As a child, my dream job was to be a detective and Sherlock Holmes was one of my literary heroes. I still love solving riddles, and my role in the Success Program is to work with people analytics and data to help my clients solve mysterious problems.
We recently helped a client conduct an employee engagement survey for the second time and the results were astonishing. The results when you look at them in the spirit of a detective:
The company in question was a young, fast-growing organization in the tech industry. Many of them are still hiring people fresh out of college or with a few years of work experience. As expected in such fast-growing, dynamic businesses, turnover was high. Last year's survey respondents reported extremely high scores and engagement levels, but this year's results, while high, were lower than expected. To find out why, I looked at the data to see what had changed.
The Effect of Managers on Employee Engagement:
The first step in solving this riddle was to find out what had changed for the people still involved in the organization. Had their commitment declined? If so, what was the reason? To find the answers, I compared the year-over-year responses of those departments who reported being engaged in 2018 but whose engagement decreased in 2019. The biggest differences in scores between 2018 and 2019 were in the survey items related to respect shown by the manager, feeling valued, receiving attention from the manager, adequate feedback and appreciation. For the other group (i.e. those whose engagement increased over the year), we saw the opposite. They had much higher levels of positive ratings of their managers. Because we are looking at the results of a fluid community, it is possible to assume that these employees had a different manager than last year (or that the manager had undergone a significant change), but based on their responses, their experience of new management was either better or worse.
The Impact of Managers on Employee Retention:
To make sure I had the full story, I compared the scores of the total group in 2018 with those of survey respondents who had left (either voluntarily or through redundancy) after 2018. As I mentioned earlier, staff turnover was high in this particular company. I wanted to find out if there was a specific reason why people were leaving the organization. My assumption was that they were looking for jobs with better development and advancement opportunities. In the results of this group of disengaged employees, I discovered that they had statistically significantly lower scores for the manager being accessible and approachable, showing interest and respect.
At this point in my investigation, all the clues pointed to the fact that managers had a significant impact on employee engagement in this organization. This was not the only company where our Success Program evaluation analysts found such results, and it would not be the last. In almost all of our analyses that focus specifically on changes in employee engagement, issues related to managers come to the top.
The 5 Drivers of Employee Engagement:
Our partner Decision Wise analyzed nearly 14 million survey results to understand what "creates" employee engagement. The study revealed 5 keys to engagement: Meaning, Autonomy, Growth, Impact and Connection, or M-A-G-I-C. We found that the level of employee engagement is determined by how present these 5 keys are. Our research was clear that when these 5 factors (MAGIC) were present, employees were more likely to be engaged. Our researchers report these findings in the book "ENGAGEMENT MAGIC: 5 Tricks to Keep People, Leaders and Organizations Engaged".
Managers as a Factor of Lack of Employee Engagement:
When we do a factor analysis of the survey data to pinpoint the effects of engagement for an individual or an organization (another one of my demystification techniques), managers are not the main driver of engagement. But managers are the most important people in creating an engaged employee experience. And vice versa, they can also be a factor of low engagement in your organization. A good manager, to name a few examples, provides opportunities for growth, supports autonomous decision-making, helps employees find meaning in their work, shows them the impact of their efforts, and facilitates a sense of belonging. On the other hand, a bad manager can be very distracting (this was the case in this organization) and can completely prevent an employee from experiencing these ENGAGEMENT MAGIC elements that are vital for engagement.
When Managers Get in the Way of Employee Engagement:
Do you worry if there are managers in your organization who are getting in the way of employee engagement? Here are a few of the solutions we proposed to this organization:
Basic Training for New Managers:
The organization I was talking about offered fast-track managerial opportunities to young people who were new to the workplace and had little experience. Since most positions in the company were field and customer service roles, the company tended to have a high turnover rate. As a result, they would promote employees who had been with the company for a short period of time to first-level management positions to lead new hires. While this seemed like a great growth opportunity and attracted people both inside and outside the organization, it left the organization with unprepared managers who didn't yet know the basics of being a leader. If your organization is experiencing a similar situation, you can offer the following trainings to first-time managers.
360-degree Feedback Surveys:
For many managers with short or long tenure, it is useful to receive feedback on their performance. Receiving anonymous feedback from supervisors, colleagues and subordinates through a 360-degree feedback questionnaire allows them to discover behavioral or skill gaps that prevent them from being effective leaders.
Engaging Leader Surveys:
The Engaging Leader survey collects feedback on how key stakeholders perceive the manager's ability to build engagement. This feedback is a starting point for action planning and is particularly useful for setting goals for development, performance evaluation and creating an environment that creates commitment.
Monitoring Adherence:
It's hard to solve a problem you don't know exists. We find that many new managers don't even understand the concept of employee engagement. Instead of achieving results because of people, they try to do it in spite of people. Trying to find signs of engagement or disengagement at regular intervals (this can be done through employee surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, etc.) can help a manager to understand how MAGIC elements are perceived by their employees and adapt their style or methods to address them.
The evidence is very clear. Ultimately, having a good manager does not necessarily mean that employees will be engaged, but having a bad manager statistically reduces the odds of employee engagement. So, wouldn't it be good to focus more on developing your managers to create a strong employee experience? This should be a fundamental decision.
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