Employee Engagement in the Workplace

School leaders can influence the culture by how they go about recognizing others

As students and teachers bustled through the halls of Lincoln Southwest High School in Lincoln, Neb., the strains of “Down by the River” were in the air near the social studies department. If they followed the music to its source, the students and staff would have stumbled across Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-operated fish.

Billy Bass was the coveted prize bestowed each month on a department within the 1,150-student school that exemplified the spirit of the FISH! Philosophy, a technique to find happiness and energy in the workplace, modeled after the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle.

Lincoln Southwest High School introduced this approach when it opened in 2002 to build a climate that motivated staff to put forth their best effort every day and be personally engaged in creating a positive environment that promoted student learning and achievement.

The social studies department had received the honor for demonstrating the four basic tenets of FISH!: Play, make their day, choose your attitude and be present by assisting with a 9th-grade event at the beginning of the school year. The following month, they passed Billy to another deserving department.

Cultivating Community

When Lincoln Southwest opened as the city’s first new high school since 1968, the school leadership committed, with district support, to create a community of learners in which students, faculty and staff could reach their maximum potential. That commitment included a specific focus on employee engagement.

To inspire staff and maintain high engagement levels, the first staff development program at the beginning of the year took place off-site in a large conference space. Through 2006 and with support from the school’s parent booster club, this type of staff development was the norm. Teachers and staff actively planned the day’s programming to ensure useful and timely training infused with fun. The programming has since returned to the building, but the energy generated has been sustained by staff.

An end-of-the-year gathering held at the same location as the opener celebrated the year’s successes and recognized staff through awards presentations. Sixteen years later, elements of the gathering remain and are celebrated at the end of each school year.

The school opened with an enrollment of 1,150, twice the predicted 500 students. Sixteen years later it remains one of the highest enrollment high schools in the city, where open enrollment at high schools is permitted. Teachers exceeded their contractual duties, a testament to their engagement. Achievement scores ranked the school in the top half of the district. Students thrived in an optimal educational environment because of the high staff engagement and that achievement continues today.

Employee engagement continues to make a difference at Lincoln Southwest, but that’s not the case everywhere. A 2015 Gallup poll found that 69 percent of teachers reported they either were not engaged or were actively disengaged in their jobs. The survey also found teachers who were actively disengaged missed an average of 2.3 million more days of work nationally each year than engaged teachers.

Clearly, employee engagement is a driver of school culture correlating to student success.

Building Foundations

Studies suggest employee performance improves when an expectation of engagement is embedded in the work culture. Organizations promoting worker engagement and recognition tend to increase innovation, productivity and performance.
Superintendents must establish and maintain a culture of employee engagement without expending scarce time or resources. It starts with a foundation that includes these behaviors from school and district leaders:

» COMMIT AS LEADERS.Ensure you and your administrative team members are “all in” when establishing employee engagement programs. Commit and follow through. Lip service won’t work.

» IDENTIFY CURRENT LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT.How engaged are your employees? Develop (or contract with an outside organization to create) and administer engagement surveys to faculty and staff. Low-cost and no-cost options are available, including the teacher stakeholder perception surveys from AdvancED, a part of many schools’ accreditation process.

» COLLECT ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE. Ask building administrators and teachers to share their perceptions and stories about employee engagement.

» SHARE THE RESULTS. Everyone in the district deserves to know what you learned. Assemble focus groups of teachers and staff to discuss survey results in detail. Encourage dialogue that expands on survey results.

» ENCOURAGE INNOVATION. With results in hand, encourage building administrators to develop initiatives that fit their grade levels and culture. Encourage partnering with the PTA, booster club or support groups to develop employee engagement programs.

» REMEMBER SIMPLE STRATEGIES OFTEN PAY THE LARGEST DIVIDENDS.A parent group might order plastic tumblers with the school logo and present them to teachers and staff at the be-ginning of the year filled with goodies and a note of thanks in advance of the work they will perform during the year.

The building leader could convene a periodic stand-up meeting after school to recognize staff members who received recognition from the outside for their work.

Praise Pays Off

In his book Before Happiness, Shawn Achor contends one instance of praise daily can increase a worker’s productivity by 30 percent. Happy people are more productive and tend to repeat behaviors and performance for which they are given recognition. When the praise and recognition are linked to performance objectives and core values, they lead to increased productivity and heightened engagement.

Here are some easy ways to offer recognition and, in the process, boost employee engagement and performance.

» CATCH ’EM IN THE ACT. Identify individuals doing things exceedingly well and express appreciation in the moment. Recognition can be swift, not necessarily time-consuming. Thank a teacher who never misses playground duty, a principal who handles building conflict well or an administrative assistant who stepped in to assist with an unexpected need.

» BE SPECIFIC.Be clear on the behavior you want to recognize. Instead of telling a staff member, “You’re doing a good job,” be specific. “Your data analysis on the school improvement report was outstanding!” Descriptive praise rings true.

» FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE. Emphasize why the person’s action is important. Don’t negate an affirmation by mixing in suggestions. Telling the security officer his diligence at the school entrance helps students feel safe every day reinforces the significance of that person’s contribution to the whole. Resist adding, “But you should try smiling more.”

» PERSONALIZE.Direct recognition to the individual, the action and the situation. Not everyone enjoys large public displays of recognition and not every outstanding performance deserves a huge display. Just knowing someone’s name can establish your credibility.

» KEEP IT REAL.Be sincere and stay true to your style. Don’t try to become a cheerleader if you are quiet and reserved as you’ll seem insincere.

» MIX IT UP.Keep things interesting for everyone. Throw in a unique recognition at an administrative meeting. Present a spirit award to an administrator who participated in the most community forums for an upcoming bond issue.

Modest Start

Dedicated leadership will drive how your school district recognizes and engages personnel. Are you all in to build engagement? If so, no staff members can resist, and the effort will result in a rewarding experience for all stakeholders.

Start with small, foundational steps in adding engagement strategies and employee recognition into the culture of your district. If you are purposeful and sincere, the results will be felt by students and staff alike.