How Engaged is your Team?

Does your team have a real sense of purpose and belonging? Do they trust you, as their leader, and trust each other?

How do you achieve this when there is so many factors working against you? Covid restrictions, increasing demands and time constraints. Greater legislation and compliance on the operational working practices.

The role of the manager and leader is more important than ever before. Building an effective and efficient team is the most important part of the leaders work. Ensuring that every member of the team is valued and knows that they are a valuable part of the team. How do you, as the leader, achieve this?

The answer is to delve into how you and the team work. It is about people management rather than task management. Empowering and trusting your team members to do the work so that you, as the leader can concentrate on ensuring the team works well together as a coordinated unit. Recognising where an employee is struggling and providing support or referring them to help can be both a positive personal action and a wise business strategy.

It starts with providing the workforce with a shared purpose. A sense of accountability and a common goal. A team working together, looking after each other and using their unique individual skills to ensure that the combination of their talents is so much more than the constituent parts.

The most effective teams aren’t necessarily the ones with the most talented individuals. But by recognising the skills of each member of the team, and using them in a complimentary way, they can deliver amazing results.

When this feeling of unity and common purpose has been communicated to the team, it’s important to regularly check in to ensure that each team member feels energised by the goal and is able to complete their work – that they have the skills and competency to contribute effectively and that you have the resources (tools and are working in a conducive working environment) in place to optimise the performance.

Now is the tricky part. How does the leader know whether the team is in the right frame of mind? That they are emotionally and mentally equipped to carry out the work. This is where the culture of the organisation is crucial. The easiest way to see if someone is struggling is that they tell you! However, does your organisation enable such a conversation, and if so, do your leaders respond positively? If the person doesn’t want to talk to their leader, is there someone else? Do you have Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) available?

Creating a culture where your employees thrive will provide demonstrable business benefits. It may also mean you spend less time recruiting new people as your existing employees will not want to leave!

Contact InteChange to find out more, and to start your journey to improved business results and a more engaged workforce.