Deep Dive into Employee Engagement with Asha Sarode

On this episode, Tacey dives into the essential elements of employee engagement with Asha Sarode, founder of Uniquity Consulting. With her extensive background in various industries, including healthcare, law, and technology, Asha brings a wealth of knowledge about the complexities of workplace culture and the unique individual contributions needed to foster a thriving environment.

Asha shares her enlightening realizations from her past work experiences, where she often felt confined to narrow perceptions that did not reflect her diverse skill set. This sense of being “put into a box” was not an isolated incident; it reflected a common struggle faced by many employees who feel confined by their roles. Asha emphasizes the importance of understanding each employee’s distinct qualities, needs, and interests. To address this issue, she reveals how her method stems from listening to individuals share their adverse experiences in the workplace, guiding her to create tools and workshops to unlock genuine employee engagement.

We then explore the concept of employee engagement, the definition of which is an individual’s emotional investment in their work and company. We discuss the perplexing statistic of “quiet quitting,” where approximately half of the workforce is disengaged, leading to immense losses in productivity. Asha effectively outlines the critical signs of disengagement, including silence, avoidance of feedback, and reliance on workarounds that overlook deeper issues—warning signs that managers should not ignore.

As we continue the conversation, Asha emphasizes the role of psychological safety in fostering engagement. She discusses how fear can inhibit contribution and collaboration, breaking down the four types of fear that keep employees from fully engaging. From the fear of exclusion to the reluctance to challenge the status quo, Asha provides actionable insights for managers to create environments where employees feel safe speaking up and sharing their ideas. 

Asha passionately advocates for understanding the human connection in the workplace, explaining that these emotional elements have just as quantifiable an impact on productivity as traditional metrics. 

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