Valuing People

5 Ways Servant Leadership Improves Employee Engagement

Perhaps visions of a powerful person making the rules, enforcing company policies, and always having the final say come to mind when picturing a manager. Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership is a type of leadership style that rarely views their employees as partners. Perhaps you’ve worked within an organization with this type of leadership. Servant leadership takes those ingrained ideas of management and creates a new path and style for leading others. If an organization lacks engagement, motivation or skills to reach their fullest potential, the leadership quality within the organization should be examined. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for engaging and motivating each member of a team, however; growing evidence suggests focusing on servant leadership, for all levels of the organization make a positive mark on employee engagement. Understanding Servant Leadership and Employee Engagement Before fully grasping how servant leadership impacts levels of employee engagement within a company, you must understand how these two things are separate from one another. The idea of servant leadership measures the quality of a good leader based on employees putting the needs of others above their own. Servant leaders look at the needs and work diligently to ensure those needs are met. Leaders who put the philosophies of servant leadership into action choose to serve first and lead second. Employee engagement is often an idea that becomes confused with employee motivation and happiness. These are all different things. Team members may be happy at the moment or possess current motivation to complete their jobs or tasks, but things like happiness and motivation are fleeting. Employees are engaged when they harbor an emotional connection and commitment to the goals of the company. Engaged team members believe the organization’s goals are important and they feel compelled and find satisfaction in carrying out their own responsibilities to ensure these goals are met. Simply put, they care about both the company and the work they perform. If a company wishes to bolster its own employee engagement, looking to servant leadership could be the key to making positive change. Servant leaders display a number of identifying characteristics. Read on to explore how five of these leadership skills are connected to employee engagement levels. The Value of Listening Servant leaders display a deep interest in understanding the needs of employees. Employees learn more about those needs through listening intently. Servant leaders value the ideas and opinions of others, and when they take the time to truly listen, employees feel their needs and suggestions matter, thereby bolstering engagement in the workplace. Displaying a Caring Nature Servant leaders tend to show team members empathy, display concern and offer kindness. These actions help employees feel valued and create a sense of belonging. When team members feel the leaders in their workplace care about them as individuals and aren’t simply concerned about the company’s bottom line, a sense of belonging and acceptance blossoms. This paves the way for increased engagement as employees model this behavior. Recognizing the Value of People Servant leaders find value in team members and in the work each of them performs. No matter the job function, all members of an organization bring some form of value. The benefits of putting others first transfer over to nearly any industry, but studies have been conducted to pinpoint the effect of servant leadership in fields known to incubate lowered employee engagement and high levels of burnout, specifically construction work and food service. These studies found a positive correlation between servant-style leadership, increased engagement and lowered levels of burnout, and it’s likely these results transfer to nearly any professional field. Trusting the Team If the team experiences success, the servant leader acknowledges such and recognizes achievements without taking the credit for themselves. In the event of failure, the servant leader takes the opportunity to help team members reflect and grow from the experience. This sense of trust leaves teams feeling competent and empowered. Showing Humility Servant leaders don’t need to take the credit for a team effort. Instead, they are humble and open to learning from others. They provide quality leadership development for employees so that each team member receives the support and coaching needed for growth and promotion. When team members at all levels feel they have the potential to grow within the company, employee engagement blooms as well. When looking for solutions to manage customer experience, choose a reliable partner that values servant leadership. Etech understands that placing value on team members equates to both an engaged team and satisfied, happy customers. Contact Etech to discover the services to help you retain customers and grow your business.

