Studies have proven repeatedly that engaged employees are a major key to a companies’ success. Failing to have employees engaged can result in slower business performance, which directly is a result and cause of lower profitability, decreased productivity, high rates of employee attrition, less happy customers and generally other negative effects. As such, it is incredibly important for companies to really ensure that their internal communication and engagement strategy be tailored to create more engaged employees.
If you are a smaller company and not sure where to start here are some quick tips to get you onto the path of success.
- Celebrate All Achievements – Whether it is a sale, birthday or success story, making sure employees feel they are important to the team is a great starting point.
- Communicate Expectations and Targets – Let employees into being part of the future, both short and long term by setting the expectations and targets that the team wants to achieve.
- Provide Incentives – Results driven incentives are important to some employees. These kinds of incentives reward hard work or highly efficient and effective work.
- Encourage Communication – Setting up systems that allow employees to provide feedback to each other and to management can help build a culture of openness and engagement. The key here is ensuring that they are free to submit anything without fear of criticism or discipline. If you understand what the problems are, you can help fix them.
- Delegating Work – Delegating work to employees is good for both manager and employee as it expands managerial comfort but also helps the employee develop or grow a specific talent. It also demonstrates trust between the two. Do NOT micromanage afterwards though.
- Take Interest in Employees Lives – Pay attention to important dates or news such as anniversaries, engagements, family events, birthdays etc. Little things can make a big difference.
- Provide Support and Ongoing Training – Creating an environment where people can constantly grow and not stagnate can significantly assist in work places. Stagnation is the opposite of advancing, which is what the company wants.
- Promote Company Values – Read the company values and promote them actively. Make them part of the day. If a company, value is not being employed, trust decreases and so does engagement.
- Show Feedback Loops and Results – If feedback is provided, show how it is being incorporated into the day-to-day operations. This act of openness will encourage more engagement and more feedback.
- Be Trusting and Trustful – Develop the trust of employees and trust in them. Employees are constantly monitoring their leaders and managers to see how their actions will influence the company. Having their trust in you is key.
- Feedback Consistency – Feedback is not something for once a year. It should be constant and ongoing. Good feedback and feedback on how to improve keeps employees motivated to constantly push forward.
- Develop Engagement – Social media tools provide great ability to connect with employees. Developing one of these tools into a hub for the company or team can build engagement online that translates offline as well.
- Team Building – Professional sports teams improve by developing chemistry with each other, knowing actions and reactions of teammates help win more games. Think of your employees as a sports team, how do you take them from few wins, to dominating the league?
- Belonging – Employees need to feel like they belong on the team, so doing things to keep them engaged can help – especially for new employees who may be shy immediately.
- Innovation – Innovative teams are better than stagnant teams. If your team is developing innovative solutions to problems, it will contribute to an engaged and excited culture.
Improving employee engagement is not necessarily a difficult thing to do, but it requires time, effort and energy to make it happen. Some of these suggestions may be unnecessary to your workplace, which is where we can help you by identifying opportunities and insight into yourself and employees. Contact us any time if you would like to get on the path to building a better-engaged employee environment.