Welcome to my course on building employee engagement and improving people management. The course will help you get the most from your team or work group and give you vital skills to grow as a leader.

Yankelovich and Immerwahr have reported that only 23% of employees say they work at their full potential. Forty-four percent report that they only work hard enough to keep their jobs. And 75% say they could be significantly more effective in their jobs.

And you may be familiar with the Gallup organization which has conducted massive surveys on employee engagement each year since 2000. These surveys tell us that, on average over the last 20 years:

• 30% of employees are engaged (or emotionally invested) in their work.

• 53% of employees are disengaged, meaning that they come to work to collect a paycheck but lack commitment.

• 17% are actively disengaged meaning that they may say and do things that are actually harmful to the business. They often create a toxic environment for other employees.

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is the emotional investment employees make in their organizations. It has to do with passion, motivation, and commitment they bring to their work. Engaged employees care about their work and they care about their team or organization. They want to perform at their best and make a difference to their organizations and the customers they serve.

And, doesn’t it stand to reason that those companies who have an engaged and committed workforce are going to outperform those who do not? Research shows that high employee engagement leads to:

• 37% less absenteeism

• Up to 65% lower turnover

• 41% fewer quality problems/complaints

• 10% higher customer ratings

• 21% higher productivity

• 22% higher profitability

Purpose and Benefits

The purpose of this program isn’t to teach general theories of leadership but rather to give you specific tools or practices to build a strong team and increase the engagement, motivation, and performance of your employees. You’ll find the practices I teach to be concrete and doable and not theoretical.

Let me share a bias. Most employees want to succeed. They want to contribute and make a difference. And it’s our job as leaders is to make this possible by empowering them to use their intelligence and creativity to make decisions, solve problems and contribute to the overall success of the business. The tools I’m offering you will show you how.

The course should enable you to:

• Improve your people management skills

• Spend less time fighting fires and more time leading

• Increase the engagement and commitment of your employees

• Improve the performance of your team

• Understand the core elements of team success

• Utilize five leadership roles to improve how you manage your team to higher performance

• Create a climate in which people have the motivation to give their best

• Shift your focus from working “in” systems to working “on” systems

• Build a stronger and more effective team or work group

• Use diagnostic questions to assess your team and know how to make them better

• Take a big picture view of your team as you learn to “lead from the balcony”

Content

So, here’s what we’re going to cover during the course.

First, I’m going to present a team model to help you better understand the key factors in the success of any team or work group. These elements are critical to understanding your team and, therefore, critical to your success as a leader.

Second, I’m going to teach you the five leadership roles and how these roles relate the key elements of the team model. You’ll become a better leader, supervisor, or manager as you understand and incorporate these roles and practices into your day-to-day behavior.

Third, this is the heart of the course. We’ll do a deeper dive into the specific practices of each of the leadership roles. I’ll be giving you a number of tools related to each of the roles that will help you a high performing team and increase employee engagement and motivation.

Fourth, I’ll have you do an assessment of yourself, which of the leadership roles you typically use and which you’re most likely to neglect.

Finally, you’ll create an improvement plan to become stronger in those roles or practices that you under-utilize. The entire purpose is to strengthen you and help you grow as a leader, so you provide better leadership to your team.

However, I also need to tell you that this is not abracadabra. There are no magic formulas or quick fixes to engage your work force. Employee engagement is not simply a program or initiative. It isn’t one more thing to put on your plate or add to an already busy schedule. Employee engagement is a paradigm, a way of thinking about people, how work is organized, and the role of leadership. It is how you go about the everyday business of leading your team, staff, or workforce.

My name is Roger K. Allen and I’m pleased you’ve decided to join me in this course to become a better leader. I want you to know that I don’t take for granted the trust you’re placing in me as your guide in this journey. The concepts I’m bringing to you come from my 25 years of consulting and training experience. I’ve worked with thousands of leaders from every type and size of business. And the concepts I teach are popular. I’ve certified over 1500 trainers and consultants from around the world to use the leadership development and team development concepts I teach.