Team Leaders - The Key to Employee Engagement

A recent global workforce study of 90,000 employees in 19 countries conducted by global professional services firm Towers Perrin reveal that it is the manager (team leader) who is the greatest catalyst for exceptional employee performance.

The evidence of managerial influence is clear:

• Only 21% of the employees surveyed around the world are engaged in their work, meaning they're willing to go the extra mile to help their companies succeed.
• Some 38% of employees are partly to fully "disengaged."
• Firms with the highest percentage of engaged employees collectively increased operating income 19% and earnings per share 28% year over year.
• Companies with the lowest percentage of engaged employees showed year-over-year declines of 33% in operating income and 11 percent in earnings per share.

BOTTOMLINE: The challenge for businesses is clear: To get and maintain a competitive edge, organizations must not only attract customers, they must attract and engage the most talented employees. Moreover, it is the quality of the relationship between managers (team leaders) and direct reports (team members) that defines an employee's level of engagement

People don't leave organizations; they leave poor managers. The quality of team leader-team member relationships depends on the quality of the management best practices each team leader uses. Effective team leaders:

• Clearly articulate, measure and monitor job expectations
• Uses fair, and regularly scheduled (1:1 status meetings) for measuring progress and performance
• Uses both motivational and inspirational best practices for performance-related behavioral change
• Uses multiple methods for communicating change, accountability, expectations and consequences