Want More Employee Engagement? Try these five disciplines.

• Author: Burich, Woodrie

I've been hearing a lot about the increasing need for employee engagement in an increasingly hybrid world. Gallup recently compiled research pointing to drops in engagement the past few years and noted that it's a hot topic at leadership tables in 2023.

If we want more engagement, we need to focus on connection first. Connection fuels us. It provides us passion and meaning. Consider how a great conversation can inspire the whole day. Or reflect on the best teams you have been lucky enough to be part of: high-performing, driven, innovative, fun to the point of uproarious laughter at times--those are the best. Both of these have something in common: meaningful connection.

A while back, I was on a coaching call with a talented man working in a Fortune 100 company (story details slightly edited to ensure confidentiality). We were reflecting on his past job departure and lessons learned from that experience. He shared how the last company he left was great, and his previous boss there had been kind, engaging, and always seemed to care about him. Before his departure, he had been reassigned to a new boss, and his new boss was different. Highly transactional and deadline driven. His boss wasn't necessarily mean or toxic--he was actually effective and efficient--but he wasn't connected. His boss never asked about his personal life or seemed to care how his day was. Eventually, in time the work became monotonous, dry, and boring. My client shared with me that he was craving to do more in that position--to contribute more--to engage. But instead, he left.

What's interesting is that my client had never met any of his colleagues or supervisors in person; every single engagement with that company was through a computer screen. What was even more fascinating was the huge perspective shift that arose the moment his boss changed. It was the role of relationship that forced the departure. Not pay. Not job duties. Not workload. It was the transactional nature of the relationship that reflected a lack of engagement.

Ultimately, it was loss of connection that drove this young and clever individual to a new job at a new company (lucky them).

I'm curious if the same would have occurred in an onsite job setting. I wonder if our corporate cultures are simply not translating well into hybrid spaces--and if our relationships are being severed through reduced connection points. I'm also curious what might have occurred if the organization had other efforts underway...