Driving Employee Engagement Through Leadership Development

Sick of hearing about the “Great Resignation” but not sure what to do?

Talk about this unfolding scenario has been playing like a broken record since it first emerged… but many businesses still haven’t developed sufficient tactics to deal with its implications.

Leadership development could be a key part of the solution…

Unpacking the cliché

So, what’s really behind the cliché that is the Great Resignation?

Well, there’s been a fundamental shift in the talent market and people have adjusted their sights around what’s important.  No longer is remuneration the only primary driver – sure, it’s a key part of the equation but it’s only one part of the complex matrix that comprises what people now value in the employment relationship.

Employee engagement is a massive element behind individuals seeking a change:

Source: https://ergoncmictrends.com/great-resignation-statistics/

An Australian Context

Although the trend began earlier in the US and Europe, Australia has followed suit. The drivers behind the Great Resignation are firmly in play:

• Unemployment is low, creating intense competition for talent

• Wage pressures are building

• Immigration has been restricted in recent years, tightening the talent pool

• Baby Boomers continue to exit the workforce through retirement

• Employees are increasingly open to changing jobs

The combination of these factors creates a challenging equation for mid-market businesses seeking to attract and retain quality talent.

What to do?

To attract and retain talent, business owners and CEOs must act now. A strong employee value proposition needs to go beyond base salary and bonuses to include factors that foster engagement and retention.

It’s no longer enough to simply meet the market on pay — understanding what people value and what motivates them is essential. That’s where employee engagement becomes critical.

What drives employee engagement?

The chart below illustrates that whilst remuneration is important, other non-cash components have a higher impact on employee engagement in the short term and also provide long lasting impacts over an 18-24 month period:

Source: CLC HR Engagement Research Survey; 2009 Employment Value Proposition Survey

Best-selling author, Dan Pink, takes this further in his book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”¹ where he summarises findings of studies that have repeatedly proven that there are three factors that lead to better performance:

1. Autonomy – the desire to be self-directed
2. Mastery – the urge to get better at doing, underpinning the ability to contribute
3. Purpose – the reason behind why the work exists

Pink goes further in stating that, when you are dealing with higher order jobs that involve greater complexity, simply paying employees more as the primary or sole motivator often leads to poorer performance.

The underlined section above sounds like all leadership roles, right?

Given this, there must be a focus on autonomy, mastery and purpose for all employees – particularly those in leadership and other key roles.  This requires investment from businesses to ensure the capability and competency levels are sufficient for individuals to operate autonomously and develop mastery over their roles.

Leadership development is a critical solution

From a business owner and CEO’s perspective, leadership development programs provide a valuable lever to enhance the opportunity for autonomy and mastery in the workplace.  As a result, it provides a mechanism to increase employee engagement and provide a non-monetary reward that supplements base salary and differentiates the employee value proposition.

This in turn provides a powerful engagement tool that leads to stronger employee retention results and importantly, drives better performance helping deliver tangible business outcomes.

The equation is simple:  Invest in leadership development as part of the solution to engage your talent, drive performance and generate return on investment (ROI).  Further to this, the ROI for leadership development will be greatly magnified for those companies where strategy and purpose are clearly articulated, communicated and understood by the team.

To learn more about how an effective well-structured and run leadership development program can benefit your business, take a look at our Leadership Development Services page or download our Leadership Development Framework.

Alternatively, feel free to drop us an email, give us a call, or book a consultation with our MD.

 Notes:

1. Dan Pink has taken this further in his material around “The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc