The one thing that will make 2016 the best year ever for your company

Advertisement

TexasA&M

iStock

All CEOs want sustained, long-term growth and an improved bottom line. But how can these leaders reach their goals - and keep their companies on the right track?

The answer is to make employee engagement a top priority. In a study of 83 small to midsize US credit unions conducted by the Department of Management at Texas A&M's Mays Business School, higher levels of collective engagement in an organization lead to higher levels of motivation.

Engagement - defined as truly investing one's cognitive, emotional, and physical self into work performance - leads to improved return on assets, a common financial indicator of organizational success.

"There is a lot of discussion anecdotally that engagement impacts organizational effectiveness, but we set out to test in an objective, scientific way whether an organization full of employees who see themselves and other organizational members as engaged improves the bottom line," says Stephen Courtright, Mays assistant professor of management, executive development participant, and researcher in the project.

"We concluded that yes, employee engagement impacts an organization and helps drive its competitive advantage," Courtright says. "That means collective engagement matters for organizational effectiveness in a real and measurable way."

How can organizations increase engagement?

Beyond just showing the bottom-line impact of collective employee engagement, the researchers also tried to answer a question brought up by organizational leaders and stakeholders: "What can organizations actually do to get their workforce engaged?"

They concluded: It starts at the top. The researchers found that the strongest predictor of collective employee engagement was the CEO's "transformational leadership," a leadership style in which the CEO:

  • Articulates a compelling vision that challenges the status quo.
  • Serves as an inspirational and charismatic role model.
  • Shows care and concern for members of the organization.

But it doesn't stop there. The research team concluded company leaders need to establish and implement performance management systems that identify and track high performers, reward them, and make them feel secure in their jobs.

Companies can better facilitate employee engagement by such actions as giving employees greater autonomy and ownership over tasks and allowing them to use a greater variety of skills. These changes can help employees to see how their jobs make a difference to their company's success

Become a transformational leader

To enact change, you need to become a transformational leader. But first, you must transform yourself.

Texas A&M Mays Business School's Center for Executive Development believes that developing transformational leaders from the inside is more efficient and effective than recruiting and training outside leadership.

Mays Business School builds leaders by developing their ability to focus on organizational factors. The school also believes in maximizing the three underlying psychological conditions for full employee engagement - psychological availability, safety, and meaningfulness.

Become a transformational leader and watch 2016 be your organization's best year yet.

Find out more from Texas A&M Mays Business School.

- Written by Ben Welch, Ph.D., Assistant Dean, Executive Education, Mays Business School

This post is sponsored by Texas A&M.

Find out more about Sponsored Content.

Follow BI Studios on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.