1. Copyright © Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. All rights online reserved. The Importance of Senior Leadership V1.2
From the Top Down: How Senior
Leaders Influence Engagement
An organisation develops a reputation for being a great place to work for one reason:
engagement. Whether virtual or traditional, having employees committed to their
organisation and willing to recommend it is the goal. Creating a work culture that engages
employees gives an organisation a competitive advantage and sets it apart.

2. Copyright © Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. All rights online reserved. The Importance of Senior Leadership V1.2
It isn’t financial incentives that engage employees: employees are
engaged because they feel cared for by management
Senior managers, in particular, greatly influence attitudes within the whole organisation. A top-down approach to
caring for employees as workers and as people is what creates the highest levels of engagement, especially with a
dispersed workforce.
New research from Dale Carnegie Training looked at the rational and emotional factors that impact engagement in
the workplace for 1,500 workers. The study found that the practices and behaviours of senior leadership directly
correlate to the level of engagement in their employees. The attitude of senior management affects:
• The quality of the people they hire
• The resources and training they offer employees
• The level of communication with their employees
• The way employees are compensated
• The climate of the virtual and traditional working environment
The Business Value of Engagement
Research reveals as many as seven out of ten employees are not fully engaged in the workplace. Just less than half
do what is expected of them but they feel undervalued and don’t put forth any extra effort.
The situation is worse with fully disengaged employees who represented over a quarter of the workforce across the
survey. Their behaviour is generally negative and they can undermine their co-workers’ accomplishments. The effect
of having disengaged employees is decreased output, absenteeism and staff turnover.
For virtual employees who may already feel detached, the danger of disengagement can be even greater. Without
an office to go to or co-workers to connect with on a daily basis, employees who work virtually can easily feel
undervalued, excluded and isolated, further contributing to disengagement.
With such a negative effect on the workplace, some employers choose to let disengaged workers go – but that may
not solve the problem. Once those employees leave, they carry their discontent outside, potentially damaging the
company’s reputation with customers and future hires.
The importance of retaining employees is considerable. The cost of recruiting, training and lost productivity as a
result of replacing workers is more than 150 percent of each worker’s salary. This amount can be even larger if
positions remain vacant for extended periods of time. This is especially common in sectors like technology and
health care, where the talent pool isn’t deep. Also, trends indicate that costs will continue to rise as the economy
improves and workers have more employment choices.
It doesn’t take much for disengaged employees to walk away from their jobs. Up to 69 percent of disengaged
employees would take a position at a new company for just five percent more pay, whereas, it would take at least a
twenty percent pay increase to attract engaged employees to a new job.

3. Copyright © Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. All rights online reserved. The Importance of Senior Leadership V1.2
Shifting Out of Disengagement
Shifting employees from disengagement to engagement saves
employers time and money. It also helps drive business. The 29
percent of employees who are fully engaged accomplish more
than their colleagues in less time. For the business, that means:
• Greater productivity
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Repeat business
• Higher profit for the company and shareholders
Although 90 percent of all employers agree that engagement is
critical to business success, 75 percent of all businesses have no
engagement plan or strategy.
Create a Culture that Encourages Engagement
1. Create a culture that encourages engagement
2. Measure employee engagement
4. Hold people accountable for building engagement
5. Reward those who demonstrate progress in
building engagement
Customer Experience
Market Leadership
3. Develop action plans that enhance employee engagement

4. Copyright © Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. All rights online reserved. The Importance of Senior Leadership V1.2
Senior leaders establish engagement by providing a clear career path so that employees can receive the feedback
and training they need to be successful.
Senior leaders have the strongest visible effects on an organisation. They set strategic and cultural goals and steer
the company towards its vision. Their positive attitudes and action can build a culture of engagement, which inspires
employees. Of the employees who have confidence in senior leaders and think they are moving the company in the
right direction, 60 percent are fully engaged.
In addition to feeling confident about senior leadership, engaged employees feel that they are able to voice their
opinions and know that what they say matters. It is up to the organisation to encourage open and honest
communication, giving employees the chance to share concerns and work toward finding solutions. 61 percent of
employees who are satisfied with the amount of input they have in decisions affecting their work are engaged.
Employees who feel they can’t express their opinions or feel their voices are unheard tend to be unmotivated and
disengaged.
Employees need to feel that what they do is meaningful and that they are working for a successful organisation. 60
percent of employees who feel this way are engaged. Senior leaders establish engagement by providing a clear
career path, so that employees can receive the feedback and training they need to be successful. For virtual
employees this is vital, especially for those who are unsure of where their digital roles in the organisation will lead
them in their careers.
For more information about Employee Engagement, including the full results of
Dale Carnegie Training’s recent survey and more whitepapers, go to:
http://www.dalecarnegie.com/employee-engagement/
Dale Carnegie
®
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