How to increase employee engagement for long-term success

To increase employee engagement in the modern workplace, you must align individual work personalities with team activities and foster a culture of psychological safety and clear purpose.

Key takeaways

• Engagement is driven by the alignment between a person's natural work personality and their daily responsibilities.
• High-performing teams consistently perform eight key work activities, including pioneering, advising, and helping.
• Data-driven insights into team dynamics allow leaders to move from reactive management to proactive culture building.
• Effective leadership requires the flexibility to shift between directive, democratic, and non-directive styles based on the situation.

We have all seen the signs of a disengaged team – the slumped shoulders in Zoom calls, the missed deadlines, and the 'quiet quitting' that slowly erodes your company culture. It is a frustrating challenge for any people leader because engagement feels like a moving target that is impossible to pin down. You might try the occasional pizza Friday or a new Slack channel, but these are often just band-aids on a much deeper wound.

The reality is that engagement is not about perks; it is about how people feel connected to their work and their colleagues. When employees feel that their natural strengths are being utilised and that they belong to a team that 'gets' them, engagement flourishes. At Compono, we have spent over a decade researching how to bridge the gap between human potential and organisational performance to help you build a workplace where people actually want to be.

Understanding the science of work personality

To increase employee engagement, you first need to understand that everyone has a unique way of approaching their tasks. We call this a work personality. Some of your team members might be Pioneers who thrive on innovation, whilst others are Auditors who find deep satisfaction in precision and detail. When you force a Pioneer into a repetitive data-entry role, their engagement will inevitably plummet, no matter how many 'Employee of the Month' awards you give them.

By identifying these dominant preferences, you can start to balance work activities with what people naturally enjoy doing. This is not about pigeonholing staff; it is about giving them the best possible chance to succeed. When people are working in their 'zone of genius', they are more productive, more creative, and significantly more engaged with the organisation's goals.

Our research into high-performing teams has identified eight key work activities that must be performed to maintain momentum: Evaluating, Coordinating, Campaigning, Pioneering, Advising, Helping, and Doing. If your team is heavy on 'Doing' but lacks 'Advising', you might hit your targets but lose your sense of direction. Using the Compono Engage platform helps you visualise these gaps so you can redistribute tasks or hire specifically to fill the missing pieces of your cultural puzzle.

The role of leadership in driving engagement

Leadership is not a one-size-fits-all endeavour. To increase employee engagement, leaders must be able to adapt their style to the specific needs of their team and the situation at hand. We view leadership along a continuum – ranging from directive to non-directive styles. A Helper might struggle with a purely directive leader who offers no room for empathy, whereas a Doer might feel lost under a non-directive leader who provides no structure.

Democratic leadership often strikes the best balance for engagement in creative environments. It focuses on collaboration and shared decision-making, allowing team members to feel a sense of ownership over their work. However, even the most democratic leader needs to know when to step in and provide clear direction during a crisis. Flexibility is the hallmark of a leader who truly understands their people.

When conflict arises – as it inevitably does – understanding work personalities becomes your secret weapon. For example, a conflict between Campaigners and Evaluators is often just a clash between 'selling the dream' and 'weighing the risks'. By recognising these as valid, complementary perspectives rather than personal attacks, you can transform friction into a constructive dialogue that actually strengthens team bonds.

Building a culture that sustains high performance

Culture is not what you say it is; it is the sum of the behaviours and interactions that happen every day in your office or remote workspace. To increase employee engagement, you must move beyond surface-level metrics and look at the underlying health of your team dynamics. This involves creating an environment where diversity of thought is celebrated and where every individual feels their contribution is recognised.

High-performing teams are those that have mastered the balance of the eight work activities mentioned earlier. They don't just 'do' the work; they evaluate it, they coordinate the moving parts, and they help each other through the difficult patches. This holistic approach ensures that no single person is carrying the entire weight of the team's performance, which reduces burnout and keeps engagement high over the long term.

If you are looking to scale your team whilst maintaining this delicate cultural balance, your hiring process needs to be just as intelligent as your management style. Tools like Compono Hire allow you to assess candidates not just for their skills, but for their 'Organisation Fit'. This ensures that every new hire adds to your culture rather than diluting it, making the process of increasing engagement much easier from day one.

Key insights

• Engagement is a direct result of aligning work tasks with an individual's natural work personality preferences.
• Leaders must move along the leadership continuum – from directive to non-directive – to meet their team's evolving needs.
• Addressing the eight key work activities (Pioneering, Helping, Doing, etc.) is essential for preventing team burnout and maintaining high performance.
• True engagement is built on a foundation of people intelligence, allowing for data-driven decisions about culture and team design.

Where to from here?

• Explore: Compono Platform

• Talk to an expert: Book in a 15-minute chat to get a walkthrough of Compono.

Frequently asked questions

How can I increase employee engagement without spending a lot of money?

Increasing engagement is primarily about alignment and recognition rather than financial rewards. By understanding your team's work personalities and ensuring they are assigned tasks that match their natural strengths, you can boost morale significantly. Simple changes in communication style and providing more autonomy can also have a profound impact.

What are the main signs of a disengaged employee?

Common indicators include a decrease in productivity, withdrawal from team discussions, increased absenteeism, and a lack of initiative. You might also notice a shift in their communication – becoming more cynical or purely transactional. Early intervention through a supportive 1-on-1 chat is often the best way to address these issues before they escalate.

Does personality testing really help with engagement?

Yes, when it is used as a tool for understanding and collaboration rather than labelling. At Compono, our work personality assessments help managers understand what motivates their staff and how they prefer to work. This insight allows for better task allocation, more effective conflict resolution, and a more inclusive team culture.

How often should I measure employee engagement?

Whilst annual surveys provide a broad overview, regular 'pulse' checks are more effective for staying on top of team sentiment. Using a people intelligence platform allows you to monitor engagement levels in real-time, helping you identify and address cultural issues before they impact your bottom line.

Can a directive leadership style increase engagement?

In specific scenarios, such as when a team is inexperienced or facing a high-pressure deadline, directive leadership can actually increase engagement by providing the clarity and security people need. However, for highly skilled teams or creative projects, a more democratic or non-directive approach is usually better for long-term motivation.