Engaged employees have the highest productivity because they show up mentally and physically every day with a high degree of motivation to deliver extraordinary results.
The following six strategies will keep you engaged at work.
1. Build friendships with people at work.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the friendships you have at work?
• Love and connection is the most important emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• We spend roughly 50% more time with our customers, coworkers, and bosses than we do with our friends, significant others, children and other relatives combined.
• Gallup research shows that without a best friend at work, the chances of being engaged in your job are 1 in 12.
• Gallup research shows that employees who have a close friendship with their boss are more than 2.5 times as likely to be satisfied with their job.
Action Item: If you want to be more engaged at work, develop at least three strong friendships at the office, maybe even one with your boss/senior.
2. Develop a learning and growth plan on a quarterly basis.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the opportunity you have to learn and grow in your current role?
• Learning and growth is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• You currently have skills, behaviours and experience that enable you to deliver results.
• Action Item: Identify learning and growth objectives and develop a 90-day action plan to improve your skills, behaviours and experience in required areas to help you achieve your full potential.
3. Contribute to the success of the people around you.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the contribution you make to the success of both internal and external people?
• Contribution is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• Action Item: Identify three activities that you do that contribute to the success of others. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.
4. Step into your significance.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how significant and important is the work that you do?
• Significance is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• When you do activities that you love to do, you feel a sense of purpose and significance.
• Action Item: Identify what you do that makes you feel significant and important. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.
5. Embrace variety and challenge.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the amount of variety and challenge in your current role?
• Variety and challenge is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• Boredom sets in if you don’t have enough variety and challenge in your role.
• Action Item: Identify what you do that makes you feel a sense of variety and challenge. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.
6. Create certainty to achieve career success.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the amount of certainty and control you have related to your career success?
• Certainty is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• Fear and pessimism set in if you don’t have enough certainty related to your career success.
• Action Item: Define what career success looks like to you. Reach out to your boss (and other coaches and mentors) to help you create more certainty related to your career success.
By Hari Das Nair - Vice President & Group Head - Human Resources
The following six strategies will keep you engaged at work.
1. Build friendships with people at work.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the friendships you have at work?
• Love and connection is the most important emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• We spend roughly 50% more time with our customers, coworkers, and bosses than we do with our friends, significant others, children and other relatives combined.
• Gallup research shows that without a best friend at work, the chances of being engaged in your job are 1 in 12.
• Gallup research shows that employees who have a close friendship with their boss are more than 2.5 times as likely to be satisfied with their job.
Action Item: If you want to be more engaged at work, develop at least three strong friendships at the office, maybe even one with your boss/senior.
2. Develop a learning and growth plan on a quarterly basis.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the opportunity you have to learn and grow in your current role?
• Learning and growth is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• You currently have skills, behaviours and experience that enable you to deliver results.
• Action Item: Identify learning and growth objectives and develop a 90-day action plan to improve your skills, behaviours and experience in required areas to help you achieve your full potential.
3. Contribute to the success of the people around you.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the contribution you make to the success of both internal and external people?
• Contribution is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• Action Item: Identify three activities that you do that contribute to the success of others. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.
4. Step into your significance.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how significant and important is the work that you do?
• Significance is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• When you do activities that you love to do, you feel a sense of purpose and significance.
• Action Item: Identify what you do that makes you feel significant and important. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.
5. Embrace variety and challenge.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the amount of variety and challenge in your current role?
• Variety and challenge is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• Boredom sets in if you don’t have enough variety and challenge in your role.
• Action Item: Identify what you do that makes you feel a sense of variety and challenge. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.
6. Create certainty to achieve career success.
• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the amount of certainty and control you have related to your career success?
• Certainty is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.
• Fear and pessimism set in if you don’t have enough certainty related to your career success.
• Action Item: Define what career success looks like to you. Reach out to your boss (and other coaches and mentors) to help you create more certainty related to your career success.
By Hari Das Nair - Vice President & Group Head - Human Resources
