Take a look at this data from The State of Employee Engagement in Australia. You can see that employee engagement dwindles as you head down the corporate food chain.

eNPS Across Types of Employees

Why? Is it because managers and executives are more likely to understand the strategy and direction of their organisation? Or perhaps their intrinsic values, beliefs, motivations and ambitions that got them to leadership positions is what is driving higher engagement. But if engagement pools at the executive level, how could you ever expect it to flow through to the customer? After all, it is your frontline staff that make or break the customer experience. This leads us to secret #1. Motivate your employees, at all levels, to do more. Our study shows that staff want to link their work to a purpose beyond simply ‘making money’. Therefore, leaders need to show their employees just how meaningful their specific role is to the organisation’s strategic direction and goals. This isn’t a matter of spin-doctoring. It is a matter of educating staff on the strategy and then giving recognition where it is due.

Take this old adage:

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Three men were working on a bridge. They are all doing the exact same thing: hammering nails. However, when each of them were asked what they were doing their answers were quite different: First Man – “I am hammering nails.” Second Man – “I am helping build a bridge.” Third Man – “I am helping build a bridge that will help millions save time every day when they travel. I am bringing people closer together and changing people’s live one nail at a time.”

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It’s amazing what a little perspective can do. Motivate employees by giving them real meaning and you’ll see engagement run right from the top all the way to the customer.

We would love to hear your thoughts. Does employee engagement reach every corner of your organisation? To download your complimentary copy of The State of Employee Engagement in Australia – click here Stay tuned for the next instalment of the Employee Engagement Blog Series, presenting the state of employee engagement in Australia: where we are, where we could be, and secrets of how to get there.