Introduction: The Importance of Engaging Your Employees
Every company wants a team of engaged, motivated employees – this is no secret.
Engaged employees are fully involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace. They feel a sense of ownership for their job and are committed to making a positive contribution to their organization. They’re more productive, innovative, have higher levels of customer satisfaction and are less likely to leave their organization (which reduces recruitment and training costs).
The importance of improving engagement among your employees cannot be understated (and we’re going to show you 5 ways to improve employee engagement in just a moment), but it’s equally as important to understand what can disengage an employee.
How Employees Become Disengaged
In today’s work environment, it is more important than ever for employees to feel engaged in their jobs. Unfortunately, there are a number of factors that can lead to employee disengagement. Here are some of the most common reasons why employees become disengaged:
1. They feel like their job is not meaningful to their company’s success.
2. They don’t feel like they have the opportunity to make a difference or contribute to a larger cause.
3. They don’t feel like their voice is heard or valued by management.
4. They feel like they are not given the opportunity to grow and develop professionally.
5. They find the work environment to be uninspiring or negative.
If you want to prevent your employees from becoming disengaged, it’s important to address these issues head-on by implementing the 5 ways to improve employee engagement that we’re going to cover below (each can be implemented as soon as today)!
5 Ways To Improve Employee Engagement (Day After Day After Day)
1. Encourage feedback and open communication
It is important to create an environment where employees feel comfortable speaking up and voicing any problems they may have. This can be done by establishing a sense of trust and mutual respect between employees and management, encouraging two-way communication, and providing opportunities for employees to give feedback (without fear of being reprimanded).
2. Promote a positive work-life balance
Work-life balance can be implemented in a number of ways. Encouraging employees to take regular breaks, providing flexible/hybrid working arrangements and promoting a healthy lifestyle (incentivizing gym memberships, offering healthy in-office snack options, etc.) are just some of the ways employers can help their employees achieve a healthy work-life balance, as well as show respect for their lives outside of the office.
3. Show appreciation for employees’ efforts
Make sure you’re going the extra mile to let employees know that their hard work is noticed and appreciated. A simple “thank you” can go a long way. Bonus points if you can make the compliment specific (ex. “I loved the infographics you put together on the last slide of that presentation, I think that’s what really sold them!” versus “Great job in the presentation last week.”). Showing appreciation can help build a positive work environment, improve morale and keep your team going, especially when the going gets tough.
4. Invest in employee development
Investing in employee development is a crucial way to improve engagement levels within your organization. When employees feel like they are being supported and encouraged to grow, they are more likely to be motivated and invested in their work. They’ll build a sense of personal satisfaction in knowing that they’re growing within their chosen career path and develop a sense of eagerness to use their newfound skills in the workplace.
5. Create a collaborative environment
Creating a collaborative work environment can go a long way in boosting employee engagement, as it has a twofold positive effect: not only does it motivate each employee to be a part of a team, all sharing the same mission, but it also forges a level of trust between coworkers, allowing each employee to give their task at hand their undivided attention, with full trust in the fact that their coworkers are handling their respective tasks. Working as a team can not only invoke a sense of empowerment and comradery, but a sense of trust and focus – all of which cultivates an environment of engaged employees.
Key Takeaways to Cultivate an Engaged Work Environment
In each of these 5 ways to improve employee engagement, there is the singular goal of creating a sense of internal drive within your employees, whether that comes from a place of them feeling valued, trusted, appreciated or as though they’re part of a team or cause larger than themselves.
In any case, the important takeaway is that, although cultivating each of these things takes intention and effort, each is worth its weight in gold. Boosting employee engagement can lead to an increase in productivity rates, job satisfaction and retention rates (to name just a few benefits) – and may be exactly what your company needs to end this year strong!
We wish you the best of luck in building an engaged team and, as always, if you’re having trouble filling an exact role with an enthusiastic, engaged team member, we’d be happy to lend our hand and help you find the perfect fit!