Employee engagement measures an employee’s enthusiasm for their job and dedication to it. Employees who are engaged are enthusiastic about their work and their workplace and feel connected to the success of their company.
Employee engagement is often confused with employee satisfaction. Employee engagement is often confused with employee satisfaction. However, employee engagement can have a greater impact on the success of an organization. Bain & Company found that employees who are satisfied at work are 40% more productive than those who are not satisfied. However, engaged employees are 44% more productive.
You will likely need to invest in technology and tools to improve employee engagement. Leaders and employees must also take the time and effort to implement best practices for employee engagement. This is a significant investment but it can also be costly for your company if you fail to invest in employee engagement.
While improving employee engagement is not an easy task, there are many solutions that can be implemented quickly and make a significant impact. Here are 10 ways to improve employee engagement.
Also read: 13 Tools to Analysis Employee Performance
1. Survey employees about employee engagement
Conducting an employee engagement survey is one of the best things you can do before creating employee engagement plan. This survey will help you understand how engaged your employees are and what drives their engagement.
According to Carla Yudhishthu (chief people officer at Mineral), “It’s hard to offer anything more than Band-Aid solutions until you understand the reasons behind employee engagement.” This can be done by launching an internal survey that reveals the truth in a scientific manner.
Conducting the survey
A survey on employee engagement will reveal how valued employees are at work and how connected they feel to their jobs and the organization. Questions for employee engagement surveys revolve around topics that impact engagement such as leadership and enablement.
Employers can use a Likert scale for employees to rate their agreement with statements such as “I don’t think about looking for work at another company” or “I have the resources I need to do the job well.” It may be a good idea to ask your employees for their opinions on the things that are working and what they don’t like.
Taking action based on the survey results
It is just half of the battle to conduct an engagement survey. It is only half the battle to go through the data and identify key themes that you can take action on. Talk with your team about the results to determine which actions should be stopped and which ones should be initiated.
After you have decided on a course of action to take, make it a reality. Companies often come up with solutions but then push their employees to the side to keep the status quo. This can lead to distrust in your employees.
Continue the process
You should wait a few months to conduct your next employee engagement survey. This allows you and your employees to work together and make the changes that are agreed upon. Quantum Workplace recommends that you conduct surveys four to five times per year after you have developed a winning employee engagement strategy.
2. Create a smooth onboarding process.
Anna Dearmon Kornick is a professional time-management coach, and head of community at Clockwise. She believes that cultivating employee engagement should start during the recruitment process before any new hires are officially hired.
Kornick stated that the hiring process provides an opportunity to find candidates who align with your company’s values. Your onboarding program should be used to inspire and educate new employees so that they take ownership of the company’s mission at the beginning of their tenure.
Cover the following four C’s during the onboarding process:
- Compliance (i.e. rules and regulations)
- Clarification (e.g. job expectations)
- Culture
- Connectivity
You can send personalized welcome packs, provide training and documentation, review the company culture and assign mentors or friends.
3. Your vision statement should align with that of the employees.
Strong company vision and mission statements are vital. Employers are paying more attention to what companies stand for and want to work with companies that share their values and purpose. It is not enough to simply review your company’s purpose at orientation.
Adam Weber, senior vice-president of the community at 15Five, stated, “If you’re a business owner you won’t be able to create the type of company you want.”
Create job descriptions for employees that reflect your values. Then, explain to your team how your work relates to the company’s overall goals. Employees who are engaged like to feel that they can contribute to the success of the company. This helps them to see the positive impact they have on the company.
4. Encourage feedback and communication.
Communication is an essential aspect of any business. Establish a culture of open communication and giving feedback. Feedback can either be given informally during real-time events or in one-on-one meetings between employees and managers. employees should be able to trust their managers and feel free to ask any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
5. Employee health and well-being should be prioritized.
Many organizations are now concerned about employee health, particularly supporting employee mental well-being. To be competitive, organizations must provide benefits packages that encourage and support employee health. This will allow them to give their employees the tools they need to succeed. Employees who are mentally and physically healthy have more energy and motivation to work for their company.
6. Offer employee development opportunities.
According to the 2020 Retention Report, employees are most likely to leave their job due to a lack of career development. This has been true for the past decade. If you want to retain your talent, then you should at least offer professional growth opportunities. Employee engagement can be improved by providing staff with plenty of training and development opportunities.
Managers can work with employees to set career goals and provide opportunities for advancement. Employees can create performance objectives to help them prepare for their next career step, whether it is a vertical or horizontal one. Clear growth plans are a way to motivate employees and help them grow professionally.
7. Employee rewards and recognition ideas
Employees are happier when their colleagues and supervisors recognize their achievements and hard work. Employee satisfaction and engagement can be improved by recognizing the achievements of employees and rewarding them for their hard work. Recognize employee achievements, reward top performers, and verbally acknowledge weekly successes.
Ask your employees what they would like to be acknowledged if you don’t have an employee recognition program.
Also read: Top 10 Employee Training Tracking Software
8. Make use of the employee engagement tools.
There are many ways to increase employee engagement, including onboarding, feedback, and recognition. Yudhishthira, for example, said that her team uses 15Five to conduct biweekly check-ins.
She said that in addition to general information about employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), and how team members feel about their work impact, the system also allows for direct feedback from both employees and managers (employee-to-manager and employee to manager). Managers and employees can then have a more open discussion about any issues during their one-to-one.
The best HR software has workforce management features that can be used to improve and track engagement. In our BambooHR Review, for example, we discovered that the software offers performance management features such as feedback surveys, employee goal tracking, and employee assessments. We also found reports on employee satisfaction (eNPS). Similar features were also revealed in our review GoCo, including onboarding and offboarding workflows and new-hire orientation checklists, and automated performance review workflows.
Kornick recommends using technology tools such as project management software chat apps, video conference services, and calendars to keep remote and hybrid teams connected, no matter where they are located. These apps can increase communication, trust, and improve productivity and engagement.
9. Your managers should be developed.
Employee engagement is influenced by managers, whether they are good or bad. Weber stated that many organizations make the mistake of encouraging top-level contributors to management before they have practical management skills. This leads to poor management. Weber recommends that each manager be trained to avoid this.
Weber stated that a regular meeting of managers is a good place to start. This allows them to share their real-life challenges and collaborate. Consistent outside coaching for your managers is the best way to achieve long-term success. This upskilling effort can unlock the potential for growth in the company and increase the quality of content and the growth of managers.
10. Create a culture of strength in your company.
Strong cultures are more likely to have higher employee engagement rates than companies without them. Employee engagement is partly determined by how the worker feels connected with their company. They are more likely to feel engaged if they feel connected.
Engaging events and activities can be implemented to integrate employees into the company culture from the moment they are hired. Every company is different, so “engaging” may look different for each company. While one organization may enjoy trivia nights or team happy hours, another might be keen to volunteer.
Ask your team about their interests in different activities to ensure they increase engagement and don’t exhaust staff. Kornick recommends conducting quarterly team surveys and having roundtable discussions with colleagues to determine which initiatives are worth following.
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