Engagement starts at the top: the role of a leader’s personality on employee engagement
| Pages | 144-146 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-03-2017-0017 |
| Published date | 12 June 2017 |
| Date | 12 June 2017 |
| Author | Allison Howell |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Engagement starts at the top:
the role of a leader’s personality
on employee engagement
Allison Howell
Allison Howell is Market
Researcher at Market Research
Department, Hogan Assessments,
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Companies are spending
enormous amounts of
money each year trying to
identify and implement ways to
increase engagement among their
employees. Engagement is the
extent to which employees think,
feel and act in ways that represent
high levels of commitment to their
organization. Companies are right
to focus on this, as engaged
employees are motivated to
contribute 100 per cent of their
knowledge, skills and abilities to
help their organization succeed
(Seibert et al., 2011).
Engagement, however, is not
merely about making employees
happier at work; it is about
bringing out the best in people
and tapping their full potential on a
day-to-day basis.
Companies like Apple and Google
have famously worked to foster
engagement by offering things like
free lunches, onsite childcare,
themed workspaces and so on.
Unfortunately, while these perks
are nice to have – and certainly
contribute to a positive work
culture – engagement is not won
solely by external factors. In fact, a
leader’s personality is a more
important driver of engagement
than any perk. Engagement begins
and ends with leadership.
Focus on employees’ basic
needs
Thousands of years of evolution
have taught us that humans in
group-living societies are driven by
three main needs:
1. to have good relationships with
others, or to get along;
2. to be successful, or to get
ahead; and
3. to find meaning in work and life
(Hogan and Holland, 2003).
In the professional environment,
these needs translate to needing
to be a valued part of a team,
receive appropriate recognition for
contributions and to achieve
something meaningful.
So, of course, salary is part of this.
Work performed needs to be
appropriately compensated.
However, research shows that
salary only affects engagement up
to a certain point. In fact,
employees need to feel they are
paid well relative to others, but the
link between job satisfaction tends
to plateau around the average
(Williams et al., 2006). In other
words, after a certain point, salary
is no longer a motivating factor.
In a similar vein, using “perks” as
a means to enhance engagement
treats it as an end in and of itself
rather than part of a broader
Strategic commentary
PAGE 144 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW VOL.16 NO. 3 2017, pp. 144-146, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 DOI 10.1108/SHR-03-2017-0017
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