Employee engagement starts with line managers

Managers are critical for driving employee engagement because they have the most direct influence on their teams. They build personal relationships, understand individual employee needs, and play a key role in shaping the work environment. Essentially, managers are responsible for creating an environment where employees feel valued, motivated, and connected to the organization's goals.

Increasingly in today’s organizations Line Managers are overloaded with functional tasks and the delivery of senior manager initiatives, resulting in their vital role of developing their direct reports being overlooked or only carried out when all the functional tasks and senior manager requests have been completed.

This is amplified in the hybrid working practices that are now the norm for many UK employers. A recent Gallup Study discovered that 80% of employees who consistently receive meaningful feedback and development are ‘fully engaged’ at work.

What counts as meaningful?

• Weekly conversations of between 15 minutes to 30 minutes are sufficient. In fact, Gallup discovered that 15 minutes to 30 minutes discussions had more impact that 30 minutes to 60 minutes conversations.

This particularly true for younger employees. Focus on their functional skills development is key as hybrid working has changed their ability to learn from more experienced peers. Line Managers need to ensure that their reports are being developed functionally and that they have the ability and knowledge to coach the new skills that are being learned by their direct reports.

If you are a Line Manager, are you finding the time to keep yourself up to date on the skills your reports require to flourish in our rapidly changing world?

At Pure Blue Ocean we believe that learning embedding can only happen with the support of the line managers and actively encourage line managers to attend training with their direct reports. Post the training event we supply; ‘Manager Coaching Kits’ and offer a coaching service for delegates and their line managers.

We can support all your business sales needs; customer experience, strategy, business rhythm & cadence, mindset, selling skills, and customer engagement.

Check out our website and get in touch. We would love to help you succeed in the delivering your business objectives: help@pureblueocean.com