Employee Engagement: An Engaged And Happy Employee Is A Productive Employee

Survive & Thrive

Getting your employees excited about making an impact is one of the best ways of creating a good working environment and company culture. However, not many organizations take advantage of employee engagement techniques -- especially during COVID-19 -- and are suffering as a result. An engaged employee feels like they’re being heard and they’re making a difference, making them happier. Happy employees tend to result in improved production and lower turnover.

Jason Magidson joins Jennifer to discuss the merits of employee engagement and what you can do as a business owner or supervisor to cultivate it. Jason is currently a leader at AmeriHealth Caritas and is the author of several books, including his latest work “Engaged.”

Act 1: Before the pandemic

Jason Magidson introduction and background (0:50)

Jennifer introduces Jason, touching on a few of the books he’s published, where he’s worked, and several of the companies he’s impacted. Jason shares some of the important projects he’s worked on throughout his career.

Rapid deployment and setup (4:19)

Jason shares one project he worked on at GlaxoSmithKline where they were able to set up a research and development space within just five weeks. He discusses the importance of the quick turnaround and the impact it has, especially in a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic.

What was Jason doing at the start of the pandemic? (6:11)

In March of 2020, Jason was working with vulnerable groups, promoting health equity for minority populations at AmeriHealth Caritas.

Addressing employee engagement before the pandemic (8:31)

The pandemic brought to light many of the issues Jason and his team were trying to address. Jason explains how the company had begun and accelerated an initiative to engage employees to help create ideas to boost efficiency as well as cultural characteristic to improve empowerment internally.

Act 2: Employee engagement during COVID-19

The importance of employee engagement (11:43)

As Jason notes, employees that aren’t engaged tend to be less productive. But when you create opportunities for them to make an impact, they thrive.

Combatting company disengagement through difficult times (13:02)

When going through a crisis, it can be difficult to find the time to improve employee engagement when it’s needed the most. However, Jason believes that by making staff more enthused to give their ideas and by making them a part of the solution, companies can boost enthusiasm and energy.

How the shift to remote work has changed company dynamics (14:09)

The pandemic has meant more people, and whole companies in some instances, have moved to remote working. Jason details how he’s seen those changes impact company dynamics.

Fostering employee engagement (15:30)

If you haven’t been promoting employee engagement at your company previously, now is the best time to start. If you’re just starting a company, plan your processes with employee engagement in mind. Jason shares some ways you and your company can do this, like capturing employee ideas and using tribal leadership to improve cross-collaboration.

Leveraging tribal leadership to boost employee engagement (19:00)

Using Dave Logan’s “Tribal Leadership” idea, Jason discusses the five stages of engagement and collaboration, and the impact the fifth and final stage can have on an organization.

Act 3: Maintaining employee engagement when you go digital

Biggest surprises (21:46)

Jason shares what he’s been most surprised by as companies have moved to more virtual workplaces, including the technology and the ability for employees to connect in a different way.

Ensuring productivity doesn’t slip with virtual employees (23:45)

Jason details some of the things companies need to keep in mind with their remote staff in order to ensure they keep a high level of employee engagement and productivity.

Leveraging people’s expertise (24:59)

It can be easy to fall into a pattern of having a go-to team member you rely on for everything. But as both Jennifer and Jason point out, making sure to include everyone allows others to shine and could even ensure tasks get done better than they would have.

Act 4: Fostering employee engagement beyond the pandemic

Creating an infrastructure to promote employee engagement (26:22)

To truly thrive, Jason believes there needs to be an infrastructure to promote employee engagement that has both big and small strategies involved.

Tend the garden (27:41)

Just as previous guest Steve Van Valin said, Jason likens the process of fostering culture and engagement to planting a garden. Simply planting the seed isn’t enough, you have to consistently work on it in order to see the best results.

Raising expectations (28:15)

With a bunch of work on your plate, it can be easy to overlook team members and their individual assets. Jason talks about the enthusiasm employers and supervisors should have for getting their employees engaged, knowing it will improve productivity and allow everyone to thrive.

Links:

Jason Magidson - LinkedIn

Jason Magidson’s latest book - Engaged

Emplify - Employee Engagement Stats 2020

Gallup - Employee Engagement