring, training and building strong teams within the organization. Kiley has held many roles within Active Wellness and was named an IHRSA Rising Star in 2019. She can be reached at kiley.mutschler@activewellness.com.
