There is a direct correlation between staff engagement and the amount of guidance, feedback and autonomy that managers are willing to provide workers, according to research.
In general terms, employees feel more supported if their bosses focus on what they do, feel good about themselves in their role and act in a way that demonstrates commitment to the organisation’s values and commitments.
But motivation levels also increase if managers show an interest in staff as individuals, offer feedback, praise and recognition, review and guide them in their work and empower them by providing them with appropriate levels of autonomy to get on with tasks themselves.
Ben Willmott, senior public policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which co-funded the report, said: "In today’s tough economic environment, how managers manage is even more important in supporting employee commitment and motivation in the face of job cuts, pay freezes and cuts to training and development budgets."
The pilot study, which was based on interviews with nearly 50 personnel working for the emergency team call centre of a large global energy supplier, was undertaken by staff wellbeing consultancy Affinity Health at Work.
The resultant report entitled ‘Management competencies for enhancing employee engagement’ was co-funded by a consortium of organisations, including employers across a range of industry sectors, and is intended to provide practical guidance on how to improve performance among line managers.
One Response
Line managers are crucial
From personal experience and our own survey findings, I’ve found that the role played by line managers is absolutely crucial to engagement. Our performance management review in December, which featured the views of 175,000 private sector workers, showed that more workers than ever before – eight out of ten (83%) – say they are well managed. Also, line managers are listening to employees’ concerns, according to nearly nine out of ten (88%) workers compared to 70% in 2009. http://goo.gl/qPrq8