Typically, most leaders tend to choose a combination of stoic and closed-off to maintain respect and avoid inappropriate situations. While it’s okay to maintain a healthy distance, completely avoiding a personal connection with your employees isn’t the right thing to do.

Guess what, a Gallup poll found that companies with the most engaged workers are 17% more productive, 21% more profitable, and make 20% more sales. When your employees feel valued and appreciated, they are more likely to go above and beyond for the company.

Let’s look at the three things you can do to build a connection with your team:

Align Employees around Your Vision and Mission

It’s not possible to create a connected workforce if some employees are working towards one thing while others are working towards another. As a leader, you need to ensure that your employees’ contribution supports the company’s overall vision as well as its mission.  Your sales team will have different roles than the tech team – and then the marketing team will have its own set of responsibilities, but each individual needs to be aware of how their share of work is impacting the bigger picture.

According to a Robert Half Management Resources survey, only 47% of workers are able to make the connection between their day-to-day duties and how they impact the company’s financials. It is your responsibility as a leader to look for ways to help the team members connect their activities to the company’s bottom line.

Provide Opportunities for Personal Growth

Leaders need to instill an owner’s mentality in the workplace and hold employees accountable to decisions that affect their jobs as well as their goals.

One great way you can do this is by cultivating a culture that fosters personal growth alongside business growth. When a leader cares about the personal development of its employees, it is shown in the form of a more engaged workplace and profitable business outcomes.

Taking genuine interest in your employees’ life is imperative to building lasting relationships and a loyal tribe. So, create an environment where employees are encouraged to set ambitious goals at work and their personal lives, and act as a coach and accountability partner for them to help them achieve them.

Create a Two-Way Connection

With the fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic emerging, meeting face-to-face every day is still not practically possible. However, fortunately business leaders can rely on technology to keep employees connected and engaged as well. They can use existing channels or create new ones to collect real-time feedback from them and also handle employee concerns or grievances that might be hindering their performance and productivity.

Here’s an interesting example of the Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. He, along with his leadership team, holds a monthly live Q&A session for his global employees in which he shares company updates on major initiatives and answers live questions.

When you create consistent two-way communication, your employees will feel encouraged to take ownership and realise that their ideas are valued by the organisation.

Learn how you can take your leadership teams through a growth model which will help them mature on a personal and professional level by following me on LinkedIn and subscribing to the Keijzer Community.

Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.