We have been learning about the important role that leaders take on the team when discussing employee engagement.

Today, as we wrap up our series, I want to give you some practical ways to engage your team. These are low cost or no cost tools that you can use along your leadership journey.

We must remember that our team consists of different personalities. When we have different personalities on a team, it is safe to say that we have different ways that people engage and different ways to get peak engagement.

Doing a group DISC assessment is one of the best ways to better understand your team and how they operate. We provide these around the country with a high level of accuracy. So, if you are wondering what the personalities of your team are, please let us know.

1. Regularly acknowledge achievements –
   
   Celebrate successes during team meetings, or via email.  For maximum effectiveness, make them specific to the individual and timely.
   
   
2. Personalize the recognition even more –
   
   Maybe hand write a “thank you” note or provide a small gift card for a job well done. If a team member is called out by a customer, this is especially noteworthy!
   
   
3. Encourage peer to peer recognition –
   
   Fostering a culture of acknowledgement is powerful. Adding this component makes it even stronger. Encourage everyone on the team to look out for others and the great job that they are doing. Acknowledgement is not just the responsibility of leadership, but it is for everyone on the team.
   
   
4. Celebrate milestones together –
   
   Recognize work anniversaries, birthdays as well as project completions. Find things to celebrate!

The numbers don’t lie. Consider these –

• 37% of your team says personal recognition is the most important factor in workplace engagement.
• Organizations with effective recognition programs experience 31% lower turnover and are 12X more likely to have a strong business outcome.
• 82% of your team will be happier at work when they are recognized for their accomplishments.

One more thing. I hear from leaders all over the country how busy they are and how easily this topic falls through the cracks. I completely understand. One of the ways I have seen this combated is to create an engagement team. This way you, as the leader, can download this to others and still see the results.

Whoever does it and however it gets done is secondary to making sure that recognition is a solid component of your team. You will not regret it…

Dave Molenda is the founder of Positive Polarity, a business coaching firm dedicated to challenging conventional
business practices with a positive, encouraging approach. He is the author of “Growing on Purpose,” an Amazon Best Seller in three categories and host of the Positive Polarity Podcast. Learn more at positivepolarity.com.