Strategies to Increase Employee Engagement

An employee's engagement refers to their commitment and enthusiasm in completing their tasks and contributing to their workplace. Keeping your employees engaged will lead to a boost in your business’ productivity for many years to come.

Employee engagement and quality of work are directly correlated. It is vital to understand what factors influence employee engagement. Workers, for example, desire to know the purpose behind their work contributions. They want to be seen as assets to the company rather than just cogs in the wheel. Furthermore, they ask that employers promote communication between managers and their teams. Increasing productivity is key for future business success.

Increasing Employee Engagement

Keeping employees engaged and happy will increase retention and attract quality candidates. Employees must be regarded as crucial business investments, and not simply as subordinates. It is essential to learn how to keep employees happy and healthy. After all, no matter the size of the company, employees are the backbone of businesses. Consider reevaluating your company culture to determine where you can increase employee engagement.

The Importance of Skilled Management

Your managers are your company's direct representatives among your employees. This position provides the best line of communication to encourage and guide individuals in your workforce. As a result, it is extremely important that you find the right manager for your business. A report conducted by an employer consultant firm, Gallup, found that managers have the greatest influence on employee engagement. In fact, upwards of 70% of team engagement can be attributed to management or leadership.

In order to promote employee engagement, managers can take a variety of approaches. Weekly meetings are an effective method of keeping workers involved. With this consistent communication, workers can know if their performance is on target. These meetings can be one-on-one, full-team, or a mix of both, depending on the size of the manager's team. Furthermore, these meetings can help foster a worker’s professional growth. Employees can be told where they are excelling, how to improve, and what additional resources they need. Your company will build deeper relationships with employees and likely increase engagement by showing interest in a worker’s personal growth and performance,

Employee Recognition

In order to affirm employees, it is imperative that they are treated as individuals, rather than as numbers. By incorporating "thank you's" in your daily communications, you can easily demonstrate your appreciation. Your appreciation can be expressed through verbal acknowledgements and personal praise. By using the "magic" words, simple emails or messages can be sent to recognize work that may have gone unnoticed before. Showing appreciation will reduce the likelihood of these individuals leaving for another job.

Employees who have shown consistent efforts to increase their productivity desire to be noticed. Offering incentives is another excellent way to let your employees know you value their efforts beyond verbal affirmation. You can reward their efforts in a variety of ways. Employees can be rewarded with extra vacation days, company gifts, stock options, and promotion opportunities, among other possibilities. Your employees will likely be more engaged if you offer these incentives, whether they come in the form of a bonus or an extra vacation day.

Employee Communication

Providing workers with meaning behind their role is a significant driving factor to employee engagement. Your employees want to know what makes your company stand out and why they should contribute. Oftentimes, they value their purpose more than their paychecks. It is important to take the time to explain why they are valuable and how their work contributes to the company's mission. Motivating employees can be as easy as explaining how their coworkers, leadership, and company depend on their valuable work.

It is also important to keep an open line of communication with employees about what they expect from you, their employer. Every generation of employees has different expectations of what they want their employer to provide. Learn from your employees to see what trending benefits appeal to them the most. Businesses are always looking for new ways to attract and retain customers. It is now time to apply the same strategy internally as well. Understand what inspires your employees and what attracts them to want to work for you. Use that knowledge to then implement new strategies for keeping employees engaged and happy.

In addition, employees need to be informed of their current workload expectations as well as the overall mission of the company. On a larger scale, share with employees about where the company is succeeding and where it is struggling. They will feel a sense of personal ownership by participating in problem-solving and brainstorming future company initiatives. On a more specific level, let your employees know where their departments are doing well and where they can do better. Work with them to find the best solution and implement any ideas they have to increase productivity. These basic actions will foster employee development as well as strengthen the skills of your employees.

Drawbacks of Unengaged Employees

United States workers are oftentimes more engaged at work than their international counterparts; however, there are recent trends showing a decrease in this engagement. In fact, Gallup found 74% of workers are actively disengaged. Consequently, many employees have a diminished interest in the company's goals or outcomes. This can negatively affect a company's productivity and success.

Lack of quality work is a significant consequence of employee disengagement. Research reported by Gallup found “highly engaged teams are 14% to 18% more productive than low engagement teams.” This difference in engagement can lead to a variety of mishaps. For example, there can be an increase in production defects, workplace safety incidents, and workers' absences. Making engagement efforts will help to avoid these issues – many of which can damage your company’s reputation.

Employee disengagement is likely to decrease worker retention. In fact, employees who are disengaged at work are more likely to consider changing jobs. Resignations are on the rise, according to recent trends. Many refer to this lack of worker loyalty as the “great resignation.” Employees are often switching to companies with better benefits and pay. Gallup goes on to report, “low engagement teams typically endure turnover rates that are 18% to 43% higher than highly engaged teams.” Finding, hiring, and training new employees can be time-consuming and expensive. The issue of high turnover needs to be addressed by business owners. Engaging employees may be the best form of increasing worker retention. By engaging employees in your business' overall goals and mission, you will likely lead to retaining more employees as well as increasing quality work output.