In the latest solo episode of the Happier at Work podcast, I delve deep into the topic of employee engagement. I share my insights on creating more engagement within your team and feeling more fulfilled in the work that you do. 

I provide a comprehensive breakdown of what engagement truly means, highlighting the academic definition as vigor, dedication, and absorption. I emphasise the importance of factors like energy, significance, challenge, and feeling fully. I also explain why it is important for both companies and individuals. Engaged employees have a positive impact on their colleagues, personal life, and even customers, leading to an overall positive working environment.

I share strategies and practical tips to drive better engagement at work. From the significance of feedback and recognition, providing opportunities for growth, to fostering open communication and creating an environment of psychological safety, there are actionable steps to implement within your team.

Make sure to check out this insightful podcast episode to gain a deeper understanding of how you can increase engagement in your workplace. Remember, a more engaged workforce leads to inspired, energetic, challenged, and proud employees, ultimately contributing to a positive work environment and improved work-life balance.

The main points throughout this podcast include:

• Insights on creating more engagement within your team and feeling more fulfilled in the work that you do.
• The importance of factors like energy, significance, challenge, and feeling fully.
• Strategies and practical tips to drive better engagement at work.
• Actionable steps to implement within your team to encourage engagement in the workplace.

Do you have any feedback or thoughts on this discussion? If so, please connect with Aoife via the links below and let her know. Aoife would love to hear from you!

Connect with Happier at Work host Aoife O’Brien:

Website: https://happieratwork.ie 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happieratwork.ie/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happieratwork.ie

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappierAtWorkHQ

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HappierAtWorkHQ 

Previous Episodes:

https://happieratwork.ie/203-national-workplace-wellbeing-day-with-aoife-obrien/

https://happieratwork.ie/197-the-journey-to-workplace-happiness-with-rob-dubin/

https://happieratwork.ie/178-fulfilling-your-potential-and-finding-joy-in-your-work-with-soma-ghosh/

https://happieratwork.ie/200-reskilling-diversity-and-building-a-happier-workplace-with-bhushan-sethi/

Mentioned in this episode:

Skillding

Skillding women

Hello, and you're very welcome to the Happier at Work podcast. I'm your host, Aoife O'Brien, and today I am doing another solo episode, and I'm covering a topic that I've touched on many times in the past, but I don't think I've ever done a dedicated episode on engagement. So if you're interested in, in creating more engagement within your team, feeling more fulfilled in the work that you do, then this episode is absolutely for you. And I'm feeling very inspired because I took part in two webinars this week. One of them was all about employee engagement and retention, and I shared about my happier at work framework and the importance of need satisfaction at work. If you don't know anything about that, it's something I've talked about in the past on the podcast. So definitely go out and check out that previous episode in relation to need satisfaction at work. And in the second one, we talked all about recognition and how recognition is evolving, how things are changing, and what the future of recognition looks like and how we can do it better and embed a culture of recognition.

So both of those very much related to engagement, and I thought, why not do a podcast episode all about engagement and share my own knowledge of engagement as well? And I suppose, first of all, thinking about, well, what is engagement? So let's start with the academic definition, if you like. So engagement is all about vigor, dedication and absorption. And those can kind of sound a little bit tricky words to get your head around, but just in terms of what that means. So vigor is really about the energy that you bring to work, mental resilience that you have. And it's this sense of investing effort, even in the case of difficulties. So if you're having a hard time at work, you still feel the energy or you still feel the desire to plow on through rather than giving up. So it's this sense of energy that you have associated with the work that you do. Dedication, then, is related to this idea of significance at work or the meaning that you have.

And for me, from what I've learned, doing the podcast, as long as I have meaning is so, so important for the work that people do. You have to feel that sense of meaning that you're having, that what you're, what you do actually matters, that you're making a difference to someone. So that sense of significance or meaning, but also dedication, is associated with challenge. So do you feel challenged enough in the role that you're doing? And do you have pride, whether that is in pride in the work that you're doing. Or it could be pride in the company that you work for and the work that you're doing as a collective absorption, then is feeling fully engrossed in the task that you're doing, feeling fully engrossed in your work. And for me, while the academic literature doesn't necessarily say that it's directly related to flow, for example, for me it is getting into that state of flow. And also worth considering is this could be related to whether or not you're working to your strengths. So are you getting the opportunity to work to your strengths in the role that you're doing on a day to day basis? And again, the strengths piece is part of the happier at work framework.

