Every great leader wants to inspire his or her employees and put them in a position to succeed. Our new white paper, “Winning with Culture: How Leadership Drives Engagement & Performance,” explores the leadership traits that lead to best-in-class employee engagement and drive performance.
Our research with Modern Survey showed that organizations with engaged employees share four common traits. Last week, we examined two: employees’ confidence in senior management and work that gives a sense of personal accomplishment.
Let’s take a look at two more key elements that top organizations share.
Employees are confident in the organization’s future
Since the economy crashed in 2008, employees’ sense of security has become threatened. When leaders hide and stop communicating, employees get anxious — and no one does their best work in that kind of environment.
Don MacPherson, president of Modern Survey, suggests that leaders schedule regular communication with employees. At the very least, leaders should be addressing the state of the organization once every quarter. Give employees real information about the state of the company, along with concrete ways they can help the organization move forward.
Great leaders share information about the direction of the company.
Employees feel they can grow & develop at their organization
We interviewed Doug Stark, CEO of Farm Credit Services of America. He emphasizes personal and leadership development for employees at every level. And he differentiates between “training” and “development.” Training—learning technical, on-the-job skills—is important. But development addresses the underlying personal foundation of an employee. “Leadership development starts with personal development,” Stark says. “If we can grow people to be better people first, they will be better employees.”
Great leaders help their employees grow.
Learn more about leadership and employee engagement – download the full white paper.
What qualities do you look for in a leader? What helps you contribute your very best as an employee?
