For engagement to be sustainable, it needs to be led and owned by employees from within the business, rather than HR, or internal comms or even your head of engagement – introducing employee engagement champions.
The concept of employee networks, champions, or change agents has been around for some time and has been used to great effect in many organisations. This tactic gives responsibility for engagement, not just to leaders and managers, but also to those employees in the organisation who may not officially have ‘manager’ in their job title.
This approach works well for a number of reasons:
Research shows that people place high levels of trust in “people like me”.
Edelman publish their Trust Barometer report annually, which shares the latest insights on trust and is a useful resource to understand the shifting sands of who we do and don’t trust.
Using an employee led approach can facilitate autonomy.
By giving a group of champions autonomy to develop and lead on your engagement agenda this not only contributes to increasing their own engagement, but also sends out a message to others that autonomy is encouraged and supported.
An employee-led approach also facilitates purpose and mastery, which are also critical drivers of engagement.
Setting up a community like this, involves working with them to establish their purpose, and developing their engagement skills to ensure they are equipped to fulfill the role.
This approach to engagement is more sustainable and helps to embed engagement into the culture of the organisation. Engagement is owned by employees, and whilst membership of the group may change, the group itself continues, often for many years, helping to ensure engagement is a constant area of focus.
So how do you go about setting up a network of champions, or similar? Our free download will provide you with some top tips to help get you started. Sign up for our free champions download here.
