Leadership development: How to empower and motivate your team.

Employee engagement and motivation are crucial for any organization to achieve its vision and goals. One of the most triggering questions you can ask an employee: How engaged do you feel at your workplace? Surprisingly, only a few employees are passionate about the work or committed to the company's objectives. Many leaders struggle to foster an engaging and motivating work environment. Fortunately, this article evaluates tips you can embrace to increase team engagement and motivation, which is key to their productivity as a unit.

Communicate and define your vision.

One of the primary ways to keep your employees engaged is by clearly and consistently communicating your vision. Your company’s vision is the primary definition of the purpose and direction you aspire to take your company. Therefore, communicating your vision to employees helps them understand how they can contribute to the bigger picture you seek to achieve. A defined vision acts as a guide to goal setting, which allows employees to feel connected to the company's ultimate goal. This process takes time to set clear and precise goals and expectations through which all team members understand their roles.

Onboard your team throughout the journey.

Employee engagement is a continuous process that seeks to ensure all employees have a connection to their jobs and a sense of purpose that creates direction as they work on their roles. Onboarding your employees immediately after hire allows them to have a personal touch with your company's history, challenges, opportunities, culture, and policies, allowing them to feel connected to your company's brand.

 Keep an open line of communication.

 Open and consistent communication is one of the most strategic ways of keeping employees engaged and motivated. Having a work culture that allows team members to share their ideas, concerns, and feedback largely gives them a sense of belonging. Effective communication is attributed to active listening, which allows team members to feel valued and validated.

Be active in providing feedback and empowerment.

Moreover, as a leader, take the initiative to give feedback and coaching to your team in order to improve their performance, learn new skills, and have a platform to present their challenges at work. Being active at providing feedback to work in allows them to recognize their strengths, areas of improvement, and the courage to be creative in their work. Providing empowerment allows your team to learn new skills and grow, making them feel appreciated by the company.

Delegate responsibilities

Give autonomy to your team to make their own decisions by taking ownership of their projects rather than micromanaging them. Delegation is a form of empowerment that translates to trust and confidence in your team’s abilities and potential to achieve their tasks. Employees feel engaged since they have control and influence over their creative work, increasing their ability to be accountable. 

Have a recognition and reward system.

A common team engagement strategy that effectively elevates employee engagement and motivation is recognizing efforts and achievement toward the company's goals. As a leader, recognizing your team member's efforts and contributions is a powerful tool that shows your appreciation and gratitude towards them as valuable assets. As a result, employees feel engaged and appreciated, which later translates to loyalty, commitment, and satisfaction among the team.

Build trustworthy relationships

 Having a trustworthy relationship is the foundation of the success of any team. As a leader, fostering trustworthy relationships is necessary for creating a positive and supportive work environment where all team members feel valued, validated, and appreciated. A positive relationship with team members creates a work culture fostering a sense of identity, community, and belonging. This can be achieved through team-building activities that strengthen relationships and increase collaboration among the members as they get to know each other beyond work.

As a leader, it is relevant to recognize that employee engagement is a crucial aspect of the success of any business. This is primarily because it fosters a positive work environment, boosts productivity, and retains top talent because team members belong and feel valued in their different arrears of expertise.