What role should leaders play in fostering employee engagement?

Business is a ruthless game, and often it seems like the only thing that matters are the figures on the monthly balance sheet. Of course, companies value their employees on a personal level. But when it comes to the survival of the business, they're often seen as a secondary concern.

Taking this approach, though, is a huge mistake. Because let's face it: when you look at any large, successful company, you find engaged and enthusiastic employees. And it's not just about having staff show up to work and perform their tasks. True engagement goes beyond that, encompassing a deep connection to the company's mission, values and overall purpose. 

A strong level of engagement typically stems from the company's leadership working carefully and thoroughly to create the right culture; a topic we recently explored in a fascinating webinar with entrepreneur Steven Bartlett. 

To further examine this subject, we chatted to Jaco Oosthuizen, co-founder at YuLife South Africa, and CMO Lauren Berkemeyer at YuLife, to get their views on the critical role leaders play in shaping a culture of employee engagement. 

In this article we share their best insights, which shed light on the unique approach they have taken at YuLife, and provide valuable lessons for any founder or CEO aiming to create a workplace that thrives on engagement.

"Every employee feels that they belong"

First of all, it's important to note that YuLife is a big success story in this area; a point not lost on Jaco when he joined the expanding startup after 28 years in the corporate world. 

"I've never before worked at a company with employee engagement levels as high as YuLife's," he emphasises. "Each employee feels like they belong, and we've created an open and transparent place to work, which limits corporate politics."

Lauren, who joined YuLife in 2020 after 17 years in the corporate world, couldn't agree more. "The level of employee engagement at YuLife is definitely the highest that I've experienced in my career," she says. 

"One thing we've done extremely well is to hire talent that really believe in what YuLife is seeking to achieve," she explains. "So they're not only talented from a discipline perspective, but have incredible values and work ethics, and determination to create the world we want to live in."

In other words, employee engagement doesn't often happen by chance, but stems from a strategic approach by the founders. 

"Culture is top down, not bottom up"

"Leadership is absolutely critical in determining the company culture and to lead by example." Jaco explains. "The culture of a company is created top down and not bottom up, and the authenticity of the leadership gets picked up by the rest of the employees very quickly."

"A lot of this stems from leading by example, practising what you preach," adds Lauren. "But it's also giving people space and freedom, to empower them to thrive and grow. 

"These things reinforce each other," she adds, "helping to create a culture where you're not only a high performance team, but you're an authentically connected team that really believes and cares about what you do."

"Decide what culture you want to create"

So how do you go about this in practice? "Firstly, you need to decide what culture you want to create and then design your values around this and create weekly and daily rituals that reinforce what you believe in," recommends Jaco.

He adds that leaders must enable staff to fully share their feelings, including their fears, without being judged. "Employee engagement needs a culture where people can be vulnerable and open," he explains. "Leaders and managers need to live these values top down and repeat them continuously." 

And all this must be central to your recruitment strategy, he adds. "You need to appoint people that will fit into that culture and are mature enough to be vulnerable."

In other words, it's not just about setting the company values, but actively putting them into practice, across all areas of the business. 

"Founders normally create values and put them on their website," points out Lauren. "But then often they just sit there, collecting dust. So it's really about reinforcing the values through the way that you operate the business. 

"For example, we talk about being vulnerable. So that means that from the top, there needs to be honesty and vulnerability. Not just in terms of big company messages, but also just the way you interact with people every day."

"People follow a dream, not a business case"

Founders and CEOs wield a significant influence on an organisation: they set the tone, mission and vision, which are the bedrock of a company's culture. And so when leaders are invested in creating a culture that's empowering and positive, it becomes easier to achieve the organisation's goals. 

This requires being hands-on and present, and consistently reinforcing the values and direction through regular interactions and communication with the team. It's not always easy, and everyone makes mistakes along the way. But the biggest mistake, Jaco believes, is to understand the importance of culture itself. 

"A lot of companies think mainly about the numbers and not the people and what culture is needed to achieve your vision," he explains. "But in the real world, people follow a dream and not a business case. So you need to create a following, a movement, and take your people on that journey. People want to work for a higher purpose and to create meaning and make a difference. Culture creates meaning and then the rest follows."

Conclusion

In summary, leadership isn't just about making strategic, balance-sheet driven decisions; it's about creating an environment where employees thrive emotionally, intellectually and personally. 

This means creating the right culture from the top down, based on authenticity, consistency, and a deep commitment to values. And rather than just paying lip service to these values, it means placing them at the centre of all your operations and leading by example. 

That way, you'll be able to foster the kind of employee engagement that ultimately leads to business success.