As any manager knows, keeping workers engaged and productive can be a challenge sometimes.
And a recent survey from Bain & Company revealed some troubling employee engagement trends that could be flying under managers’ radars.
The survey of more than 200,000 employees from 40 companies showed that engagement levels are low for workers:
- who have longer tenures with a company, and
- are on the front lines.
One of the main causes of this (according to the survey)?
Many times, front-line supervisors aren’t trained well enough to coach employees and, too often, hand off difficult issues to HR.
As a result, many workers may get disenchanted and feel like their concerns aren’t being fully addressed.
The survey pointed out one example of this lack of dialogue between workers and front line supervisors:
In a focus group, Bain & Company asked supervisors what their workers’ top concerns were, and only 25% of the supervisors were able to correctly identify them.
Most of the supervisors said that lack of pay was a big concern.
But many of the workers said what they really wanted was:
- more training, and
- more frequent appreciation for a job well done.
Setting up managers for success
As this survey shows, management training for front-line supervisors is one of the keys to keeping workers engaged.
In fact, 55% of employees who feel confident in their manager’s leadership ability feel more engaged with their work, according to a survey by Dale Carnegie Training.
It’s a good idea to schedule a weekly or bi-weekly meeting with your front line supervisors to check in and check the pulse on how things are going.
Some of the training topics you should focus on for front line managers include:
- Providing feedback to workers. This shouldn’t just include schooling your supervisors on how to do performance evaluations. As we’ve written about before, encourage your supervisors to give positive feedback to workers — and also some constructive feedback when necessary.
- Resolving conflicts. This can be especially tough for new supervisors, who may be friendlier with front line workers. Providing some support and guidance in this area can make a big difference.
