What makes one company more successful than another? Better products, services, strategies, or technologies? While all of these contribute to superior performance, all of them can also be copied over time. The one thing that creates sustainable competitive advantage – and therefore ROI, company value and long-term strength – is the people who are the company. And when it comes to people, research has shown that employees who are engaged significantly outperform workgroups that are not engaged, making it important for leaders to ask questions that will engage their teams.
DEVELOP EMPLOYEES BY ASKING QUESTIONS
As leaders, we can be tempted to share our wisdom and solve things for people – too often and too quickly. When we do, we don’t allow others to grow, to develop as leaders, to come up with a brilliant idea and often, they don’t try anymore. So rather than solve the issue for them, great leaders should ask questions to get the team engaged in problem-solving. The answers become conversations about things that are important or meaningful. Conversations are more likely to turn to action. Action turns into results, and that’s the ultimate goal; an engaged and well-developed team that takes action and produces results.
THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Where companies enjoy a 60% to 70% employee engagement, the average total shareholder’s return (TSR) stood at 24.2%. In companies with 49% to 60% of their employees engaged, TSR fell to 9.1 percent. Companies with employee engagement below 25 percent suffered negative TSR. (Source: Employee engagement at double-digit growth companies, Hewitt Research Brief)
In the fight for competitive advantage where employees are the differentiator, engaged employees are the ultimate goal.
5 QUESTIONS THAT GREAT LEADERS ASK TO ENGAGE THEIR EMPLOYEES
1. What do you think?
Instead of offering your answer first, get your employees thinking, talking and sharing by asking ‘What do you think?”. Hold back, no matter how tempting it is to share your solution. Then, when your team starts talking, make sure you listen and maybe ask a probing question, such as “What else?”
When asking your employees this question, it’s important that there is no judgment, no qualifying, and no hi-jacking. Let them explore the options with your help. No one has every answer. By engaging your team to think about solutions they add to the answer pool. Your team also starts self-solving as they start to realize they often have the answer to their problems.
2. What would you do?
Asking this question encourages leadership thinking and ownership – at all levels of the company. Again, follow up with probing questions and keep listening. As a leader, when you ask this question, it builds employees’ confidence and contributes to the answer pool. Team members feel more engaged and fulfilled when they contribute and when they have an impact. Asking “What would you do?” allows them to help and have an impact on decisions.
3. What’s the real challenge here for you?
The key here is the word “real”. When you ask about challenges your employees face, you may open the flood gates. To be a great leader, it’s important to help your team focus on the real problem so that they can begin to find their way out. Focusing on the correct challenge is the fastest way to reach a solution, and focusing on the most significant piece of a problem allows the proper resources to be gathered to solve it. Too often, we focus on the small, most comfortable part of the project. As a result, we look like we are making progress when, in reality, the biggest struggle is still to come.
4. Where are you stuck?
Sometimes we need a push. We may need to admit that we are stuck so that we open ourselves to ideas and new perspectives. Asking this coaching question, as a leader, permits your team to accept they are stuck so that they can move forward. It also helps identify the “real” challenge. Being able to point to the obstacles and give them a name is an incredibly powerful tool. Often just putting a name to the what’s holding a team member back is enough for them to create their own solution and quickly move past it without you solving it for them.
5. How can I help?
When your employee gets stuck, they may become frustrated and disengaged. Asking, “How can I help?” gives hope that they are not alone, and can be the relief they need to move forward. This said, during one-to-one coaching, it’s important to ask the other questions first. Recognize that if the previous questions did not produce a solution or move the team forward, they may also not know what help they need. That’s when your experience as a leader comes in most valuable. It’s time to roll up the sleeves and dig into this challenge with the team and solve it together. The result is a stronger bonded team with high trust and respect for each other. Groups that work in this fashion have higher levels of engagement and more positive results.
ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AND IMPLEMENT SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES WITHIN YOUR ORGANIZATION
Learn2 works with leaders to help them develop and implement strategies to engage their teams to get great results. Work with one of our team members to help you achieve lasting change in your organization. Want to know more about your management style? Take our Natural Approach Assessment.
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