People – First Culture – The Chant for Developing A Successful Business

The People-First culture is a buzz word in the business world now. Many companies have embraced this culture after witnessing the positive impact it has on the growth and success of various businesses. But what does People first Culture is all about? There is a variation of definition to this powerful term, but for Etech it is treating our workforce the same way we treat our customers. This is clearly reflected in our vision statement. Etech’s Vision To make a remarkable difference for each other, our customers, and within our communities. For a business, the quality of customer experience is directly proportional to customer satisfaction. And customer satisfaction directly impacts the success and growth of a business. Who determines the quality of your Customer’s Experience? The most valuable resource of your company – THE EMPLOYEES! The People-First culture – Benefits Magnet For Talented Workforce   Who wouldn’t like to work in an environment where there is growth, creativity, where one’s voice is heard, and hard work is appreciated and rewarded? A People-First culture is a magnet that drives talent into your spectrum and gives them the motivation to stay. Increased Productivity   According to one of Forbes articles, happy employees are up to 20% more productive. A People-First culture gives the employees the opportunity to utilize their strengths and platform to put in use what they have learned; this brings a sense of content and happiness among employees. If you have a strong and loyal employee base, nothing can stop your business from achieving its goals. When you put your people first, you are telling your workforce that they are important and their presence is valued. This generates a sense of trust and camaraderie among the people which is very important when it comes to the overall growth of the business. The Three Main Pillars of People-First culture Listen   A good company listens to what its employees have to say. Approach your workforce with an open mind and listen to their needs and requirements. Understand what are the challenges they are facing? Make them realize that the company cares for them and their welfare. Communicate   Communication gap is a pathway to a disastrous outcome. One of the vital factors that build a successful team is effective communication. Communicate to your people the company’s goals and vision. Effectively communicate with them the win-win situation that it will create when the employees align with the company’s vision. Support   Show your employees that you are there for them. There are different ways of supporting your team members like surprising them with gift cards occasionally, setting up company marts system wherein people can buy needful things out of the points they earn, team lunches, fun activities for relaxation, etc. Developing a successful People-First culture takes time and effort. The leaders have to proactively invest and involve in the activities that will help build a strong culture. But, it is worth investing your time, money and effort for the positive results will serve you lifelong.

12 Etech Character Commitments – An In-Depth Look at 1-6

Employee development is key to any company’s success. For Etech, this principle forms the cornerstone of its approach to employee relations, which centers on 12 character commitments essential to support effective implementation of servant leadership. Integrity Employees need to know they can rely on their leadership and on one another. Fostering a spirit of integrity is the first important step towards building a cohesive, motivated team. This character commitment means delineating your company’s principles and supporting your team in adhering to them. Whether interacting with customers, vendors, co-workers, subordinates or supervisors, integrity is an essential component of building trust. Valuing People Many companies approach employees as “human resources,” only taking an interest in whether they perform their current tasks. A more foresighted approach is to not only value current contributions but to take an interest in the whole person. Valuing people for the whole range of their talents and potential paves the road to participating in an employee’s development and assuring long-term success. Teamwork An effective team is vital to maintaining productivity and achieving goals. The principles of servant leadership demand attention to developing teamwork that goes far beyond each employee performing his or her assigned tasks. Real teamwork happens when each employee understands the role of his or her functions within the larger picture of the team and of the entire company. Rather than mechanically repeating a set of actions, employees who work as a true team cooperate intelligently to reach goals they are invested in. Accountability A core character commitment, accountability builds relationships and enhances teamwork. It completes the balance between working together as a united team and taking individual responsibility for one’s own role. Accountability at all levels boosts trust between employees and leaders. Unlike the popular conception, accountability does not just mean accepting blame for when things go wrong. Rather, it is an expression of a personal relationship to one’s work and an understanding of one’s responsibility to the team. Communication It is possible to exchange words without achieving communication. All too frequently, words are used to obscure, deflect or confuse. Communication as a cornerstone of servant leadership, on the other hand, means establishing honest, informative exchanges of ideas. On a logistical level, this can mean company managers may need to review processes to ensure there are protocols in place to enable employees to share information efficiently. On a more general plane, it is important to establish a setting of trust and cooperation that encourages needed communication. Vision All too often, company leaders get caught up in short-term goals. They make the mistake of focusing on meeting today’s goals at the expense of long-term vision. However, it is essential to keep in mind that the short-term tasks are important because they further long-term organizational objectives. Vision is essential to effective leadership, as it enables managers to make strategic decisions and build relationships with their teams. If the above sounds like a lofty challenge, using the right resources can help. AI solutions can aggregate and analyze data to identify areas that would benefit from improvement, as well as paths towards achieving it. Using AI performance analytics in conjunction with the Etech character commitment can help employees attain their full potential.

