This year, I propose you give a gift that literally keeps on giving because its effects last well past Christmas and New Year. Give them the gift of loving their jobs more. If you do that, they will give you the best gift ever: their engagement.
So how do you do that? Three simple ideas from Patrick Lencioni’s The Truth about Employee Engagement.
Get to Know Them
Of course, you want to honour the members of your team and give them the freedom to share what they want to share, but the important thing is that they understand that you care more about who they are than about what they do. There are many ways you can do that, but I find that a genuine “how are you?” or “how was this year for you?” and taking the time to truly listen are two ideas that will go a really long way. The key is communicating that who they are is a lot more important than what they do.
Give them unsolicited positive feedback
When you are speaking with them, give them a few examples of how their work is positively impacting the company’s mission and purpose. Show them that what they do really matters by reminding them of the bigger picture and how they fit into that. Show them that without what they are doing, there is an important piece missing.
Give them the gauge
Sometimes employees feel that what they do is never good enough because they perceive that their success is measured against constantly shifting the goalposts – and their motivation suffers. When your team can gauge for themselves whether they are successful will help them love their jobs so much more. Don’t make them have to come to you or wait for you to come to them to see whether or not they are doing a good job – help them find ways to see that for themselves by helping them see their sphere of influence with the work they do and how that impacts the company overall – again, give them insight into, or remind them of the big picture.
Key takeaways
This Christmas give your team something that will change their lives. If you show them that you don’t just care about what they do, but you also care a great deal about who they are; that what they do matters; and that you want to enable them to see how successful they are for themselves, they will love their jobs more. As a result, they will go home happier to their loved ones, and their personal lives will be positively impacted. In return, they will give you an invaluable gift back: they will be more engaged, they will trust you more, they will work harder, and they will be less likely to leave the company.
Happy Christmas!
