How to drive development with employee engagement
Today, it is not enough to focus solely on strong leadership – employee engagement is also crucial to creating a successful and long-term sustainable organization. When employee engagement is developed, an environment is created where each individual takes responsibility for both their own and the development of the collaboration. At Ekan, we support organizations and companies in strengthening a Developing Employee Engagement. This means building a culture where employees strengthen their abilities, collective intelligence develops and the foundation is laid for increased impact, goal achievement and long-term success.
What is Developmental Employeeship?
Developing Employeeship (UM) is based on research from, among others, the Swedish National Defense University. For example, Gerry Larsson has shown how self-awareness, cooperation and responsibility among employees can lift the entire organization. This approach highlights the importance of clear frameworks, shared responsibility and good interaction between managers and employees to contribute to resilience and robust organizations. Our experience at Ekan is that UM promotes:
- Initiative: Employees take their own initiatives and actively participate in improvement and development work.
- Collective intelligence: By openly sharing knowledge and ideas, continuous improvement opportunities are created.
- Psychological security: Employees dare to question, learn from mistakes and suggest new ways of working.
- Team dynamics: Relationships and collaborations are strengthened, leading to higher motivation and performance.
At Ekan, we tailor our development efforts to each customer's unique needs.. In this way, we can focus on precisely the areas that need strengthening. We alternate theory and interactive exercises that are adapted to the participants' current situation and challenges with the aim of strengthening cooperation and commitment. Examples of content include practical training in giving feedback and using a coaching approach in everyday life - to strengthen cooperation, responsibility and development.
Development of culture and cooperation
Developing Employeeship is fundamentally about seeing employees as active and responsible resources in the organization. A culture where initiative, collaboration and continuous learning are encouraged creates the conditions for both increased job satisfaction and better results.
Ekan has extensive experience in helping organizations transform these theories into concrete and measurable results. We can support you on your journey towards a developing workforce. We can either start with a small pilot group or implement a larger transformation.
If you are curious and want to approach Developing Employeeship on your own, here are four concrete tips to get started:
- Invite and involve employees
Start by finding out how employees experience autonomy, skills development and their connection to the organization's goals. You can do this through surveys, interviews or workshops. Based on this information, you will have a clear starting point from which to work further. - Work actively to increase psychological safety
Make sure to create an environment where everyone dares to share ideas, ask questions and question working methods. Open dialogue and accepting mistakes are essential for employees to dare to take responsibility and initiative. - Set common development goals and follow up on progress
Involve employees in formulating goals for both individual and team development, in line with the overall strategy of the business. Through regular follow-ups and reflection sessions, opportunities are created to evaluate what works, highlight good examples and celebrate progress. - Engage management as change agents
Have a clear understanding of what you mean by employee development and why it is important for your organization to work with it. Every manager needs to be able to support the change in everyday life.
Please contact us to hear more about how we have worked with customers in similar situations. – we are happy to share examples, methods and success factors that can help your organization reach the next level.
Want to delve deeper into the subject? See here
- Read more about collective intelligence HERE
- Immerse yourself in Psychological Safety in this study
- Learn more about a learning culture and feedback HERE
- Read about effective teams and Susan Wheelan's research HERE