The Evolving Role of Leaders in Enhancing Employee Engagement

BY Erin Behrens | August 15, 2023

Lots of companies talk about well-being, but many don’t follow through in a tangible way. Rosey Rhyne, senior research manager at DDI, a global leadership-development firm, recommends that leaders should walk the walk–sometimes literally. “For a leader, showing how they prioritize wellness could mean saying, ‘I’m going for a walk to clear my head after this busy morning.’ It’s about doing little things where well-being is a priority that is being communicated,” said Rhyne. “Doing that really shows vulnerability, too. It shows that they’re willing to be vulnerable, to some extent with their team members, and that they’re human.”

Showing vulnerability helps build trust, an intangible yet crucial aspect of leadership. According to DDI’s recently published Global Leadership Forecast 2023, when leaders regularly display vulnerability, their employees are 5.3X more likely to trust them.

From Day One talked with Rhyne, who contributed to the research, to learn more about leading a successfully engaged workforce. Rhyne holds a masters degree in industrial/organizational psychology and has served in several roles in HR, all of which allows her to better understand the employee experience, identify workplace trends, and consider how they impact leaders. Excerpts:

Q: The concept of employee engagement has been around since the 1990s. How has it changed in recent years? What’s the same?

A: A lot in our world has changed, so the workforce is constantly evolving now too. The speed and rapidity with which we’re seeing all of these changes is way different than 20 years ago. I don’t think engagement itself is changing. But what we’re seeing is the environment around us in the workplace evolving. For example, remote and hybrid work became a norm because of the pandemic, but a lot of people decided to continue to work remotely or in hybrid settings. And in doing that, from a leadership perspective, it changes the dynamic of how work gets done, because a leader can’t just walk by a desk and see that someone’s on their computer but not focusing on the work. Or that they’re stuck. Leaders are missing out on the nonverbal cues that would signify this.

Leaders today need to be comfortable with this different way of thinking. They might not have that visibility, but there has to be trust. They need to trust that their workers are doing their work, or if needed, feel comfortable asking for help. Leaders also need to find innovative ways to check in with their team on a frequent basis.

Q: What happens when leaders themselves are not engaged?

A: If a leader is not engaged in their role, how are they supposed to help their team members be engaged in their roles? There will be a lack of purpose and trust if a leader is checked out. It causes a ripple effect, where it isn’t just the leader that is not doing their work or not executing projects, but their team members too, since they don’t have the guidance and support that they need. And if there are high performers who are trying to compensate for the fact that their leader is lacking direction, then they might actually become burnt out because their needs aren’t being met, but they continue to try. So there’s a major ripple effect, and that can be costly.

Q: What should leaders focus on to build engagement today?

A: In our Global Leadership Forecast 2023, we identified four behaviors that are consistent with driving higher engagement within companies. Here’s what we found in order of importance: maintaining trust with employees, encouraging others to challenge the status quo, being open to that feedback by listening and responding with empathy, and lastly, providing opportunities for team members to gain visibility.

From Day One spoke with Rhyne about DDI's Guide to Employee Engagement and Retention (company photo)

We found that these behaviors help leaders meet the personal needs of their team. But there are also practical needs that need attention. Those involve things like a leader being there to help make a critical decision, removing barriers and obstacles to getting work accomplished, and even something as simple as making sure they have the tools to do their jobs effectively. Making sure both the personal and practical needs are met can help leaders make sure their team is performing at their best and engaged while doing so.

Q: Now that we’ve discussed how leaders can cultivate engagement, where are organizations going wrong? What do companies get wrong about employee engagement?

A: There are a few things companies are getting wrong. First, it’s easy to think that HR is responsible for engagement, like when things are going well, that's great, everyone’s doing wonderfully. But if there’s a disengagement problem, regardless of where it is in the company, then it becomes an HR problem. The reality is that disengagement is actually everyone’s issue, because everyone plays such a critical role in making sure that engagement is happening. Leaders are there to remove barriers and make sure they are inspiring the motivation and meeting the needs of their team. Meanwhile, team members have the responsibility to say if they’re not engaged and try to figure out why.

Another thing that we get wrong about engagement has to do with measuring it. A lot of companies have a way of measuring engagement–but the frequency at which we measure it, and what we do with the results of those measurements, is where things can go wrong. For instance, if we just measure engagement one time a year, does that mean that people are engaged at that level throughout the year? No, it doesn’t. So if we have more frequent pulse checks and more frequent conversations about engagement, it will help a lot.

The other half of that is figuring out what to do with the results. Sometimes we see companies that do an amazing job of coming back and action-planning from their engagement data. But workers might not be able to make the connection between the action and the engagement results. And part of that might be because managers are not communicating that, ‘Hey, we’re doing this because of the results that we saw in the engagement survey.’ What that’s going to do is encourage people to go back and take the survey the next time and be honest in their contributions.

Q: Do you have any tips or advice to leave with leaders who are striving to enhance employee engagement within their team or organization?

A: Make sure that you’re paying attention to the needs of your team members. Not just from a day-to-day work perspective, but also what’s going on outside of work that might be impacting how they’re feeling towards work. Be there for them and talk to them, ask how things are going using your strong EQ skills.

If I could leave just one piece of advice that I haven’t already touched on, it would be to regularly check in with team members regardless of how strong a performer they are. If they’re doing well and they're still getting their work done on time or before deadlines, that is wonderful news. But that doesn’t mean that all of their needs are being met. They could be experiencing a situation where they’re focusing a lot on work, but they have needs outside of work that are not being met. If that’s the case, their personal needs aren’t being met; checking in with them is how you can build trust and prevent burnout. Don’t assume that everything is okay just because somebody is getting their work done.

To learn more about cultivating an engaged workforce, check out DDI’s Guide to Employee Engagement and Retention. The practical guide offers methods to improve those aspects of the workplace, focusing on three essential steps:

  • First, providing career growth opportunities, since only 24% of leaders report training in identifying and developing future talent.
  • Second, leading with emotional intelligence (EQ), or the ability to manage yourself and your relationship to others. 
  • And lastly, fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In its research, DDI found that nearly 75% of employees who report feeling included in the workplace also report feeling completely engaged in their organizations.

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, DDI, for sponsoring this sponsor spotlight.

Erin Behrens is a member of the editorial staff of From Day One.

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