Servant Leadership Workplace-Make Break

Make or Break Employee Engagement

You’re a leader in an organization plagued with low employee engagement. What do you do to improve engagement?

Often, the first response is to increase compensation, benefits and other incentives. But a recent report from Gallup suggests such a response may not actually be the best.

In its “State of the American Manager” report, Gallup reports that only 30% of US employees are engaged at work.

What causes this sorry state of affairs?

Gallup finds that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units. There are important links between employee engagement and other vital performance indicators including profitability, customer ratings, productivity and quality. If companies want high performance, then they “must demand that every team member in the workforce have a great manager.”

Beneath its overall statement of the obvious, I was surprised by one conclusion in the Gallup study: Only one in 10 people possess high talent to manage.

Gallup says that, “Though many people are endowed with some of the necessary traits, few have the unique combination of talents needed to help a team achieve excellence in a way that significantly improves performance. These 10%, when put in manager roles, naturally engage team members and customers, retain top performers and sustain a culture of productivity.”

Another 10% of managers “can function at a high level if their company invests in coaching and developmental plans for them,” says Gallup.

Let’s put aside the nature/nurture discussion and assume that Gallup is right that only 20% are cut out to be good managers. What’s needed to provide every team member with a great manager?

  1. Create proper expectations. Not everyone can, or should, manage people and there’s nothing wrong with being a sole contributor. Create the expectation that managing people is a responsibility, not a reward. While this might hurt some feelings in the short run, in the long run it changes expectations and improves results.
  1. Select managers based on managerial talent. Often we select managers based on tenure with the company; technical knowledge, skills and experience; or performance in a non-managerial role. While this is not always a mistake, often it is. Companies need better tools and processes to identify those who should and should not be managing people.
  1. Focus on professional development. If about 20% of a company workforce is managerial talent by nature, then it would seem to follow that professional managerial development should be focused on that group. And focusing that professional development to equip managers to be more effective in leading people will offer the highest return on investment.

No doubt that your employees appreciate fair compensation and great benefits. However, on a day-to-day basis, having a managers make or break employee engagement. Great managers lead to great employee engagement and great results.

If you are interested in seeing the entire Gallup study, click here.

And download our latest ebook, Servant Leadership in the Workplace: A Brief Introduction. It’s free!