Employee engagement directly affect companies’ bottom line. Nevertheless, it is one of the employment topics that has been neglected and incorrectly defined and applied for years. Surveys show that a majority of people lack the innate connection to their job, company or both. The disengaged employees work as much as bare minimum just to get the job done. They are disconnected, produce less, and don’t last long. It’s important to understand what employee engagement is. Employee engagement is not job satisfaction or happiness, it goes beyond that.
Highly engaged employees are enthused to come to work. They are more productive, experience an increased sense of health and well-being, have longer tenure and are committed to the organization and its goals. For the business, this means more success and lower turnover rates.
As the employer, you want highly and actively engaged employees who willingly put more work forth. It takes effort and time to ingrain a culture of organizational engagement, but here are some tips that can help you along the way.
Define your core values and purpose
Know the reason why the company exits and prepare to clearly explain it downward to the employees. Employees need to know the goal and vision they’re all rallied behind. This will help them have a purposeful reason to come to work everyday, care about their work and put the extra effort in.
Don’t underestimate the impact of office space
Carefully designed innovative office space that is tailored to company culture and business goes hand in hand with employee productivity. This becomes even more important when you are trying to attract the millennial population. The functional office spaces that foster collaboration and allow concentration improve employee morale and engagement.
Define employee role clearly
Define employee role clearly so that they understand how their work contributes to the overall mission of the company. From the employee contribution to the department and from the department to the entire company, there should be an unbroken chain defining how critical each employee’s work is to ultimate mutual goals. Employees need to have an understanding of this chain and how they fit in the overall scheme of the organization.
Recognize and acknowledge
Well recognized and acknowledged employees feel like a valued member of the team. Develop programs throughout the organization to execute employee recognition on a regular basis. Examples are monthly reward programs or company points. This will foster a culture of gratitude and appreciation where team members are there to support one another.
Provide development opportunities
Employees who feel they’re stagnating are more likely to check out and explore other opportunities. Focus on those that suit your business model and financial status best. Any opportunity from a seminar to certification programs can serve the purpose. Consider passion projects as an option where employees are personally invested in. These projects will unexpectedly benefit your business.
An engaged workforce ultimately means a bigger bottom line. Remember your business thrives best when everyone in it feels valued and included. Your employees when engaged, will get you something money can’t buy.
Check out this great article to read more on employee engagement.
