Right now, almost 2 in 3 employees say they feel stuck in their jobs.

When employees aren’t engaged, it starts a flywheel of reduced productivity, deteriorating customer relationships, and ultimately, poor financial performance.

While the majority of the workforce remains gainfully employed, many employees have mentally disconnected, leaving senior leaders, learning and development (L&D) leaders and human resources (HR) professionals searching for answers.

The traditional response to combat low employee engagement is to invest in front-line manager training. This response isn’t without validity; we know exceptional managers are more likely to have engaged employees.

Yet, putting the responsibility of employee engagement exclusively on front-line managers often results in costly unintended consequences, such as:

• Propelling manager burnout. Currently, managers are 36% more likely to report feeling burned out than the workers they manage. These leaders are often overwhelmed, managing teams that are too large and up against their own mountain of deliverables. Saddling front-line managers with the expectation of inspirational leadership, career conversations and robust feedback feels akin to pouring from an empty cup.
• Disempowering front-line employees: When the organizational narrative proclaims that it is the job of the leader to provide meaning, joy and opportunities, employees are left…waiting. If their manager fails to deliver on high expectations, employees become disappointed, opting to disengage or depart.
• Worsening engagement scores:A manager-driven employee engagement strategy often backfires, fueling potentially unrealistic expectations of employees and further eroding the engagement of those most at risk: front-line leaders. The engagement metrics that manager training was designed to improve, ironically, get worse.

There is a better path, and it starts with self-leadership. The philosophy of “Leading Yourself” puts employee engagement in the hands of the employee. Instead of burdening front-line leaders to serve up an exceptional work experience for their teams, the onus shifts to the individual, to create an exceptional work experience for themself.

Here are three self-leadership skills you can teach to move the needle on employee engagement.

1. Identifying growth opportunities.

“Seeking career growth opportunities” has become the No. 1 reason people change jobs. It’s also a root cause of disengagement. When employees aren’t appropriately challenged and don’t see a future beyond their immediate to-do list, engagement evaporates. Yet, employees often wait for their manager to serve up the perfect concoction of challenge, visibility and value.

As a learning leader, you can encourage leaders to promote their team members’ self-leadership by asking:

• What are your professional goals?
• What would an ideal growth opportunity look like for you?
• What support do you need from your manager?

Some teammates may seek further technical skills development, like a certification, while others desire human skills growth, like leadership or communication. Some teammates want a stretch project, while others want a mentorship opportunity. Some need an approving head nod from their boss; others need a monetary investment.

In this conversation, the responsibility is on the employee. They’re not without support, but they are the driver of the outcome. Having employees articulate their version of success adds clarity and ownership to the potentially vague need for growth opportunities.

2. Connecting to purpose.

Emotional fulfillment cannot depend on manager-led pep rallies. As inspiring as leaders may be, they are not constantly present, and their enthusiasm doesn’t last forever. To embody self-leadership, employees must be able to create inspiration, instead of looking to others to deliver it.

You can help your team build a sustainable connection to purpose by asking:

• What is your ripple effect? Knowing where your work ends up (e.g., where the reports you pull are sent, who reads the copy you write, what impact your solution has, etc.) adds meaning to seemingly isolated or disjointed tasks.
• What impact do we have on customers? Knowing that real-life people and businesses depend on you adds urgency. This is even more crucial for backstage or remote teams, where the “customer” can quickly become an abstraction of demands.

If the answers to these questions leave a bit to be desired, improving understanding in these areas offers a sustainable path to engagement. Describe why the role matters and why customers buy from your business.

A self-reliant connection to purpose creates an emotional reserve employees can pull from. When you know how your work radiates out and who is counting on you to deliver, engagement becomes more steadfast.

3. Operating in context.

Every single employee should be able to describe why your organization exists, who your customers are, how your organization makes money and what the plan is for the next 12 months.

A one-sentence answer to each of those prompts is fine. Unfortunately, front-line employees are often not given the context they need to be engaged, or even effective in their role. A lack of context leaves employees checking off a punch list of seemingly meaningless tasks doled out by someone else.

The new ideas, discretionary effort and insightful questions executives are seeking from the front-line are an impossibility without context. When employees have a baseline understanding of the business, they’re better able to make meaningful contributions. They’re also more likely to understand decisions, respond favorably to change and speak up about potential challenges.

Conclusion

Activating self-leadership isn’t a free pass for managers to avoid the basic principles of good leadership. It’s an acknowledgment that strong managers have off days, well-intended leaders get stretched thin and in the face of global burnout, constant inspiration from the human one level above you in the organizational chart is unlikely.

Knowing how to lead yourself is a career-long gift. Teaching team members to identify growth opportunities, connect to purpose and operate in context builds a foundation for lasting engagement.

We all deserve a meaningful work experience. Give employees the skills needed to create one for themselves.