Discover how purpose creates engagement.
– 5 mins read –
Whether you are a finance company looking to retain your young talent, a manufacturing company implementing quality improvement processes, or a coach who has been brought in to develop leaders, the chances are that improving employee engagement is high on the agenda.
Leaders influence our sense of purpose
In a 2013 Gallup poll, 70 per cent of American workers said they were not engaged with their jobs, or were actively disengaged. Moreover, a New York Times article states that lack of engagement points to a lack of purpose that people experience in their jobs. The author highlights that having purpose is not necessarily about what a company makes or sells but, rather, it is about how the workers approach their day. And this is facilitated by their managers and leaders.
Managers and leaders do not set out to be bad managers and leaders, it is simply a question of them not having acquired the skills. But what is being done to give managers and leaders the skills they need to do their job well?
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“A manager only has two functions: first to get the job done and second to develop people. One without the other is not being a true manager.”
Sir John Whitmore, Coaching for Performance
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“A person is happy only when he is interested in what he is doing; only then does he feel that the power of his own being is confirmed; only then can he express that power; only then is he not isolated; and only then does he feel connected with the world and not powerless. He can love things, he can love his work and he can love people.”
Eric Fromm, Life Between Having and Being
For example, MBA courses have traditionally taught technical skills rather than soft skills. This leaves a knowledge gap which urgently needs to be addressed. To be successful in the future, organizations require leaders who promote self-expression and personal growth. This in turn enables people to find their purpose at work, as research* shows. In short, purpose creates engagement which in turn creates performance.
Employee engagement surveys
Employee engagement surveys have become the ultimate test for how organizations are inspiring and engaging their people. Questionnaires commonly include 50–75 rating questions and a handful of open questions so that employee opinions can be captured. The surveys cover a broad range of topics including Feedback, Teamwork, Communication, Opportunities for Growth, Work/Life Balance, Fairness, Respect for Management, Respect for Employees, Performance & Accountability, Personal Expression/Diversity.
For example, rating questions asked about feedback could be:
- I receive feedback that helps me improve my performance.
- I have an opportunity to participate in the goal setting process.
Once managers and leaders incorporate coaching skills and behaviours into their management style, they have the critical skills needed to manage effectively and create engagement. Our management and leadership programmes Coaching Training for Managers and Coaching Leadership Development teach practical skills which impact all the above topics immediately. Focusing on transformational rather than transactional coaching, our experiential programmes show managers and leaders how to grow people, performance and purpose
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and love of what you are doing.”
Pele, Footballer. Regarded by current and past players to be the best player of all time.
Creating employee engagement at Mastercard
Mastercard launched a new coaching initiative to create their next generation of leaders who would build the foundation of a performance coaching culture within the organization. Competing to win in the existing business environment required leaders to develop empowered, engaged, and energized employees who would take ownership to create solutions in the face of current challenges. Mastercard approached Performance Consultants International as a partner in this endeavour.
We have been working with Mastercard over the last 3 years to improve Employee Engagement. To do this we created a high-energy, interactive training programme focused on coaching and leadership that equipped their global managers with the skills to develop a coaching management style. The programme has been a great success as improvements in Employee Engagement demonstrated.
Don K. Carter, Vice President, Management Development, Global Talent Development & Org Effectiveness of Mastercard Worldwide, explains:
“We have been working with Performance Consultants for over 3 years. Performance Consultants tailored their Coaching for Performance program to create a 1½ day Coaching for Impact program for us which we rolled out to 1,400 managers in 15 countries. One of the key objectives of the program was to improve our Employee Engagement – we have seen significant improvements and the program is recognized as a great success by our senior management.”
To ensure sustainability for Mastercard going forwards, we trained 42 of their internal trainers across Europe, US and Asia-Pacific to deliver the Coaching for Impact programme across the organization globally.
Engagement increases when leaders coach their employees
At Performance Consultants, we know that when leaders and managers adopt a coaching style, employees feel more empowered and engaged. They are able to identify their values and strengths and are enabled to tap into these on a daily basis. As a result the whole organization benefits; ROI for our clients have reached over 800%.
If you would like to know more, please get in touch with us.
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Sir John and his colleagues at Performance Consultants were the first to take coaching into the workplace and coined the term “performance coaching” in the early 1980s. We continue to lead the field in performance improvement through coaching leadership training.
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