Employee engagement is becoming one of the key indicators in determining workplace satisfaction. Employees today want to be truly involved in their work and committed to the organization they work for. Research also suggests that more than 90% of business executives believe that the performance of engaged employees is far better, leading to better business outcomes.
Engaging employees refers to the level of the emotional and mental connection which your employees feel towards the work, team, or organization. It is directly proportional to some of the most essential aspects of any organization including revenue, profitability, customer experience, and more.
Employee engagement helps in higher retention of employees, better employee productivity, and lower employee absenteeism, many employers do not take even the most known measures to engage their employees. This leads to low engagement. This low engagement can be due to several factors such as poor company communication, lack of recognition, and employees not feeling in alignment with the company’s mission.
In this blog, we share 6 top strategies to overcome the issue and gradually enhance employee engagement.
To help you enhance employee engagement, here we are sharing some of the proven ways to increase employee engagement at the workplace.
1. Look for ways to improve communication
As organizations grow in size, individual departments and staff start feeling the disconnect and begin to work in isolation.
If there is no dedicated internal communications team, it becomes very important to build better and improved means for communication that can help determine how effectively employees fulfill their daily tasks and how they engage with teams/colleagues.
Ways to communicate
Start communicating news frequently using modes where your employees are spending maximum time – digitally or physically. You can take simple steps such as making use of your intranet or simply putting up posters in shared spaces to keep your staff in the loop on things such as changes in HR policies, client details, or sharing someone’s personal achievement.
Managers working in remote settings need to put more effort into their communication methods, such as encouraging employees to use digital tools (Slack, Workplace by Facebook, etc.), scheduling regular sync-up meetings, and more.
2. Recognize and appreciate good work
Recognizing your staff goes a long way to making them feel valued and further inclined to continue/increase their efforts. Therefore, to make employees feel engaged, organizations need to start willingly recognize and reward their people on a regular basis.
Ways to appreciate
Use various digital channels that allow staff to thank/appreciate each other. Encourage managers to include positive recognition that acknowledges the right behavior, attitude, adherence to values, or any other area which works as a positive reinforcement for something done right.
Moreover, you can engage your HR department to implement an incentive program for employees.
3. Train and coach
If you don’t invest in the training and coaching of your employees, they would soon lose interest and motivation. Learning is the key factor for growth. It is, therefore, important to create a powerful culture that fosters continuous development to help employees build the skills they need to do their jobs.
Ways to train and coach
Offer proper training and coaching to your employees regularly by creating a dedicated calendar.
You can also create a detailed description of the growth path for the employees as soon as they join so that they have an aim to follow and work towards fulfilling the goal.
4. Seek feedback
Employees in any organization feel more engaged when their views are sought for, listened to, and acted upon, so it is crucial to regularly ask for feedback.
Ways to seek feedback
You can start by scheduling periodic review calls for each employee with their manager. This will help managers understand if there are any issues or expectations which are not getting met in the current role.
Also, make use of online surveys and other tools to understand employees’ views. You can also create an open-door policy where everyone can provide feedback for the betterment of company policies.
5. Prioritize employee well-being
Employees find it easy to engage with their work when the organization makes an effort to enhance their overall wellbeing. Carefully designed, to a large extent personalized, wellness initiatives are an excellent way to improve employee engagement and make your staff feel valued.
Ways to do this
Organize mental health seminars and sessions at the office to promote a stress-free work culture. You can also organize free medical health check-ups and camps so that employees prioritize their well-being.
6. Give professional development opportunities
For an increasing number of organizations, professional development initiatives have the potential to be one of the most important drivers of employee engagement. It, therefore, makes sense to clearly outline a path for employees’ growth to keep them engaged and motivated.
Ways to provide development opportunities
Organize internal workshops, training, and coaching sessions to give employees focused positive growth opportunities in their current role.
Evaluate the possibility to grow employees rather than hiring externally. Provide for lateral and vertical growth opportunities to retain good employees and foster the right culture of performance.
Conclusion
Employee engagement is quit e a complex and wide-reaching subject for organizations to master. However, using the strategies mentioned above, you can be thoughtful in your approach to increase employee engagement and reap the benefits and rewards of an engaged workforce for years to come.
