You’ve completed an employee engagement survey, and now you’re holding data that could unlock meaningful change in your organization. The leadership team has reviewed the findings, set strategic goals, and created action plans. That leaves you with the question: what comes next?
If your strategy stops at the leadership level, it risks losing momentum. Without a plan to cascade your engagement initiatives through all levels of the organization, especially the mid-management level, those initiatives may never fully take action. This applies whether your organization has multiple layers of leadership or even a flat structure.
Gallup highlights that managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. This highlights the necessity of equipping managers with the tools, resources, and support to lead with impact. In this blog, we’ll cover how to empower managers with engagement data, develop actionable insights, and create a culture of continuous improvement.
Using Employee Engagement Data for Leadership Development
Employee engagement data is more than just a collection of information – it’s a key to unlocking organizational change. It’s an impactful resource that provides insights into employees’ levels of satisfaction, alignment with the organization’s focus, and overall sense of commitment. This data can be gathered from various sources, including employee engagement surveys, focus groups, 1:1 meetings, and casual conversations.
These insights could demonstrate that your employees do not have the resources or tools to do their job effectively. Or, maybe your data shows that there is a decline in engagement levels from a specific tenure or role within your organization. This data could all point in the direction that there is trouble brewing, and this is your opportunity to see where to focus on finding issues.
When leveraged correctly, engagement data becomes a powerful tool for your managers to enhance their leadership skills. It offers managers a unique opportunity to identify challenges, strengthen connections with their teams, and create an environment where employees can thrive. Using this data effectively can enhance trust, collaboration, and retention while providing the groundwork for a stronger workplace culture.
How to Equip Managers with Employee Engagement Data
Make Data Accessible and Understandable
To ensure managers can effectively apply insights they learned from your employee engagement data, try presenting the information in a collaborative format that is straightforward and actionable. Complex reports filled with statistics can be overwhelming for anyone and may discourage focused action. Leverage dashboards or visual summaries that highlight trends, focus areas, and strategic priorities that connect the data and key insights. When managers have data that they can apply to their teams and are able to easily interpret the information, they are better positioned to focus on driving meaningful change.
Ask Managers for Their Input
Managers are often closest to their teams, making them a great source of insight. By inviting managers to share their observations and input about your engagement data, encourages collaboration and empowers them to take ownership of the action planning process. By seeking their input on potential solutions, you can ensure that the designated strategies are both applicable and tailored to the unique dynamics of their teams as well as your organization as a whole. This approach not only increases buy-in but also demonstrates trust in managers’ expertise and judgment.
Provide Training and Resources
Not every manager has experience in interpreting engagement data or leading change initiatives, but you can provide targeted training and resources that can help bridge this gap. Consider facilitating discussions on analyzing and applying engagement data, provide templates for action planning and create communication strategies that ensure consistent messaging across teams. These steps enable HR, leadership and management to set measurable goals and track effectively.
Empower Managers to Develop Solutions
Empowering managers to design and implement solutions encourages them to be innovative and ensures that changes are relevant to their teams. Managers are often uniquely positioned to understand what will work in their specific environment. Encouraging them to take the lead in developing actionable steps not only leverages their firsthand knowledge but also strengthens their commitment to seeing those actions through. Collaboration with team members during this process reinforces a shared sense of ownership and accountability, creating a stronger foundation for success.
Integrating Engagement Insights into Leadership
From Data to Dialogue
Engagement data is most effective when it sparks meaningful conversations. Managers can:
- Use the data as a starting point in one-on-one discussions.
- Facilitate team conversations to validate findings and explore solutions.
These dialogues help managers uncover the stories behind the numbers and strengthen connections within their teams.
Cascading Feedback Up and Down
The process of cascading feedback is essential to creating a continuous improvement loop:
- Downward Cascade: Share organizational goals and engagement insights with managers, who translate these into actionable steps for their teams.
- Upward Cascade: As managers and teams act on these goals, they can report their progress, successes, and challenges back to HR and leadership.
For example, if a manager identifies that a team recognition program improves morale, they can share this success with HR. This feedback enables HR to replicate the initiative across departments, aligning team-level improvements with broader organizational objectives.
Setting Actionable Goals
Effective goal setting bridges the gap between engagement data and tangible results. Managers can work closely with their teams to:
- Identify priorities from engagement data that align with the organization’s strategic goals.
- Set clear and measurable goals that address key areas connected directly to the strategic direction.
- Create a roadmap for their teams that enable their employees to see how they contribute to the organizations.
This collaborative approach provides managers, and their employees, with a clear understanding of how their teams’ efforts contribute to the organization’s success. By aligning department and team goals with corporate objectives, managers can see how they’re driving results that matter and supporting their teams to feel valued.
Building a Feedback Loop for Continuous Improvement
The Role of HR and Leadership
At striveHR, we emphasize leveraging employee engagement data to drive continuous improvement in creating a thriving workplace culture. HR and leadership teams serve a vital role in sustaining this momentum by actively supporting managers in their professional development and in leadership of their teams. Regular check-ins with managers provide opportunities to review progress, address challenges, and most importantly – celebrate successes. Offering additional resources or guidance as needed reinforces the organization’s commitment to empowering managers and driving meaningful change. Celebrating managers who effectively implement engagement strategies not only motivates them but also encourages peers to follow suit, creating a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
Continuous Improvement in Practice
A consistent feedback loop is critical for long-term success with an engagement strategy. By creating a space where managers can share what is working, share challenges they are encountering, and propose change when needed, organizations encourage a culture of adaptability and learning. Action plans may need to be revised based on outcomes and lessons learned. This ensures that strategies remain relevant and effective. Encouraging collaboration as part of this process further reinforces your organization’s commitment to growth and engagement. This approach not only strengthens the partnership between managers, HR, and leadership but also demonstrates an environment that sends a powerful message of collaboration to your employees.
Conclusion
There is power in empowering managers. When managers are equipped to act on engagement insights, they become key to creating meaningful impact within your organization. By providing them with the tools, training, and support they need, you’re creating a culture of leadership and continuous improvement, where engagement strategies truly flourish. Empowering managers with engagement insights doesn’t just benefit the managers, it transforms your entire organization into a dynamic, collaborative and thriving workplace.
Ready to start leveraging engagement data to help your managers lead with impact? Download our guide, 5 Ways to Gather Employee Engagement Data, to discover how to collect actionable insights beyond surveys.