Valuing People

The title of this blog, Valuing People, is one of the 12 Character Commitments at Etech Global Services, and I would venture to say that Valuing People is one of, if not the most, important of our 12 Character traits. Why? Because people matter. It’s that simple. People need to feel that they are heard, that their opinions matter, that they are given opportunities, that their managers have confidence in them, they need to feel affirmed in their work, they need encouragement, they need to feel that they matter. Some may be wondering, “How can valuing people be most important? What about profits, productivity etc.?” That’s a fair question and my years of experience have taught me that profits and productivity grow and thrive when the people who work with me are happy. For some reading this, this may be a very fresh perspective, and for others, this may be old news. Whichever is the case for you, permit me to share what I’ve learned as I’ve strived to implement this in my day to day dealings with employees. I’ve learned that people need to…… Feel that they are heard and their opinions matter: Because there is nothing worse than feeling that you’ve been dismissed. Nothing can make a person feel more rejected than when they feel, be it perceived or real, that their feelings or opinion have been completely dismissed by another. I’ve seen both sides of this. I’ve seen how people can feel completely dejected when having their point of view dismissed and then I’ve seen how appreciated they feel when they know they’ve been heard, truly heard and that their opinion or feelings have been valued. When an employee feels dismissed and dejected, they seem to lose all motivation for their job. An employee lacking motivation can become toxic in the workplace. They tend to lose a sense of pride in their work, they don’t pull their weight, which frustrates co-workers and they continue in a downward spiral which often leads to a reprimand or dismissal. On the other hand, I’ve seen how employees can soar to new heights, feel energized in their day to day tasks, and take immeasurable pride in their jobs simply because a manager took the time to hear them out and made them feel valued by listening. Now obviously, as managers, we can’t implement every opinion and idea that comes our way, but we can take the time to listen when an employee needs us. When we do this, our employees work harder, they motivate one another, they take pride in their work and this keeps productivity at a peak. Valuing people’s feelings matters. Be given opportunities: When people are given opportunities to grow and better themselves, within an organization, this breeds loyalty to that organization. At Etech Global Services, we do our very best to promote from within our current ranks. We provide on-going training to our employees so that they can strengthen and improve their skill set for their particular job. We have a Learning and Development program which identifies future leaders and prepares them for leadership positions within Etech. Over 90% of our current leadership team began their careers at Etech. In fact, our Vice President started as a Customer Service Rep while he was in college. Giving our employees opportunities like this allows us to retain a highly trained and experienced workforce that knows the company from the ground up. This type of workforce is INVALUABLE to productivity and profitability. That’s not why we offer these growth opportunities, but it is a positive result of doing so. We offer opportunities because we believe people deserve them and that people will step up and take opportunities when they’re available. Offering growth opportunities makes people feel valued. Feel their leaders have confidence in them and are encouraged by them: “A confident workforce is a productive workforce. Employees who have confidence in their own ability to get the job done are motivated and more likely to work through initial setbacks.” I came across this quote in a recent article posted by Chron. This struck a chord with me because I’ve seen this to be proven true time and time again. When employees have confidence and believe in themselves, they feel empowered to tackle the tasks at hand. Productivity increases. Think about it; think about a time when someone showed tremendous confidence in you, perhaps as a young student or athlete. Do you remember how that felt? Do you remember how that inspired you to work harder, how you enjoyed that class or sport more because the coach or teacher had such confidence in you? Their affirmation fostered a confidence that enabled you to succeed. The same holds true in the workforce. When employees feel affirmed and are confident in their abilities they work harder and productivity increases. I’ve also found that confidence is contagious. Confident people tend to encourage and affirm others and this has a profound impact on productivity as well as corporate culture. Building confidence in others makes them feel valued and benefits everyone. Valuing People. This is something we consistently strive to do at Etech Global Services. It provides the foundation for all of the other Character Commitments we esteem because it constantly reminds us that it’s always about people. This blog entry is the second in a series based on the Etech Global Services 12 Character Commitments. It was written by Matt Rocco, President and General Manager of Etech Global Services. If you would like to learn more about Etech and contact center technology and service solutions, please contact us at info@etechgs.com.

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