There is an I in Team (Opinion)

I suppose it is every leader’s dream to have employees that are 100 percent committed and engaged to a job well done. As long as we’re wishing, we may as well ask for the moon — throw in some goal and objective accomplishment, too.

Take a minute to think about it. What keeps employees coming back every day? Praises, raises, people, or all of the above?

Engagement and commitment are based on emotional attachment, and have everything to do with job significance. People are different and they crave workplace significance as validation of their skills and talents.

This brings me to my next point. There is an “I” in team.

Teams are made of individuals who collectively achieve common goals. Individuals are the parts that make the whole.

Those parts are diverse, unique and needed for organizational success. Employee engagement is a strong predictor of positive organizational performance based on two-way relationships between leaders and subordinates.

People feel better about team efforts when they know their individual efforts are appreciated. They like to be celebrated, not tolerated.

It’s football season now and maybe you football fans can appreciate my next analogy. When coaches recruit players, they recruit talent.

Talent helps you win, if you use it appropriately. When the game is over, the winning “team” is reported along with game stats for individual players. Give your team something to strive for, and celebrate them when they meet the mark.

So it goes with organizational teams. If you want your team’s optimum performance, you’ve got to recruit, celebrate, utilize and reward talented individuals. Don’t stifle your people. It is truly disheartening to see talented professionals lose their “flair.”

People stay when they get to play. Unused talent gets restless and bored, and that can result in turnover or, even worse, spawn cancerous behavior.

Being immersed in genuine positive social capital energizes us to do our best. Your financial bottom line is affected by team engagement.

Employers spend an average of $800 per employee per year on sick leave for people who aren’t really sick; an average of $10,000 per vacancy for employee turnover; and an average of two hours per day per employee in lost productivity for non-work-related activities because of the lack of engagement.

Gary Portnoy wrote and sang it best in the theme song to the 1980s sitcom “Cheers.” People want to go “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.” There is an “I” in team, because it takes the collaborative efforts of individuals to meet goals through great teamwork.

Engagement starts with professional development training that is job relevant. You may have a training curriculum, but if you’re still experiencing lost productivity, read my lips, it’s not working.

Try enlisting what I call the triple “A” approach. Keep in mind this has nothing to do with roadside assistance.

Assessment of skills and talents; alignment in job placement; and action geared for strategic success are lifelines when building employee engagement.

I spoke at a conference recently for high school students. The primary focus of that conference was encouraging young people to find professional significance based on their gifts and talents.

Seasoned professionals are no different. Employees experience engagement when they are doing what they were hardwired to do. Let them perform, celebrate their performance and reward them accordingly.

Kimberly Polite, formerly of Northwest Arkansas, is a talent development and change management consultant in Southern California. She can be reached at www.ecstrains.com/blog.