As you grow your business and step more into a CEO role it is important to keep every team member engaged in the work. They are doing the work you may have done yourself when you started out as a solopreneur. 

 Welcome to episode 21 of Power Up Your Team podcast. Today, I want to remind you of three unintentional habits that undermine employee engagement.

 The days go by fast and you are rushing from one important meeting to the next or you are hovering over reports and spreadsheets to keep up with critical work.  It’s easy to forget a couple of small things that make a huge difference in how your employees are engaged at work. 

1.    Masterminding plans and keeping them to yourself

In the early stages of owning your business you had to make all plans by yourself and there wasn’t anyone around to share them with. 

And keeping everything close to your vest is still ok if you have a few part-time resources who perform repetitive tasks for you.

But the moment you are expecting your team members to make decisions you have to provide them with information and context.

They need to understand the big picture as to where you are headed with the business.  Check out episode 3 “Don’t lose your team on the road to success” where I discuss how you can make sure your team is aligned to your strategic direction.

Get into the habit of pondering your ideas with your employees and create transparency even as your plans take shape.

2.   Forget to invite and act on employee ideas

Once team members understand the general direction you are taking with your business, you will be amazed. Because what happens is they actually come up with great ideas of how to get there!

So, keep that in mind and ask for their ideas – formally and informally. Consider them seriously. Allow people to act on them and explain in case you chose not to implement a certain idea. 

See, if there is transparency in your vision and strategy you have the context in which you can explain why you follow or don’t follow an idea.

I have worked with managers who rather didn’t ask for ideas because they were afraid of having to reject one. And I worked with manager who asked for ideas but didn’t do anything with them. 

 Both habits are a guaranteed recipe to kick employee engagement to the curb.  

 Get into the listening habit. Listen to your employees like you listen to your customers. 

3.   Forget to give feedback and acknowledge great work 

People want to do good work – and that has to be the operating assumption for any leader. They want to know what they did well and where they can do better. 

Feedback doesn’t need to have the formality of a 1:1 meeting or a recognition event. Just a friendly “well done” as you walk by someone’s work place or start a meeting online will go a long way.  Of course, constructive feedback is important, too, and is better given in private. 

Get into the conscious habit of really seeing each and every one of your team members and the contribution they make.  

I once had a leader who thought that the pay check is all that’s needed to acknowledge the employee and his or her work. But here we are talking about a contractual obligation between employer and employee. 

Recognition and feedback are human interactions. They create buy-in and trust. You as leader communicate to your team that their presence and their work matters.  You are giving them a sense of belonging. 

 Find the complete show notes online at PowerUpYourTeam.com/21.