Question: How important is employee engagement for organisational performance?

Answer: Legitimate Leadership believes that the most important criterion for sustained organisational performance is the degree to which the will of employees is engaged to go above and beyond in the pursuit of the organisation’s objectives.

For people to contribute in the workplace, more important than either what people have (systems), or know (skills and knowledge), is their willingness.

A person’s willingness to work, more than anything else, is determined by the nature of the relationship he has with his immediate manager and the intent of that manager. Only when the manager’s intent is to give to her people will they be willing. The “give” that she needs to make is highly specific: it is to have a sincere and genuine interest in her people’s welfare and to enable them to realise the best in themselves. To deliver on these two criteria requires a manager to understand what makes each of the people reporting to her tick and to align what care and growth she gives to each of them, according to their individual needs and circumstances.