Engagement score is good, but things don’t feel great

Sometimes the metrics don’t tell the full story.  On paper the culture is good- nothing to see here. Your last employee survey was well within benchmarks for your industry and your overall engagement score wasn’t too bad at all. Of course, there is room for improvement but you’ve got this covered. On balance, no one ever complains, people seem to get on well with each other and the weekly morning tea is well attended. Yes, your culture is good.

So why do you have this niggling sense that something isn’t quite right with the culture on your team?

I think this is a sentiment that managers often experience, and it can be quite worrying for them. But it doesn’t need to be. There are many reasons why a manager may be the last to know if there’s an issue impacting the team. And it’s not unusual to need to look under the bonnet to work out how to make things run smoothly.  In fact, wanting to know, sends a powerful message to your team that you care about their wellbeing.

Heard teams engage

The best way to find out what’s going on is to talk and listen to your team members. This is a foolproof strategy for boosting engagement. For an employee to be engaged, they need to know that they matter. This means believing that they belong, they are valued and are perceived as a significant contributor to a higher organisational purpose. To feel you are heard is to believe that you matter.

Give your employees the chance to be heard. Encourage them to speak by providing opportunities for them to talk in a one-on-one setting.

The ‘listener’

In the interests of safeguarding psychological safety, and ensuring the anonymity that your employees need to speak freely and openly, they must be able to trust the person they are speaking to. For this reason, the interviewer should be a relatable, experienced and active listener who is able to ensure that employees experience the conversations as open, candid and safe. This means they need to be impartial, objective and independent.

We can help

Understanding what’s happening on your team can require an unearthing of sensitive information from fragile employees who have much at stake.  This can trigger stress and uncertainty for both parties. But it doesn't need to be this hard.

Our objective is to help you improve your culture. Our philosophy is that psychological wellbeing is the gauge of a healthy culture. So, our approach is to understand what’s happening on your team, by prioritising the psychological safety of your employees through the process.

We would love to hear from you if you think we can help.