Strategies and Tactics for Engaging High, Medium, and Low Performers

Employee engagement, as defined by the Office of Personnel Management, is “the employee’s sense of purpose that is evident in their display of dedication, persistence, and effort in their work or overall attachment to their organization and mission. An employee’s emotional commitment to the organization and job.”

Statistically speaking, engaged workers are 25% more productive than their average peers. However, disengaged workers have 37% more absenteeism and make 60% more errors. To add to the management challenge, voluntary employee turnover increases by up to 50% in work units with low engagement, which then impact the morale of the remaining workers, even your best performers.

Organizations with a positive team culture tend to have more engaged, higher performing employees. So, how do you keep highly engaged employees happy, move employees in the middle to a higher level, and address those exhibiting low engagement to improve the team’s performance and progress toward goals and mission?

You Bring the Weather That Impacts the Culture

Increase engagement by looking at the mood you set, or in other words, the weather you bring to your team’s culture. As a leader, you have an enormous impact on the workplace climate. The culture you’re creating can have a positive and productive impact on employee engagement, or it can create a non-productive and stressed-out workplace. So, how do you take an honest look at the weather you bring and the impact it has on your organization’s culture?

Get the Weather Picture: FEVS and Glassdoor.com

Review the employee engagement scores for your division or agency from a different perspective. Beyond strengths and weaknesses, FEVS scores can reveal what your employees actually feel about the culture and if the climate can support their success. High scores are where things are looking clear and bright; you can continue to bolster the things that you are doing well. Low scores show where things are stormy and where your people need more support from you.

Visit glassdoor.com and click on “Overview and Reviews” to see anonymous employee comments about your organization, even drilling down to specific divisions and locations. The feedback will reveal how former and current employees feel about your culture.

Using both these tools can give you an unbiased look at the climate of your culture and where you can make changes, whether it’s improving communication and transparency, or increasing support and collaboration.

Building a Climate of Performance

Every employee is unique and you have to manage each one differently. A high performer may respond well to praise but trying to motivate a low-engager with any kind of praise may reinforce poor behaviors. Manage to where each person stands on the engagement spectrum. Below are some traits to help you identify different employee performance levels and tips for how to manage and engage each group differently.

Managing Employees Exhibiting High Engagement

High-engagement traits:

• Goes above and beyond expectations
• Serves as a role model
• Takes on responsibly and volunteers to help
• Has a positive attitude toward the mission and leadership
• Mentors and trains others
• Keeps leaders informed
• Makes good independent decisions

As a manager, your goal is to:

• Re-recruit and retain these employees
• Partner with these employees
• Reduce their motivation for leaving

When meeting with high-engagement employees, think S-R-A:

• Share an outline of your vision for the work group and where you see the organization going.
• Recognize the employee’s strengths and why they are so important to your team.
• Ask them where they see themselves supporting the vision, where they see their career going, and if there is anything you can do to support them in their continued success in the organization.

Recognize the employee’s strengths and why they are so important to your team.

Managing Employees Exhibiting Middle Engagement

Middle-engagement traits:

• Does what is expected
• Completes assignments at an acceptable quality level within established timelines
• Has a positive attitude toward the mission and leadership most of the time
• Blames or complains occasionally
• Gets his or her own work done to satisfactory standards

As a manager, you want to:

• Retain and develop these employees
• Support and coach them to a higher level of performance

When meeting with middle-engagement employees, think I-T-I-S:

• Indicate that you want to retain them and grow their skills.
• Tell them their strengths and what you appreciate about them.
• Indicate behaviors that you see as developmental improvements for the employee.
• Support and coach them by asking them what they need from you in order to continue being a solid performer while improving in the areas discussed.

Indicate behaviors that you see as developmental improvements for the employee.

Managing Employees Exhibiting Low Engagement

Low-engagement traits:

• Does not meet expectations
• Does not readily accept responsibility
• Blames others or makes excuses for not getting work done
• Has a negative attitude toward the mission and leadership
• Resists coaching and feedback on performance

As a manager, you want to:

• Improve engagement and related behaviors
• Be respectful but direct, and don’t start with positive feedback

When meeting with low-engagement employees, think D-E-S-K:

• Describe low engagement behaviors that need to change.
• Emphasize the impact of these behaviors on coworkers, customers, and the organization.
• Share with the employee what needs to be done in detail and document it.
• Know and tell the employee the consequences of not improving the low engagement behaviors and what time frame improvement needs to occur.

Be respectful but direct, and don’t start with positive feedback.

If you need help changing the weather, LMI is ready to help you implement practical, sustainable engagement strategies to promote employee retention, improve productivity and job satisfaction, drive a healthy work culture, and give you a much brighter outlook on the climate of your organization! Reach out to Ashley Jung, vice president of human capital solutions.