Employee engagement is more than just an empty buzzword—it’s a key business metric that can make or break your company. When employees are engaged, their productivity, morale, and loyalty increase significantly, leading to better customer service, higher profits, and a healthier corporate culture. In fact, studies show that highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to look for another job.
Let’s explore some best practices to help you get the highest ROI on your employee engagement efforts.
Before we explore some best practices to improve employee engagement, it’s important to set goals first. If you don’t have a clear goal, it’s difficult to know where to begin. To set employee engagement goals, you’ll need the help of your business’s senior managers and executives to determine what you want to get out of engaging with your employees. Maybe you want to become a top place to work and attract the best talent, improve customer satisfaction, or reduce turnover.
Once you’ve identified what you want out of your new employee engagement efforts, you can brainstorm ways to get there with your leadership team. Just remember that as time goes on, your priorities may change. This year, staff retention might be the top priority, but next year, you might be focused on building a high-performance culture or reducing absenteeism. Employee engagement is a long-term process, so just make sure your goals reflect that.
Supervisors are among the most influential employees in your company, and the way they manage the members of their team impacts engagement, morale, and retention. In fact, studies show that 57% of employees leave their job because of their boss. Leadership development training gives your managers the tools and strategies they need to keep their team members engaged and motivated to succeed.
Providing immediate feedback by holding one-on-meetings regularly is a way to improve employee engagement that’s often underused. You might think that asking your supervisors to meet with team members weekly or even biweekly is a waste of time—however, setting aside a small window of time for leaders and employees to engage in private can be powerful, effective, and productive. Plus, today’s younger employees prefer frequent and immediate feedback on the job.
As a business leader, being transparent about challenges and successes is a powerful way to increase employee engagement. Start sharing individual and team successes on your communication channels to celebrate hard work and boost motivation. You should also consider allowing your workforce to participate in continuous improvement programs. Create a way to convey business obstacles to your employees and give them the chance to provide you with solutions. That way, you can potentially get some ideas to overcome your biggest roadblocks—and keep your employees engaged and motivated at the same time.
One of the most successful employee involvement techniques that can improve workforce engagement is sending out employee engagement surveys. Taking the time to ask employees their opinions about organizational culture, work style, pay, corporate strategy, and annual goals is a great way to show your workforce that they’re respected and heard. However, to turn disengaged employees to productive, motivated members of your staff, you need to respond to their feedback by making constructive changes. Start by listening to feedback and take action where you can.
Flexible work is top of mind for many employees, and today’s job seekers are on the lookout for work environments that support flexibility. To keep your existing workforce engaged and attract new talent, consider offering flexible work arrangements that not only include remote work, but also adjusting traditional business hours to accommodate individual needs. Whether it’s dropping off or picking up their children from school, or tending to other obligations, giving employees the freedom to work on their own schedule is a great way to improve engagement. As long as you implement a way to measure employee performance, flexible arrangements can be successful for your business.
You can fully engage your employees with team-building sessions. Through team building, employees can get to know their coworkers on a deeper level, appreciate each other’s skills and abilities, and learn to work together as a team. When team members feel more comfortable with one another, employees feel more comfortable openly expressing their opinions and ideas. This sense of comfort makes employees more relaxed in the workplace, which leads to improved productivity and engagement. Team-building activities can range from one-day team-building events to longer-term initiatives, such as workshops, retreats, and conferences.
When your employees feel appreciated and valued, they’re more likely to stay motivated and engaged. Fortunately, there are plenty of cost-effective ways to show employee appreciation. Whether it’s via email, in-person, or on your company’s communication channel, take the time to let your team members know how much you appreciate their efforts by sharing positive feedback regularly. Presenting monthly or quarterly awards is another great way to recognize employees for their hard work. You can give out awards for excellence in customer service, best idea of the quarter, or most valuable team member.
Start using an application where employees can share their ideas and communicate with other team members. This allows for open communication and helps employees feel connected to your organization through an understanding of the company’s goals and vision. Creating a line of open communication also encourages employees to ask their supervisors questions and interact regularly.
At AAIM Employers’ Association, we’re here to help you improve employee engagement. We provide a wide range of HR services designed to increase engagement, including employee engagement surveys and team-building sessions. Our surveys provide you with valuable insights from your workforce so you can uncover areas of improvement and make adjustments. AAIM’s team-building sessions are designed to foster collaboration and improve engagement. During these sessions, your team works together to solve problems, brainstorm new ideas, and develop solutions. We also provide a range of other services that can improve employee engagement, from culture consulting to leadership development training. Contact us today to learn more about our employee involvement techniques.
