The level of employee engagement hinges on their sense of fulfillment in their contributions to the organization, their colleagues, and their own growth. This is equally influenced by the organization’s demonstrated behaviors and actions.

Saying they have created a culture of care where employees can be themselves and contribute fully isn’t enough for an organization. Their actions throughout the company must consistently reflect this value.
How employees choose to engage will depend on their need to feel fully realized in their contributions to the organization, their colleagues, and themselves.

As well as the organization’s demonstrated behaviors and actions.

I have had the good fortune to collaborate with fabulous leaders professionally. Leaders that honed their leadership, intrapersonal, and people skills, in a manner that enabled their direct reports to contribute meaningfully.

Engaging fully!

Company culture: a balance of what you say and do

And there were those leaders, through their behavior (from micromanagement and bullying to sexist and racist tropes), that resulted in my stepping back in how to choose to engage.

Resulting in a self-protective mechanism of armoring and then camouflaging.

You may be thinking that I might have been overly sensitive. And I could have been. Yet, the environment did not feel trustworthy.

For me, at the heart of employee engagement is choice—saying yes to an organizational value because it aligns with one’s personal values.

This belief holds that choice exhibits one’s personal power in an ecosystem that has cultivated multiple pathways to engage.

Engagement is about meaningful interactions and curating a mutually beneficial partnership.

My experiences with these ineffective leaders helped me define the kind of leadership and work environment that fosters my ability to contribute my full potential; bringing my best self to work.

There are safe enough environments to experiment with novel ideas, stepping into the realm of possibilities. People riff off each other in a supportive, cross-functional, collaborative manner, using time and space to create.

Do you feel that you’re engaged meaningfully in your work life?

There is no universal formula for engaging employees. Given the workforce’s global nature and diverse needs, some behaviors can help amplify engagement across an enterprise.

You’re cordially invited to The Engagement Factor, an interactive virtual event that offers approaches to cultivating engagement across your organization.