Employee engagement is a critical thing to maintain a productive and motivated workforce. Summertime can be a struggle, with distracted employees and vacations taking precedence. But you can adjust your leadership strategy to keep your team focused and on point during the fun summer months. Here’s how you re-engage your team in four easy tips.

How To Keep Your Team Engaged and Productive

1. Set goals together

If an employee has lost their focus in the workplace, you can always refocus their attention by introducing a deadline for a project. They may simply be floating through the organization without purpose, and by setting goals together, you’ll gain buy-in from them and provide something tangible to work towards. By making reviews or performance all about hitting numbers without a clear view of those goals from your employee’s perspective, it’s easy for your team to disengage from those goals. Make sure you work together with your employees to help them connect with those goals in meaningful ways, and also check in to make sure they are reasonable expectations given their understanding of the work.

2. Become a mentor

The most engaged employees are ones who have mentors, sponsors, and coaches to help lift them up. Be that mentor if they don’t currently have one. Managers who are unable to communicate new processes or insights effectively are often unable to motivate and engage those they need to get the job done. Mentorship is a great tool that benefits both sides of the table. By mentoring your employees, you will encourage and enable their professional growth and hopefully keep them around for many years to come.

3. Really listen

One of the most difficult things to learn when becoming a good leader is how to take criticism well. Try not to get defensive and acknowledge that there is always room for you to grow. Be open to constructive criticism and consider how these tips can actually improve your skills and outlook as a leader. Feedback is important. No one is as good at their job as they can ever possibly be. Challenge yourself to always be better than you were the day before and set a good example for others to do the same.

4. Show Compassion

People hold loyalty for other people, particularly people they know and trust. Don’t allow yourself to remain a faceless entity that is simply responsible for their reoccurring paycheck. Connect with your staff and show your compassion to invest in reaching their hearts and minds. A good leader is a compassionate one. Show that compassion in your corporate policies, in your giving of second chances, and in your efforts within the community as a whole. Make decisions from a leadership perspective with an eye to making your employees proud to say they work for your company. You’d be surprised how far a little kindness will go toward building your reputation as a strong leader.

Are you building your team?

For more advice on how to keep your team engaged even through the summer months, connect with the team at Ag 1 Source today.