“The Engagement Challenge: Mobilize, Unite, Reinvent”

During the Victoires des Leaders du Capital Humain held on January 21, Anne-Laure Pams, Director of the Leadership Development activity, participated in one of the conferences on the theme of the engagement challenge.
Hosted by Leaders League, this roundtable brought together Jean-Marie Lambert, Group HR Director of VEOLIA, Caroline Garnier, HR Director of SAP, Guillaume Dupuis, Director of Development at People & Baby, and Laurent Camus, Group Head of Learning & Development at MBDA.
Employee engagement is not a new topic for companies, which have long understood its impact on performance. However, with the COVID crisis and the resulting new work organization, it has become even more critical.
Engagement in the COVID Era
Anne-Laure Pams shared her experience, first illustrating the solutions that have worked for the Grant Alexander group: climate surveys to understand employees’ mindset and aspirations, involvement in cross-functional projects…
She observed the same trend in the companies she has supported in recent months: collecting employee feedback using powerful digital tools, understanding pain points, identifying levers to foster engagement, and defining an action plan.
For her, who works with organizations on engagement as well as team cohesion and aligning the leadership’s vision, remote work and full-time teleworking have challenged employees’ sense of belonging and highlighted the increased need for connection and meaning in our actions.
“Not only recognized for results and performance, an employee will be acknowledged for who they are and for what they bring to the collective beyond economic outcomes.”
The Imperative of Congruence
Most often, there is a mismatch between the values a company displays and those it embodies. Sometimes, the gap is significant! In a time of a “crisis of meaning,” companies must work harder than ever to ensure that values are fully embodied, from leaders to employees.
The Importance of Human Qualities
It is therefore even more critical for companies to consider the “soft skills” of their leaders very early in the process. Anne-Laure explains that she regularly works with leadership models within companies she supports to define an ideal “profile” regarding the behavioral dimension of the managers the company wishes to hire. She then evaluates candidates’ leadership and their alignment with this model, notably using the Hogan solution, which assesses qualities such as empathy, humility, listening, sharing, and closeness.
She also emphasizes the importance of clarifying what leaders collectively want to embody and what is expected of managers, who act as key relays for employees. This is a very useful exercise, which requires preparation and humility, but ensures congruence between displayed values and daily operational values within the organization.
To watch the replay of the conference: