Organizations or businesses wish to retain their employees for longer periods of time to witness profitable outcomes. Long-term employees require less training and attention. Moreover, their continuous affiliation with the organization would lead to loyalty and commitment and benefit the organization’s overall growth and development.
Perhaps for this reason, more and more talk is coming about regarding employee engagement. Employee engagement in business is not just trendy but a necessity as well. Employees who are truly engaged with their work would impact the organization in many positive ways, such as boosting productivity, increasing user satisfaction rates, improving the organization’s brand visibility, increasing user safety, providing better care and supporting the organization’s strategy. Organizations with highest employee engagement rates are found to be 21% more profitable than others.
What Exactly is Employee Engagement?
Are your employees happy? Many times, employee happiness is mistaken for employee engagement. Happy employees might be satisfied with their job (employee satisfaction) and their responsibilities, but engaged employees are dedicated with their tasks.
Employee engagement can be said to be the measure of the connection an employee has with their workplace. Measuring this level can be narrowed down to three aspects: motivation, commitment and referral. An engaged employee would generally think of the following thoughts on a positive note:
- I am motivated here to do my duties.
- This organization will help me grow with my commitment.
- I would refer my peers to work for this organization.
Executives in leadership roles play a major part in improving the employee engagement of an organization. Likewise, managers, being the bridge between leaders and employees are also important in bringing about improvements. They can enforce the leadership’s initiatives as well as ensuring that their employees are heard, seen, valued and appreciated.
20 Vital Drivers of Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is not limited to fancy, attractive perks. Art and technique are involved in bringing it out, whether for short-term wins for the employees or long-term goals like training and development.
Here are 20 vital employee engagement drivers to consider before diving into ways to improve employee engagement:
- Company values
- Meaningfulness of work
- Setting expectations in the early stage
- Pay transparency
- Right direction
- Employee appreciation
- Addressing concerns
- Diversity and inclusivity
- Open-mindedness
- Work-life flexibility
- Encouraging innovation
- Training and upskilling
- Boosting morale to work at full potential
- Development
- Informed employees
- Informed leaders
- Task execution
- Interdepartmental cooperation and collaboration
- Optimized meetings
- Benefits package
15 Ideas to Boost Employee Engagement in Business
It’s time to come to the crux of the matter: how can employee engagement in business be improved? Here are 15 ideas that you can try out
1. Live up To Your Organization’s Vision, Mission and Values
The vision, mission and values of an organization shouldn’t just be limited to words that appear on the website or walls of the building. They must be implemented in the day-to-day tasks. Employees should not just be educated on the core values but due appreciation must be given for those abiding by them. Executives in leadership and managerial positions should embody these values as well as interact with employees to instill those values into them. Meetings can be scheduled for employees to share stories of how core values can be showcased, virtual or in-person quizzes can be conducted and those who are observed to have exuded the best of these virtues can be awarded and recognized by the decision-makers. This would prove to inspire more employees to become visionaries.
2. Proper Investment from the Top – Leadership Positions
Choose the organization’s leaders wisely. Many a time, the employees get inspired by their superiors and try to follow in their footsteps. If a leader sets proper example when it comes to embodying organizational values and being dedicated to the tasks at hand, the employees are sure to follow.
Leaders thus chosen should be able to project positivity. By displaying a positive attitude towards the organization, its work culture, professionalism and life in general, employees gain a boost in morale. Leaders should have the capacity to become role models and begin each day with an optimistic outlook.
3. Ensure That the Right Employee Has the Right Role
Employees can give their 100% is if they are in the right job position. Recruitment is a skill that needs to be reckoned with. Be clear about what is expected from them in the interview stage itself to avoid confusion and frustration later on. Assign roles and responsibilities that suit their talent. Make sure that you provide tasks that continue to assert your confidence in them. With consistency, you can solidify the faith they have in you and your organization.
4. Training and Development
Training, hands-on or otherwise, shouldn’t be limited to the initial stage of on boarding or probation period. Learning is a continuous process and it is a known fact that there will always be room for improvement. With regular training, employees not only get upskilled, they also are exposed to other aspects of the organization’s work culture like building bonds with their teammates and higher-ups or the way the organization desires to function. With this holistic development, employee engagement in in business can gain a holistic approach.
5. Collaborations
Employees mustn’t be restricted to a few team members working on a project. Encourage collaborative efforts across teams or even across departments. Employees will not only gain knowledge, but such interactions can build better relationships and the integrity of the organization will be boosted. Productivity can get a rise with the engagement levels gained with this effort.
6. Prioritize Overall Well-being of Employees
A healthy mind lies in a healthy body. Ensuring that your employees are healthy is essential for engagement and, consequently, productivity. Wellness encompasses all aspects: physical, mental, psychological, financial, emotional, and social. No employee should feel any one aspect dropping to an unbearable low. Decision-makers should clearly chart out how they wish to keep their employees’ well-being in their thoughts and execute it in a manner that produces positive results.
7. Giving an Ear to Feedback
Employees want to be heard just like any ambitious person. Be receptive and open to feedback. If you genuinely believe that changes need to be brought about in your methods, consider suggestions given by your employees. Expect mistakes and accept imperfections. It’s not failure but a key component of achieving success. The result you gain is what is important. Leaders and managers play a key role in accepting feedback and tweaking the implementations to gain a better employee engagement.
8. Endorse Team-building Activities
Team-building activities shouldn’t be just a one-time venture for breaking the ice. There are several ways that an organization benefits from team-building activities, employee engagement being one of them. With team-building, employees would be aware of each other’s strengths and can use these during tasks and projects. Activities can range from simple to adventurous. Find out which best suits your organization. Experiment with a few and gain suggestions and feedback from your employees. With team-building, employees and leaders alike can connect on a human level.
9. Provide Proper Tools
Even the best employee wouldn’t be able to live up to their potential if not supplied with the proper tools. Allocate the time and proper budget and supply your employs with the appropriate resources. Not only will they feel happy, satisfied, at ease and relieved, they will engage better with the organization and be able to give good results.
10. Provide More Peer-to-peer and Manger-to-staff Recognition Programs
Encourage your employees to recognize and reward each other with an employee recognition program. They will strive to be more engaging as well as observant. Recognition is a great motivation booster. Furthermore, spotlight makes employees feel happy that their efforts are being seen. Appreciated team members would be happier and productivity will get a lift.
11. Be Visible and Available
Competent leaders are present, accessible and approachable at the workplace. Successful leaders go the extra mile to interact with their employees, and families, not to keep an eye on them but for genuine conversations. Many managers have an “open-door policy” and encourage employees to share their ideas in their office. An even better approach is when the manager actively engages with the staff to build trust and relationships.
12. Equity and Inclusivity
Make sure that the workplace is fair in all respects. Employees should find a sense of belong and the work environment should be a safe space for them.
Teamwork plays a major role in business. By being able to relate to their environment, employees will get more engaged with the task at hand. When they are educated that their work is part of something bigger and impactful, their sincere efforts will be shown bright.
13. Optimism – A Quality of a Good Leader
Project a positive attitude. Not just about the task at hand, but about the organization, the work culture, the role and life in general. Managers and C-level executives have the power to influence their employees with a bright outlook on all these aspects. Starting each day with positive enthusiasm will surely give employee engagement a substantial boost.
14. Encourage Self-sufficiency and Growth
Safety and user care are top priorities in businesses. Employees will be able to deliver this better when they are allowed to be independent. Independence doesn’t mean isolation. Employees should be encouraged to make decisions autonomously while having the opportunity to collaborate. Doing so will enhance their thinking and speed up their growth.
15. Carry out Employee Engagement Surveys
By having an anonymous way to voice their opinions, employees would be at ease and can even contribute to better employee engagement in the future. The organization would be aware of the current state of employee engagement as well as might even get ideas to improve. With positive aspects as well as criticism, the overall big picture can be understood.
Wrapping Up
In spite of the best efforts, it seems as if only 1/3rd of all employees are truly engaged with their work. This fraction needs to go higher. Employee engagement is vital for an organization’s growth. Employees might be happy or satisfied but the boom of the organization can be achieved only if they are engaged with the tasks they are assigned with. Employee engagement in business is especially important as customer care is the aspect involved. Your organization can try out which ways suit them among these 15 for bettering employee engagement. Combinations and trials are all part of the process. Surge ahead!