Businesses can really benefit from having a higher level of engagement from their employees, and luckily, that’s not too hard to do. Here, we’ll explore ten great ways to do so.
1. Get Highly Engaged Leaders & Managers
The most important factor to promote employee engagement as shown by research and surveys is the quality of the relationship between the employee and their manager. Employees will usually leave a company because of a manager more than any other reason. Studies show that employees will perform significantly better and are more invested in an organization when they’re engaged. That’s why it’s key for leaders and managers to be engaged and learn how to build solid relationships with their employees.
2. Promote the Business Values
A business’s values and mission should help create a workspace that promotes employee engagement and gives staff the opportunity to showcase those values. When employees can relate to a core value statement and can use it as a compass during their work, they’re much more likely to be engaged.
3. Appreciate and Acknowledge Employees
According to Margaret Hudson, a marketer at Write My X and Next Coursework, explains that “employee recognition programs (formal and informal) are a great tool to build a strong and healthy relationship between employees and managers. Companies that acknowledge and reward employees regularly are much more profitable than those that don’t.”
4. Treat Employees Like People
The last thing that people want is to be treated like numbers or objects. When people feel valued, inspired and empowered, they’re much more likely to be engaged and productive. Employees need to know that their managers understand them and care about them as people.
5. Focus on Employee Well-Being
At the end of the day, we all know that healthy and happy employees are going to be more engaged and productive. That means they’ll stay in the organization longer and are less likely to skip work. Be sure to set up great employee well-being programs and promote these actively. Put an emphasis on employee assistance programs and work-life balance.
6. Give Back to the Community
People like to be able to help others and make a positive difference to the world around them. Organizations should facilitate ways for the whole team to give back to their community through their work, and empower employees to choose the why, how, when this giving back will take place.
7. Set Up Performance Supporting Structures
You should have a clear performance structure so that employees can see how their work is in line with performance goals. Starting from the top down, performance should be aligned with the organization’s objectives. Goals should always be SMART, meaning specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound.
8. Encourage Employee Involvement
The majority of employees don’t feel involved in the decision-making of the organization they work in. However, the reality is that when employees are involved, they have increased engagement. That’s because they feel ownership over a project or product and buy-in to the goals, inspiring them to turn it into a success.
9. Set Up Team-Based Projects
When you have engaged employees, you should harness that strength and energy through team-based projects. As per Darryl French, a project manager at Brit Student and Australia2Write, “when they’re engaged, they’re more likely to work effectively to communicate and collaborate. Team leaders will know how to put trust back into their teams so that everyone can work together and value each other’s opinions.”
10. Hire for Values & Leadership Skills
When you hire new employees, you should prioritize looking for those with leadership potential and values that align with the organization. That’s much more important than hiring for competency in a certain role. The former skills are soft skills that are much harder to learn and take on, whereas the latter competency can more easily be taught.
Think about your organization’s core values and why they’re critical to your business. Then, you can start to think about how those values can be better aligned with your workforce to start getting more engaged employees. Make conscious decisions to align your leadership style with creating more engagement.
By Katrina Hatchett
Katrina Hatchett is a lifestyle blogger for Academic Brits and a writer for Origin Writings. She enjoys helping businesses promote a healthier work-life balance and boost employee engagement. She understands that wellness programs will have a great return on investment. Katrina is also a writer for PhD Kingdom.