Great leaders create team members who go the extra mile—and stay with the organisation, right?
The results of the Corporate Leadership Council’s 2004 employee Engagement Survey indicate just how important this is. (This isn’t a minuscule survey: 50,000 employees, globally, responded.)
Two of the key highlights of the survey are…
Highly committed employees perform 20% better than those who’re not highly committed.
And they’re 87% less likely to resign.
You can’t sneeze at that!
Having highly committed employees is like boosting your results by 20%. Or like having an extra person in your team for every five of your current team members.
Plus, you’ll considerably reduce the number of team members who resign. (It’s hideous how replacing resignations eat into your time and your expense budget.)
The Cost of Having Disengaged Team Members
Disengaged team members put in minimal effort—and (even more importantly) they actively oppose people and ideas.
It’s hard to be an impressive leader when you have disengaged team members—given that one of your key objectives is to maximise productivity.
What Exactly Is Commitment—And What Drives It?
Interestingly, the Corporate Leadership Council’s survey found that commitment is generated by what’s in your team member’s heart, rather than what’s in their head.
It said that “A strong emotional commitment to one’s job and organisation has the greatest impact on discretionary effort.”
A “rational commitment” is a shallow one—based on financial rewards or developmental rewards.
But an “emotional commitment” is based on getting “pride, enjoyment, inspiration, or meaning from something or someone in the organisation.”
Here’s the Good News…
The good news is that you’re a huge player in how committed your team members feel—how emotionally committed they are.
You’re a huge player because the level of rapport and trust that they perceive they have in their relationship with you will have a significant impact on their emotional commitment.
Put your focus on developing stronger rapport and trust with your less-engaged team members—and watch what happens!
When they’re engaged emotionally:
- They won’t hesitate to go the extra mile
- Their heart will be in producing the best possible result
- And they’ll be far less likely to leave the organisation.
Your Call To Action
What can you personally do so that every single one of your team members is highly committed, emotionally?
If you’d like help in answering this question:
- Email me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation discussion: carolyn@leadingperformance.com.au
- We’ll talk about your key challenges and what’s important to you
- Then we’ll get clarity on the potential solutions that’ll work best for you.
One thing’s for sure: You can’t afford the costs of disengaged team members—and, trust me, turning them into high performers isn’t necessarily difficult.
“My coaching program has given me a vastly improved ability to
effectively and efficiently manage issues and conflict. Situations
that I previously viewed as difficult, and therefore sometimes
procrastinated about, now seem a good deal more approachable.”
—Managing Director, Investment Bank
About the Author:
For more than 25-years, Carolyn Stevens has helped leaders flourish and become more confident, more courageous and impressively influential (including those who’ve previously struggled to confront difficult situations, let alone persuasively deal with them).
Plus, as a personal career strategist, she specialises in helping ambitious female senior executives create a reputation as an indispensable world-class leader.
Carolyn is authentic and results-oriented. She’ll draw on an eclectic array of approaches, tools and techniques to suit your situation.
She’s never too busy to talk to you if you’re in a hurry to boost your success. Same goes for leaders you refer.
Just email if you’d like to arrange a time to chat: carolyn@leadingperformance.com.au
