Understanding and predicting employee engagement has become crucial for organizational success. Many leaders view employee engagement as an unpredictable “black box,” but recent research and practical experience suggest otherwise. This article explores how it’s possible to forecast engagement and provides actionable insights for leaders looking to build thriving, high-performing teams.
Roza Szafranek is a passionate entrepreneur who is committed to spending her time and effort building businesses with a strong people function. She’s received various global recognitions for her incredible work, including the Forbes Top 100 List. So what’s the importance of aligning candidates with the company culture, advocating for a focus on future potential, and recognizing the boundary between healthy engagement and burnout? Let’s break it down.
The Three Pillars of Engagement Forecasting
To effectively predict and manage employee engagement, leaders should focus on three core areas:
1. Talent Acquisition: Looking Beyond the Resume
Traditional hiring practices often rely heavily on past experience and impressive resumes. However, Roza emphasizes a more effective approach: “Recruitment is much more about checking the potential than about previous experiences of the candidate.” Here are some key strategies:
- Don’t be intimidated by impressive credentials. Dig deeper to understand what a candidate actually accomplished in their previous roles.
- Use behavioral interview questions to identify patterns in a candidate’s thinking and problem-solving approaches.
- Develop detailed personas for the roles you’re hiring for, considering not just technical skills but also interpersonal and intrapersonal qualities.
- Recognize that the best candidates often appear early in the hiring process. Don’t delay decisions unnecessarily.
2. People and Culture: Building a Strong Foundation
Creating a thriving organizational culture is essential for maintaining high levels of engagement. Key aspects include:
- Establishing clear communication channels and rhythms within the company.
- Setting boundaries and expectations for behavior and performance.
- Providing tools and support for effective management at all levels.
- Recognizing that investing in culture directly impacts business value and employee engagement.
3. Leadership: Understanding the Founder Factor
In startups and scale-ups, the engagement model often mirrors that of the founder or business owner, even as the company grows to hundreds of employees. Leaders must be aware of their outsized influence and ensure they’re modeling the behaviors and values they want to see in their organization.
The Power of Clarity in Driving Engagement
One of the most critical factors in forecasting and maintaining employee engagement is clarity. Roza highlights this importance: “The fact that you don’t care about the effects of [their] work and you don’t show them that you need it or use it or they are not able to feel that you are really interested in how they do… It is the basic problem, especially for the leaders who have really great willingness to empower people.” This encompasses several key areas:
Clear Expectations and Feedback
Many leaders confuse empowerment with a hands-off approach. However, employees need to know that their work matters and is recognized. Regular feedback and clear expectations are crucial for maintaining engagement.
Establishing Cultural Boundaries
The lowest accepted behavior in an organization sets the bar for the entire culture. Leaders must be clear about what is and isn’t acceptable, addressing issues promptly to maintain a positive work environment.
Enabling Impact
Employees are most engaged when they feel they’re making a meaningful contribution. Leaders should ensure that team members can see the impact of their work and have the resources and support needed to achieve their goals.
Red Flags: Early Warning Signs of Disengagement
To effectively forecast engagement, leaders should be aware of common warning signs that indicate potential issues:
- Changes in behavior patterns that don’t align with previously stated values or work preferences.
- High levels of effort without corresponding impact, which can lead to burnout.
- Aggressive or overzealous behavior, which may indicate unhealthy “burning” rather than sustainable engagement.
Understanding the Engagement Spectrum
It’s crucial to differentiate between healthy engagement and potentially problematic states:
- Engagement: A healthy state of motivation and connection to the company’s mission.
- Burning: An unsustainable level of effort that may lead to aggression or conflict.
- Burnout: The result of prolonged burning without adequate support or recognition.
Leveraging Experience to Drive Change
While every organization is unique, there are often patterns and commonalities in how people behave and react to change. By studying these patterns across multiple companies, leaders can gain valuable insights into effective management strategies and avoid common pitfalls. Roza notes, “We see the patterns in organizations, so how people behave in hiring, how people behave in organizational culture aspects, how they lead, how they manage teams are repeatable when it comes to the stage of growth of the company.”
Practical Tips for Forecasting and Improving Engagement
- Invest time in thoroughly understanding candidates during the hiring process, looking beyond surface-level qualifications.
- Establish clear communication rhythms and feedback loops within your organization.
- Be aware of your influence as a leader and consciously model the behaviors you want to see.
- Regularly assess engagement levels and watch for early warning signs of disengagement.
- Create opportunities for employees to see the impact of their work.
- Address cultural issues promptly to maintain a positive work environment.
- Provide adequate support and resources to prevent burnout.
- Learn from the experiences of other organizations at similar stages of growth.
The Path Forward
Forecasting employee engagement is not only possible but essential for building successful, resilient organizations. As Roza emphasizes, “Setting up the right measures for people and culture area, setting up the right measures for talent acquisition… it is the main thing in our approach and in our thinking.” By focusing on effective talent acquisition, strong cultural foundations, and mindful leadership, companies can create environments where employees thrive and contribute their best work.
Remember that the journey from “zero to one” – building something from scratch – is often the most challenging. However, by leveraging the knowledge and experiences of others who have walked similar paths, leaders can navigate these challenges more effectively and build truly engaging workplaces.
As you implement these strategies, keep in mind that engagement is not a one-time achievement but an ongoing process. Regularly reassess your approach, stay open to feedback, and be willing to adapt as your organization grows and evolves. With persistence and a commitment to creating a positive work environment, you can build a company where engagement isn’t just a goal, but a natural outcome of your culture and leadership.
Listen to the episode: Gut + Science | 214: It IS Possible to Forecast Engagement with Roza Szafranek
Key Takeaways:
- Future Potential Over Past Accomplishments: Talent acquisition should prioritize identifying individuals who align not only with the job requirements but also with the organization’s culture.
- Relationship Building for Recruitment Success: Successful recruiting hinges on deep, meaningful relationships with candidates.
- Balancing Engagement and Burnout Prevention: Establishing clear boundaries and recognizing the signs of burnout are vital to safeguarding both employee well-being and organizational productivity.
Things to listen for:
[00:04:59] The three crucial pillars for planning and measuring people in organizations: talent acquisition, people and culture area, leadership and founders
[00:11:52] The “founder factor” – how the engagement model in startups and scale-ups often mirrors that of the founder, even up to 300 employees.
[00:13:44] Tips on how to assess potential during talent acquisition, rather than just focusing on past experience.
[00:19:59] The importance of eliminating assumptions based on past experience and looking at the “whole human profile” during recruitment.
[00:26:43] The concept that people crave meaningful contribution, not just free time at work.
[00:29:49] Definitions of “burning” versus “burnout” versus healthy engagement.
