Originally published as “Three Signs of a Miserable Job,” Patrick Lencioni’s “The Truth About Employee Engagement” is a must-read for leaders in any organization. Despite the alarming original title, the book actually highlights the essential role a leader plays in bringing out the best in their teams. And without playing this role, leaders can forget about having employees who are engaged in their jobs and loyal to their company.
In the book Lencioni argues that the three causes of job misery are anonymity, irrelevance and immeasurement. Said another way, employees need to be seen and heard, they need to know that their work matters, and they need concrete feedback on what they’re doing.
Studies show an employee’s relationship with his or her manager is the single biggest factor in job satisfaction. And relationships are built on bringing meaning to their work. So how do you do it?
I won’t say it’s easy, but here are some steps you can take to start building the bridge:
- Provide specific recognition. Regularly single out employees for a job well done and make specific observations about how their contribution was commendable.
- Create measures of success that are stable and visible. This helps set the stage for performance evaluation and performance growth.
- Connect the work to the bigger picture. Depending on the size of the organization, employees can easily feel like cogs in a wheel. But connecting the work to the bigger picture—how it benefits the team, the organization, the customer, the world—helps them see their work as important. We always peg this on millennials as something they need (or else), but the truth is employees of any age who know their work matters and who know they are making a difference will be more engaged.