Inspiring staff to do their best is a major challenge for most managers and human resources personnels.

Managers need to make staff feel they are living up to their potential, if they want to get the most out of them, says recent global survey.

It is nothing new that there is a connection between employee engagement and the performance of a company. The Marcus Buckingham Company (TMBC) had built a Global Engagement Index (GEI) to measure the number of employees who are engaged with their work.

Based on past research,  the TMBC Global Engagement Index had identified eight factors that are the most relevant to determining the engagement level of staff.  Employees in the survey are asked to rate on a  on a Likert scale (1–5) on the followings:

Purpose:

1. I am really enthusiastic about the mission of the company.

2 .At work, I clearly understand what is expected of me.

Excellence

3.In my team, I am surrounded by people who share my values.

4. I have the chance to use my strengths every day at work.

Support:

5.My team mates have my back.

6. I know I will be recognized for excellent work.

Future:

7. I have great confidence in my company’s future.

8. In my work, I am always challenged to grow

 

The study involved more than more than 1,000 employees in 13 countries.  China and the US led the way with the highest percentage of “fully engaged” employees at 19%, Argentina and Spain rounded out the bottom of the list at 13%.

Despite obvious cultural differences between the countries in the study, ‘I have a chance to use my strengths every day.’” stood out as the the item that employees think is the most important for them to be engaged with their company.

Marcus Buckingham, the founder of TMBC, says this illustrates that every member of every great team wants most the chance to express the very best of themselves. “Companies that ignore this will never be able to build more teams like their best teams,” he says.

The report indicates that the most powerful human need at work is help to discover strengths and to use them frequently.  With reference to the study, Buckingham suggested companies should have done more to equip local leaders with tools help them engage employees.   “Companies have overburdened the team leader with tools and systems like performance management systems, learning management systems, employee engagement systems, that are designed to serve the organization rather than the team leader,” he says.

Buckingham suggested managers would do well to stop trying to fix weaknesses and figure out better ways to leverage strengths.

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