A leader I worked with often complained about the work of his team and regularly expressed frustration with their results. His solution to improve results was simply to listen to what he said and then go and do it. He rationalized this by explaining he’d done their work in the past and already knew what worked and what didn’t so why waste time.

What if the way you’re trying to get results from your team is making the work harder than it needs to be?

While that leader certainly had valuable experience to offer, he was making the work harder than it needed to be by not getting his team involved. His team’s employee engagement rate and retention rate was the lowest among his peers. He couldn’t see how he was creating the very situation he was complaining about.

If this leader involved his team, instead of controlled his team, he would have been more successful. Employee involvement is the active practice of bringing team members into the work by making it safe for them to participate in, influence, and commit to their work. This is often framed as a “nice-to-have”, and seen as something that sounds good in theory, but feels impractical in the real world of deadlines and pressure.  The truth is, it’s often a misunderstood, and underused, driver of better work.

To clear up some of the misunderstandings of employee involvement, let’s look at five “truths” about this concept. 

It saves time.
Would you rather have one 20-minute discussion that is productive and leads to action or three 10- minute discussions because you had to keep following up to get something done?

There is a misconception that getting employees involved takes longer. While some decisions must be made quickly, and action taken immediately, there are also many decisions that are arbitrarily made quickly, and without input. These are decisions that are imposed on those who are either impacted by them, expected to implement them, or both. Being more planful from the outset allows you to engage others who are impacted and builds buy-in.

What is possible when a team is involved in creating a solution?  Higher levels of commitment, less rework and change that sticks. 

It’s profitable
Involved employees spot risks sooner, contribute ideas more often, and take greater ownership of outcomes. Profit is generated by unlocking the full capacity of the people already on your team.

We know from Gallup’s research on employee engagement in workplaces across the globe, that high engagement can increase profit by approximately 22%. Why? Because presenteeism is up, there’s less waste and fewer defects, safety improves, productivity increases, innovation is better, customers are more satisfied and more.

It fosters employee development.
Development doesn’t come from being told what to do. It comes from being trusted to think, contribute, and stretch. Involvement creates real moments where employees build judgment, confidence, and capability. It turns everyday work into meaningful growth, without adding another program. People execute better when they’re involved because they think better and they care more.

It’s courageous.
Employee involvement challenges a leader’s belief that they must have all the answers. It means inviting input you can’t fully control and being open to perspectives that might challenge your own. That takes a quiet kind of courage that is demonstrated when a leader prioritizes better outcomes over being right.

It makes work easier.
Sometimes, leaders are under the impression that getting others involved complicates work. However, when people are aligned, heard, and engaged, work stops feeling like a constant push uphill. There’s less friction, fewer misunderstandings, and more natural momentum within the team. Ease isn’t about doing less. It’s about doing the things that set people up to participate and removing what was making things harder in the first place.

When people are part of how things move forward, decisions get clearer, effort goes further, and leadership gets a little lighter.

The real question isn’t whether you have time for it. It’s how much time you’re losing without it.

If you’re wondering how to get your team more involved but aren’t sure how to make it work in your day-to-day, we’re always open to a conversation. Without any pitches or strings attached, we welcome a chance to talk through what’s happening on your team and what might make things feel a bit easier. Reach out if you’d like to explore it together.