Is employee engagement low in your office? Do you constantly try to implement new strategies to increase employee engagement?
What if we told you that an organization's team engagement levels could change due to an improvement in its culture?
Leadership buy-in is essential to improving employee engagement, and a successful engagement strategy requires thoughtful planning. A highly engaged workforce will benefit your company's profitability, productivity, and retention.
However, several low-cost employee engagement initiatives can be implemented now to yield accurate results. This article explores some employee engagement strategies as a quick fix and long-term plan to boost employee engagement.
Employee engagement refers to how motivated, passionate, and invested employees are in their work. The level of engagement also indicates an individual's commitment to the organization and their emotional connection to the people they work with.
Engagement in the workplace is often misunderstood as job satisfaction. Despite being related, employee engagement is vastly more complex because it is affected by various factors, such as location, culture, and individual characteristics. As these factors are variable and can fluctuate over time, measuring employee engagement is crucial to staying on top of your staff's needs.
We came up with some fantastic ideas to help you understand how to increase employee engagement in the workplace.
There is no faster way to disengage an employee than in their first few weeks on the job. With effective onboarding, you let new hires know they belong to your company and its culture. It is essential to explain the nuances of the team, the goals and values of the company, as well as the purpose of their position. In addition to setting them up for success, this also conveys their value to the organization.
Establishing a development plan will sustain employee engagement and help you in keeping great staff. Additionally, supporting your employees' personal development, whether financially or otherwise, demonstrates that you value them beyond just their work. Employee motivation comes from knowing that the organization values their talents. Additionally, no matter what field you work in, the market will continue to change, and keeping current and relevant requires professional development.
It can be as easy as giving all staff members a stipend to utilize for job-related training courses or setting up meeting times for senior team members to educate junior staff members on new skills that will benefit them along their career path to establish an employee training program. The best way to train entire teams can occasionally be to bring in outside leaders to lead seminars or provide new perspectives on the area of expertise.
Establishing a workplace culture that supports and cares about creating a feedback culture is a must nowadays. Though transparent feedback can be uncomfortable for someone, the perfect solution is anonymous feedback; consider Wrenly for slack.
Employee engagement would improve with flexible work arrangements and remote employment options. This level of flexibility satisfies employees who focus on work-life balance. To demonstrate that you value your team members, give employees the opportunity to modify their work hours to fulfill their life obligations, such as after-school pick-up arrangements, a fitness class they enjoy, or passion projects. Employee engagement will be kept better. This has a direct impact on job satisfaction and employee engagement.
To increase employee engagement, you must first train your managers on how to do that and what kind of approach to have with other employees. To learn all about that, it is essential to offer them leadership training and continuous advice about their role.
Ensure managers know that aside from their everyday tasks, they are considered coaches in the other employee's eyes. That is why the proper training of the managers will have a chain reaction on improving job satisfaction and increasing employee engagement. Note that employee engagement needs constant consideration.
Employee engagement can be increased with the methods that you will find below.
Regular check-ins are essential.
When you work remotely, regular check-ins with your staff are essential. Your remote teams will be on the same page about their tasks if there are frequent check-ins. These gatherings will foster a sense of community, adding to their value. This practice is to hold weekly coordination meetings, monthly all-hands meetings, and daily team check-ins. Ensure that regular one-on-one meetings with your team leaders are also stored. You can have these meetings by chatting or video communication, whatever works best for your team.
Have fun video meetings
It's likely that while working remotely, your staff members may need to participate in several video calls and meetings. That makes sense, given that face-to-face communication is the quickest and most straightforward approach to get everyone on your remote team on the same page. But be careful not to arrange too many video meetings if you want to keep your staff interested. Video meetings should only be used for discussion and pressing matters, and attendees should be those who have something to say.
Every one of your video meetings needs to have a distinct goal and plan communicated in advance before the meeting begins so that everyone can prepare. While discussing, break the ice, use funny features while having introductory talks, and boost the energy. Your team and you will surely enjoy that.
Feedback Friday Meeting
Leaving the office symbolizes the conclusion of the workday and workweek when we work on-site. It is more challenging to separate between working and relaxing when you are in the exact location. Staying hooked prevents your staff from getting any rest, which eventually causes burnout. This is a severe problem. I propose implementing company-wide "Friday close off" meetings to stop it. At the end of the day, gather your team for a quick 30-minute video meeting every Friday. Use it to show appreciation for the work they accomplished during the week, to appreciate successes, and to discuss weekend plans.
Pretty convincing, huh? Let us know what you think. ;)