During the pandemic, her coaches were busy helping executives establish healthier routines while working from home, but now they were mostly focused on teaching them how to motivate disengaged staff.
More meaningful conversations
“Even though people are staying put, it does not necessarily mean that they are fully present,” Ms Mills said.
Hello Coach founder Victoria Mills says her coaches are busy teaching executives how to motivate their staff.
“So, a lot of what we’re doing now [is] helping leaders within organisations to improve their soft skills along the lines of how to have tough conversations and how to give feedback with meaning.”
Ms Mills said there was a lack of soft skills among leaders because many were promoted into managerial roles – often as a reward for demonstrating excellence in a particular domain – without specific leadership training.
“It’s the art of being able to have a meaningful conversation … and that can be the difference [between] someone feeling engaged and inspired and motivated, or disengaged and turning up for work and not really delivering,” she said.
Connecting staff to a bigger purpose
Culture Amp chief people officer Justin Angsuwat said data tracked by his employee engagement company indicated the number of people who wanted to leave their jobs was greater than the number actually leaving – prompting more customers to seek guidance on how to motivate unhappy staff who were now more likely to stay put.
“Managers play a really big role in motivation, and there are a few ways we encourage customers to improve it,” he said.
The first was to survey staff regularly to identify the reasons behind the drop in motivation, as the key drivers could vary between teams.
The second was to connect people’s work to a bigger purpose, such as the company’s overarching goals.
The third was to deliver better praise and recognition.
“For companies that are cash-strapped and [saying they] can’t afford to motivate people, praise and recognition is free. It can be as simple as a thoughtful message or a handwritten note,” Mr Angsuwat said.
Culture Amp chief people officer Justin Angsuwat says employers are trying to motivate staff by connecting their work to a bigger purpose.
A Culture Amp analysis of 250,000 managers across 3300 companies globally found that employees were 1.4 times more likely to be motivated if they saw their manager as a role model.
Mental health another key factor
Stephanie Reuss, co-founder and co-chief executive of work design platform Beamible, said the rising cost of workers compensation premiums triggered by surging mental health claims had given employers another reason to attend to these issues.
Last year, about 155,000 Australian employers collectively lost more than 655,000 days of work to workplace mental health injuries, according to Allianz Australia data. The average length of time off for each claim was 76 days.
“If executives were hesitant or sceptical about the value of employee engagement before, they’ve now got a financial incentive to invest in it,” Ms Reuss said.