With employment at an all-time high, companies are having to work harder to keep and retain talented staff. Retention and productivity strategies have become a key consideration for organisations of all sizes, with employee engagement high on the agenda of many businesses today.
However, to develop an effective engagement strategy is no easy task. For employee engagement initiatives to be successful, they must be tailored to the unique needs and desires of each individual.
What is employee engagement?
It has been proved that engaged employees invest extra time, effort and initiative to contribute to business success. As well as being more motivated, committed and loyal, engaged workers are typically higher performers and produce better results for both the customer and the company.
So what are the key steps you need to take to improve your employee engagement?
1. Make sure you’ve got inspiring leadership
By having competent, passionate and hands-on leadership is critical to employee engagement. Showing a genuine interest in your employees and investing time in understanding their needs and aspirations will help send the message that their contribution is valued, creating goodwill and a desire to succeed – both as an individual and as part of a team.
2. Provide opportunities for growth and development
Engaged employees are those who are given the opportunity to use their skills, and are encouraged to stretch those skills further in order to progress.
Regularly “check in” with employees and discuss their career plan. Does their current role make full use of their strengths and abilities? If not, come up with a plan to expand the role description. Is their career moving in the direction they desire? Try and map out a path within your organisation and agree on targets for promotion.
During the discussion also look at training and development opportunities that can help them advance within the company. Provide clear and consistent feedback on how they can improve their performance. Ultimately, showing that you care about helping employees maintain job satisfaction will reap the rewards.
3. Foster meaningful work for all employees
As a manager, it is vital to frequently reinforce the importance of your employees’ roles to the organisation as a whole. This can be done by showing direct connection between their activities and company success. Not forgetting that even the smallest tasks can contribute.
By employees believing that the work they are doing is important and has value. They feel they are contributing to something meaningful and take pride in the results of their efforts.
4. Recognise and reward employees
For employees to give their best, they need to know their efforts will be recognised and rewarded. By regularly thanking them for their efforts demonstrates your awareness of their hard work and provides encouragement for them to boost their performance.
Make the time to celebrate accomplishments, rewarding and recognising employees in ways that are meaningful to them. These could be simple things like ordering in a team lunch, or sharing a win with the wider business or even presenting someone with a small gift for achieving a milestone. These all go a long way to making people feel recognised and rewarded.
While competitive pay and benefits are key motivational factors in accepting a job. By providing incentives to drive higher performance gives employees something extra to aim for and helps them stay engaged for a longer period.
5. Put people at the center of your business
Companies that understand people are their greatest asset reap the benefits of an engaged workforce. This means considering employees’ lives beyond the office.
A work environment in which people feel valued, heard and have a sense of camaraderie is critical to employee engagement.
If you would like to find out more on how Ward Williams HR can help with employee engagement. Please feel free to email sally.phillips@wardwilliams.co.uk or give us a call on 01932 830664