Coaching Techniques That Enhance Employee Engagement

This week, I facilitated a manager workshop on how to grow and develop people and teams. One question sparked a great conversation: “How do you develop your people outside of formal programs?” It’s a great question. IMO, one of the highest leverage actions a leader can take is making small, but consistent actions to develop their people. While formal learning experiences absolutely a role, there are far more opportunities for growth outside of structured settings from an hours in the day perspective. Helping leaders recognize and embrace this is a major opportunity. I introduced the idea of Practices of Development (PODs) aka small, intentional activities integrated into everyday work that help employees build skills, flex new muscles, and increase their impact. Here are a few examples we discussed: 🌟 Paired Programming: Borrowed from software engineering, this involves pairing an employee with a peer to take on a new task—helping them ramp up quickly, cross-train, or learn by doing. 🌟 Learning Logs: Have team members track what they’re working on, learning, and questioning to encourage reflection. 🌟 Bullpen Sessions: Bring similar roles together for feedback, idea sharing, and collaborative problem-solving, where everyone both A) shares a deliverable they are working on, and B) gets feedback and suggestions for improvement 🌟 Each 1 Teach 1:  Give everyone a chance to teach one work-related skill or insight to the team. 🌟 I Do, We Do, You Do:Adapted from education, this scaffolding approach lets you model a task, then do it together, then hand it off. A simple and effective way to build confidence and skill. 🌟 Back Pocket Ideas:  During strategy/scoping work sessions, ask employees to submit ideas for initiatives tied to a customer problem or personal interest. Select the strongest ones and incorporate them into their role. These are a few examples that have worked well. If you’ve found creative ways to build development opportunities into your employees day to day work, I’d love to hear what’s worked for you!

Your people want to grow… But you’re not listening. Employees crave development, not just feedback. Leaders miss the bigger picture: ↳ Skill gaps and ambitions. Otherwise, employees feel: 1. Unheard 2. Undervalued 3. Stuck Without growth, engagement drops. Turnover soars… You need more than feedback. You need an actionable strategy. Here’s how: 1. Use Structured Frameworks. - Standardized templates reduce personal biases. - Blend metrics with narratives for actionable insights. - Structured feedback eliminates guesswork. 2. Focus On Future Goals. - Set SMART goals to make development clear. - Shift feedback from past to forward-looking progress. - Align team growth with your company’s goals. 3. Listen To Employees' Voices. - Surveys uncover ambitions often left unspoken. - Safe spaces allow employees to share openly. - Listening fosters trust and deeper engagement. 4. Bridge The Gap For Future Success. - Use benchmarks to prioritize critical skill gaps. - Compare current skills to those your future requires. - Prepare employees today for tomorrow’s challenges. 5. Empower Growth Ownership. - Prompts like “Where do I excel?” spark reflection. - Encourage employees to own development paths. - Regular discussions keep growth consistent and visible. 6. Collaborate On Development Goals. - Build trust with safe, judgment-free feedback spaces. - Visualise their goals, showing progress and alignment. - Collaboration ensures both clarity and accountability. When growth is intentional, businesses succeed. Focus on development now to avoid turnover later. Invest in your people to future-proof your business. Follow Jonathan Raynor. Reshare to help others.

It’s no surprise that most organizations struggle with “employee engagement.” This year Gallup found that only 30% of U.S. employees are engaged. Lots of root causes and deep pain: feeling detached from employer, less clarity on roles, less connection to organization purpose, and feeling like few people at work care about them. ("U.S. Engagement Hits 11-Year Low," April 2024) Yet there are organizations in every industry that consistently have high engagement. What’s their secret? Turns out the #1 driver of employee engagement is having an exceptional Manager. Through our research with thousands of organizations, we've identified 6 Critical Practices every Manager should adopt to accelerate engagement on their teams. Here they are: 1) Develop a leader’s mindset. Think “I am responsible for delivering results through other people, in a way that helps them develop.” 2) Hold regular 1-on-1s. Schedule at least 30 minute weekly or bi-weekly. Let your team member set the agenda. Listen. Help brainstorm solutions rather than solve problems for them. Affirm their worth and potential. 3) Set up your team to get results. Effectively delegate by explaining why the work is important, the desired results, guidelines, resources, and accountability. Empower them. 4) Create a culture of feedback. Learn how to give, seek, and receive feedback as a leader, and within your team. 5) Lead your team through change. Help your team prepare for and envision change. Clarify the benefits. Check in and ask team members how they feel. Actively communicate and support. Use their ideas. 6) Manage your time and energy. Stay sharp in body, heart, mind, and spirit, so you can support your team. Weekly planning for 30 minutes, daily planning for 10 minutes. Seems simple, right? Yes, but common sense is often not common practice. 😉 Curious to hear your thoughts: What do you and your organization do to support high team engagement?