Team Spirit – Improve Your Employees' Engagement

How to Engage Team Members – Build Up Your Team Spirit

A study conducted by Modern Survey in the United States in March 2012 shows that only 10 per cent of employees are fully engaged, 24 per cent are moderately engaged, 30 per cent are disengaged and the remaining 36 per cent are not engaged. Similar research by the Gallup Organization confirms this trend. Although these statistics relate to the United States, they are an indicator of the challenges of employee engagement in general. Similar results can also be found in other countries. If, as an employer, manager or HR consultant, these figures mean nothing to you, you should hand over your role to someone else as soon as possible.

But why are employee engagement and team spirit so important? I believe you appreciate that engaged employees are more motivated, more productive, more loyal and more innovative. They are less stressed and also easier to retain, and all these factors have a positive effect on your company's bottom line. Under the right circumstances, the engagement of the individual also leads to the engagement of the team. An engaged team is emotionally connected to the company. It genuinely cares and is committed. The team is success-oriented, engaged and enthusiastic about the work and the company. Once you have understood the value of employee engagement, what happens next? How do you ensure that team members are engaged?

The team's goals must be clearly formulated and communicated to the members. You should ensure that the goals of the individual members align with those of the team. The team's goals should be guided by the organisation's overarching objectives. Conflicting goals and targets lead to disengagement and destroy team spirit.
Give the team members the necessary resources, tools and so on to ensure their engagement. You should give them the feeling that they are part of the leadership and the company. Develop trust among the members. You can also delegate as much as possible, balancing the freedom to solve problems with guidance.

Foster team spirit among the members by working together and sharing information, recognising the achievements of teams rather than individuals, providing emotional connections, involving people and so on. When you build team spirit, you will most likely have an engaged team. Don't you think so too?

You need to develop the team members by offering them opportunities for advancement. You can achieve this through various training and development approaches, including mentoring and coaching. Share important topics with your employees. Place the emphasis on their strengths. When you develop the team members, you can be sure that the team will be engaged. When you think about the future of your employees, you can achieve what you want from them. Isn't that a clever idea?

Communication is another effective approach. You need to talk to them regularly and listen to them. You should ensure there is room for open discussion. You need to understand the members and also know their preferences. You need to communicate the team's tasks, responsibilities, progress, priorities, how to deal with obstacles and so on.
You can also engage your team members by handling conflicts within the team, and the personalities within the team, appropriately. Good conflict management ensures the engagement of the team members. When you understand personality types such as leaders, glue, agitators and workhorses, you can minimise conflict.

Recognise and reward the team's progress and achievements. You need to set up a mechanism to evaluate performance and ensure accountability. Competitive rewards and incentives for the individual team members and for the group as a whole are crucial to engagement.

Provide a good working environment, because your team works in your organisational working environment. Make sure your leaders and managers do the right things. Show that you care about your employees and value them. Work towards a charged and energetic working environment.

As a manager, you will always be working with teams. The level of engagement of the team members largely determines what the team can achieve, and this in turn influences the achievement of the company's goals. A low level of engagement is a disaster, whereas a high level of engagement leads your company to success. Which path will you choose for your company?

If you need help or advice, please Contact us at Puntorosso, and discover our wide range of incentive trips and team building activities.

Strengthen employee engagement with professional team building activities in Mallorca.