If it's not something you're familiar with, go and check out previous episodes all about your strengths at work and how to understand that and thinking about then engagement. Well, why is it actually important? From the company's perspective, you can think about it as being important for saving money. And at the end of the day, this is what companies want to hear. They're in business to make money, they're not in business to not make money. So really focusing on engagement as a way to retain staff, but also as a way to create a really positive working environment and attract new staff so that you don't have to pay so much to recruit and to retain staff as well. Now, the other thing that you consider can consider in relation to this is the issue impact of being in an engaged working environment on your colleagues, on your whole life, generally speaking, and the impact that you can have on customers. So the really positive impact that you can have on other people when you enjoy your work. And this has been shown to be the case as well.

So happier employees means happier customers. And then generally speaking, you know, I think people want to feel good at work. We spend so much of our time at work and it's really important that we feel good during that time so that we're not taking any misery that we're experiencing at work home with us as well. So a couple of the things that you might feel when you're feeling engaged at work and why you might want to focus on driving engagement at work, I've made a little note here. So you feel inspired. You feel inspired to do better work. You'll feel inspired by the people around you because you're in this positive working environment. You'll feel energetic, so you'll have the energy to carry out your tasks, to go above and beyond.

You'll feel a sense of excitement about the work that you do. That's not always a word we associate with work, but if you feel a sense of enjoyment and excitement about work, then I think it's something that's really, really positive. You'll feel also challenged by the work that you do, and I think this is an important factor. So one of the elements of the happier at work framework is about competence, and it's finding the balance between not feeling competent enough and feeling too competent. So getting that balance right means having a sufficient amount of challenge in the work that you're doing so that you're not feeling bored or complacent in the work. Another aspect that you'll feel is a sense of pride. So feeling really proud of the work that you're doing, the work that you're delivering, and the organization that you are working for. And then the last thing I want to leave you with in relation to how you're going to feel, if you feel more engaged, is carried away.

So you're kind of lost, you're losing track of time, you're getting so absorbed in the work that you're doing. I want to talk as well about how we measure engagement, and there are different ways that we can measure engagement. Typically in the US there is a big focus on the Gallup Q Twelve. I worked previously for a us company and I was involved in rolling out the Q Twelve and talking with the teams about what the results mean. So it's quite an interesting tool to use. Q twelve means that there are twelve questions involved in that survey looking at various different things. In Europe, there tends to be more of a focus on the US, which is the Utrecht work engagement. Utrecht work.

The Utrecht work engagement scale. And then of course, companies can come up with their own questions as well. They can maybe take a mix and match, or they can do something that's a little bit more specific to themselves. And some companies don't measure engagement at all. And, you know, if you're listening to this podcast, I'm hoping that you are working for an organization that does have some sort of employee engagement measurement in place. Something to bear in mind in relation to that is a state of engagement tends to be an ongoing state. And these surveys, depending on how the questions are asked, but they're often focused on a point in time. So if you have a particularly bad day, for example, maybe you'll mark a little bit lower.

Or if you have a particularly good day or a good week, you're going to mark it a little bit higher. When you're, when you're filling out the survey. So something to bear in mind. So for the remainder of today's podcast episode, I'm going to focus on the idea, like some of the strategies. So first of all, I'll talk about generic strategies that you can implement to drive better engagement at work. And then I'm going to talk about some really practical things that you can do straight away. And I mean, right after listening to this podcast, I want you to take action on what it is that I'm talking about. So the first area to drive engagement is feedback and recognition.

And as I mentioned, this is something that I spoke about at a webinar during the week, this week and how important it is. I think sometimes we forget. It's so easy to forget to acknowledge people for the work that they're doing, for the contribution that they're making. It's so much easier to pick out holes or to pick out the wrongdoings that people are doing or things that they didn't get right. And it's so important just to recognize whether they're working hard and thinking about how you're recognizing. So is it in relation to the tasks that they're carrying out? So recognizing people for the tasks, recognizing people for the outcomes that are being delivered, whether that is in a team environment, and recognizing people for living the behaviors that are expected, living the values of the organization. So taking that time to actually have a strategy around providing feedback and recognition. A slight side note, if you're going to provide feedback and recognition, make sure that you set really, really clear expectations upfront so that when you're delivering feedback, everyone is on the same page.

