The last couple of years every employee in every company across every industry has faced unparalleled challenges, huge adjustments, and a transforming work environment (hello—hybrid and work from home life). Amid a dynamic and perpetually changing landscape, the parking industry has continued to rapidly advance while still holding an array of untapped potential; potential that the employees are leading the charge to uncover. 

In our ever-changing world, where new technologies are emerging and innovation adoption grows at warp speed, it is crucial that companies, managers, and people teams keep a pulse on the workforce, showing constant progress in employee engagement. It is essential to focus on how, as a company within the parking industry, employee engagement stays a top priority even with a growing workforce and varying work ecosystem.

So, the question is this: how does a rapidly growing company with a diverse workforce stay up to speed with its employees and meet the needs of desired engagement? 

We have turned a corner when it comes to how managers and leaders should be viewed and engage with their workforce. Gone are the days where leaders sit in their office micromanaging the workforce—a workforce that was scared when they got called into their managers office or saw a manager meeting suddenly pop up on their calendar. This is the same workforce that the managers personally interviewed and believed in their capabilities enough to hire. We live in an age where managers and leaders need to show that they trust their employees to be productive on their own schedule, have confidence in the qualities and skills that each employee brings to the company, and understand that each employee is more than just their professional lives. 

We all are plagued by the same stressors and fears in and outside of work, managers and leaders included. We all are tasked with cautiously balancing both work and home life, precariously keeping all the balls up in the air hoping that none will fall. Creating a safe space to hold discussions with transparency, showing empathy and understanding, crafting a sense of community, and developing comradery will all positively transform a company culture and engagement that impacts the entire workforce from the C-suite to the summer intern. 

The most effective tools for engagement and employee relationship building that should come from the very top of the company leaders and go all the way down to individual contributors are transparency and open communication. To maintain and strengthen relationships, increase employee morale, and boost engagement it is essential for leaders to be transparent and have two-way communication with their workforce. Holding company-wide meetings with scheduled frequency, distributing monthly employee newsletters, investing in collaboration tools for communication and feedback, and encouraging managers, the C-Suite, and people team to have an empathetic, open-door policy are the most important and easiest ways to engage employees and keep them excited about the brand and mission. 

Focus should be not on just the work, but also the people—the employees. Develop interpersonal relationships, make them feel like they are more than just a number or person to fill a role. Ensure managers have daily team standups or at a minimum a weekly meeting. In these meetings, take the first 10 minutes to show an interest in their personal lives, ask about upcoming fun plans/events, or just talk about how they are doing. Direct reports should have weekly or biweekly one-on-ones with their managers. Maintaining that strong connection and accessible line of communication is critical to increased engagement and employee satisfaction. Managers and leaders slowing down in the moment to listen, personally engage, and show that they care about their team will only enhance performance and allow everyone to move faster later. 

Prioritizing employee engagement and employee connection is just as strategic of a task for leadership as any other job duty. When companies invest in their employees and the employee’s needs, it leads to a more collaborative, innovative, and energized environment. A company culture and brand that is authentic and transparent draws in top talent, has lower turnover, and has greater employee engagement and happiness which in turn leads to greater company productivity. Engaged employees and a strong, interpersonal company culture are key indicators of a company’s success. The workforce are the ones who drive innovation and the transactional tasks and represent the brand of the company. Investing in the company workforce leads to a path of company success and company advancement. In the end, an engaged and satisfied employee becomes an effective and reliable employee. 

As we close out 2022, I challenge each company and each leader to plan to intentionally invest time in their workforce in 2023. Recognize your employees for the wins, no matter how big or small. Sit down with employees during times of failure, without judgement, and show them it is an opportunity to grow and learn. Encourage ideas, innovation, and employee voices through company meetings, one-on-ones, and open forums and show the workforce that their opinion is valued. If a company, its leaders, and its people team focus on cultivating a positive, engaged culture then—WOW—will that company be unstoppable. At the end of the day, a company’s key indicator of success is revenue. But how can you possibly ever achieve revenue without a dedicated workforce? Without employees who are content, fulfilled, and productive? You can’t. Employee engagement is the key that unlocks a company’s true and full potential.