It’s no secret that engaged managers have teams that are more productive, have enhanced team communication, and a more positive impact on their employees when compared to disengaged managers. Employees feed of their manager’s energy, mood, and tone. If a manager is disengaged, they will likely breed employee attitudes of the same nature.
For these reasons, it is important to ensure managers stay as engaged as possible throughout the year. Managers who are considered “highly engaged” are those who proactively manage employee onboarding, communicate clearly and directly with employees, and are honest in their strengths and limitations as a manager.
Some of the best ways to keep managers engaged include:
- Top-down communication regarding the current state of the organization and what the future holds. Keep managers engaged by maintaining open lines of communication, reiterating transparency and trust in the management team. Organizational goals, including the goal reason and any relevant data, will help reignite the passion for the manager’s tie to the company mission, vision, and values.
- Prioritize learning and development of your management team to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to continue their professional growth. For many, the title or position they currently hold is not going to be their last. Take the steps necessary to aid in the growth of your management team rather than letting their skills fall to the wayside.
- Stress the importance of listening. Ask managers to listen to their team as a whole when the team members are interacting with one another. What are they saying? What is the tone? Ask managers to listen to understand when employees are coming to them one-on-one, rather than listening to respond. What each manager will hear from the team and from their employees may surprise them, especially if they weren’t really hearing employees previously.
- Encourage managers to create an environment within their team that focuses on continuous improvement and feedback. As most employees prefer informal and seemingly “on-the-go” feedback, it makes sense to encourage this type of 360° feedback conversations. It is imperative that managers provide relevant and timely feedback to employees, and those employees feel comfortable sharing their feedback in these conversations, also.
Managers, the good and the bad, are developed over time. Maintaining a positive work environment that breeds manager engagement is what employees are looking for in both a manager and workplace. These elements that create company morale are in the hands of the managers. To start the process of keeping managers engaged will take time to put in place; however, it’s the easiest route to training and refining the preferred company culture with your managers. Contact Insured Solutions to learn more.