6 tips to make your 'engagement' process work

High employee engagement is good for business. Companies like Gallup, Deloitte and Towers Watson continuously tell us and show evidence that companies with an 'engaged' workforce show better results and employee well-being. When it comes to everyday practice it is not so straight forward. Most companies don't measure their business results in relation to the employee engagement process. So how can you tell? Here are some tips to make your employee engagement process work.

1. Start the engagement process for the right reasons. It is a means to an end not an end in itself. It's not 'engagement' itself that we should focus on. The goal should be to improve the desired (business) results and decide on those together.

2. Make it a continuous process, not a yearly event. Change will not happen if you only focus on it once per year. Just like the 'performance management process' if you don't make it a continuous improvement process, it will not be effective. Make effective use of the power of progress

3. To engage is a verb. This simple verb says it all. It implies both action and inclusion. No bystanders allowed. Everybody is involved, engaged and accountable.

4. Get rid of the ‘ratings’ or ‘scores’. Ratings are a distraction to the actual goal: Be better today than yesterday and there's never a maximum score. Measure the continuous progress and business results instead.

5. It is not the tool, it’s the dialogue stupid! The tool and questions are not so important it's what you actually do with it. Opening a continuing dialogue and decide upon improvement actions within and across teams is what creates positive change.

6. Don’t make the manager responsible for the result!! It is a team effort. Make the team responsible for the improvement process. Engagement means that everyone is involved. Nobody is a bystander. Don't let your manager fall into the 'accountability trap'.