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Team spirit 'the key to employee engagement'
HR News |
26/07/2012
Great team spirit often holds the key to high levels of employee engagement, a new study has suggested.
Research conducted by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) found that workers who score highly on engagement tend to attribute their high scores to a positive office atmosphere.
The study found that line managers can improve performance through praise, getting 'stuck in' when needed and encouraging ideas.
A strategic focus also helps, letting individuals know the part they could play within the overall 'big picture', the IES stated.
The institute also found that good line managers also have an improvement focus, coaching and mentoring people to do better.
Engaging managers were not afraid of change and also helped create an atmosphere for innovation by not focusing on blame, the IES stated.
Dilys Robinson, principal research fellow at IES, said teams are "very appreciative" of a good manager who treats them with respect.
"Managers are human and can be forgiven for occasional lapses, as long as the employee feels they have been treated with courtesy and recognised as an individual," she stated.
"The overwhelming image of leaders today is a rather negative (and very male) one, with politicians, chief executives in banks, aggressive entrepreneurs on TV reality shows, and 'charismatic' leaders all having lost currency."
Ms Robinson said this begs the question of what employees can expect from line managers if these are the role models they are surrounded by.
"If line managers are confused about how to behave, it could be because their senior teams are not leading by example," she said.
"Yet, at this time of continuing economic uncertainty and cutbacks in the public, private and third sectors, line managers are expected to keep their staff engaged."
Posted by Stephen Wilkinson
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