And the expectations at the outset were clear. If you don't know what the expectations are in your role, don't be afraid to ask that question. You know, you have to be really clear on what the expectations are of you in your role. Another way, another strategy that you can use to drive better engagement is providing opportunities for growth. Now, oftentimes we assume that this is providing career growth, you know, a promotion opportunity, a pay rise, something like that. But it doesn't necessarily have to be, I think, just an opportunity for a different project, to work with a different team, to do a stretch assignment, to make a lateral move within an organization, to gain new skills. So considering the bigger picture of someone's career, what might that look like? What does a growth opportunity look like for them? And again, it's so important to have these regular conversations with people about their careers. Are you having a regular conversation with your manager? And are you having regular conversations with your staff in relation to what they want to get out of their career, what their career aspirations are.

Another really important area for engagement is this idea of balance. And I know I've talked about this on the podcast before, and how balance is maybe not the best word to use because it implies that we're coming from a place of deficit, whatever word you want to use in relation to this. So it could be work life fit, work life integration, or work life balance, but making sure that people are not overworked, that they have that time that they're able to switch off, and they have that time to refresh and to recharge. So when they do come back to work, they're feeling much more invigorated, they're feeling much more engaged to actually get the work done. And then the last strategy then is around having open communication or creating an environment of psychological safety. Again, this is a topic that has come up so many times on the podcast. There are so many ways to do this. You can do it from the bottom up, you can do it from the top down.

But ultimately, what it means is role modeling the behavior that you want to see, showing that level of vulnerability, showing that you don't necessarily have all the answers, providing support to people, letting them know that you're there, asking the question, what do you need from me? What support can I give you? And really being there for your team. At the end of the day, we need to acknowledge the unique needs that every individual has. And again, I've talked about this on the podcast previously, but having an understanding that every single person is unique, they will have unique needs that need to be satisfied. But at the end of the day, people want to feel seen, heard and understood. Now, I don't know where that came from. I'm sure I've heard it so many times this week. In particular, I thought it worth sharing. It may come from Maya Angelou, I'm not sure, but I think it's so important, and it's so true when you're at work.

It's also true. It's true at home, it's true at work. People want to feel seen, they want to feel heard, and they want to feel understood. So, can you help your team to feel those things that they feel heard, that they feel seen, and that they feel understood? Now, on to the practical tips. So pull out your phone. If you're not listening to this podcast on your phone, pull out your phone and set a reminder to give some recognition. What does that mean to you? So, are you going to set a daily reminder to remind yourself to reach out to someone and give some positive, reinforcing recognition to them. Are you going to do five at a time? And I think the important thing with this is it needs to be authentic, it needs to be for something that they've done above and beyond, or just recognizing some hard work that they've done.

But remembering to recognize people for something well done is so, so important. So set a reminder in your phone to do that now. Set clear expectations. So I did mention this earlier, the importance of having those clear expectations. Are you really clear on the role that you have in the organisation? What is expected of you, what you're expected to deliver? Have the priorities changed? Do you need to communicate anything? And I think, again, with communication there's always this assumption that what we're talking about makes sense, but you need to make sure that people have understood what it is that is expected of them. So you may have set those clear expectations. Does your team understand what those expectations are and thinking about? And I've touched on this as well and this is the last practical tip, is your strengths. Do you know what your strengths are? This is not something that we ever really talk about at work.

Anyone I speak to and I say, I remember back in corporate, we never spoke about our strengths and they're like, it's still like that now. We don't talk about our own personal strengths. We don't recognize other people's strengths. So understand what your strengths are, understand who has potential complementary strengths to you and how can you work together and how can you spark a discussion about what people's strengths are at work. So getting a real understanding of what unique capabilities you bring to the role I think is so, so important and being able to talk about that. And let me just add this one other side note. This is something that came up in the webinar during the week, during the week around recognition, where recognition can be seen. Or at least if you are sharing the wins that you have with your boss, it's making their job easier.

So it makes it easier for them to know what it is that your successes are, to know what it is that you're working on. And it also makes their job easier to pass up the chain the successes that you've had and to talk about you in a really positive way. And I think this has helped by knowing, well what are my strengths and how have I leveraged my strengths to achieve what I've achieved. So that is it for today's episode. If you're watching on YouTube, you might notice a slight change in background. I've actually recently moved house here in Tenerife and I've got some boxes in the background that you'll see if you're watching it on YouTube. You obviously won't see that if you're listening to the podcast, but if you haven't tuned in on YouTube and you want to see for yourself then definitely go and check out the YouTube version. As always, you can reach me through the website happieratwork, ie.

I'm most active on LinkedIn but I'm also a little bit active on Instagram as well. You'll find all of my social links there. I'd love to know what you thought of today's episode, so if you're on YouTube you can leave a comment below. If you're listening then feel free to reach out to me directly, interact on social media and let me know what you thought of today's episode and what's one action that you're going to do differently.