Are your employees enthusiastic about their jobs? Do they find their work engaging? While you may never actually hear your employees say they “I love my job” the more engaged your employees are, the more productive and committed they will be, which – ultimately drives performance improvement. Here are 8 ways to improve employee engagement.
- Measure engagement. How enthusiastic are employees about their jobs and your company? How likely are they to recommend your company as a good place to work? Consider using a survey to answer these and other questions related to employee engagement. This can provide a baseline for how your employees feel about working for you and can help identify areas for improvement. Additionally, consider conducting stay interviews in addition to exit interviews both will help identify potential improvement areas in employee satisfaction and engagement.
- Understand individual motivators and strengths. Not all employees are motivated by the same thing. Some may be motivated by working in a team; others may be motivated by having greater autonomy. Supervisors should identify individual motivators and strengths and assign work that based on those individualized factors. Don’t know what motivates your employees? Ask them!
- Praise and recognize. Praise and recognition can go a long way in letting employees know the company values them. Praise is generally more informal and can be as simple as a “thank you” for a job well done. Recognition is a more public way of showing employees that they are valued. Why not share employee contributions at staff meetings, in newsletters or via email. Consider social media recognition platforms like Teamphoria.com!
- Reward. Not only is it important to recognize outstanding performance, but it is also important to reward it. While rewards can include bonuses, they don’t have to be monetary. For example, consider giving an employee an extra day off or taking him or her out to lunch after completing a particularly challenging milestone. Our Business Owner Memberships of all levels provide a great Employee Perks Program you can distribute to all employees.
- Align company goals. Employees should always be aware of the company’s mission and goals. They should also know how their job affects those goals. Ensure individual goals help achieve department goals and department goals help achieve company goals. This helps show employees that what they do truly does affect the company’s success.
- Build your middle managers. Effective supervisors have the skills and experience to manage employee performance, as well as support and value their employees. Give supervisors the training they need to communicate openly and frequently, set clear expectations, and provide constructive and timely feedback.
- Mentor and develop. By making employee development part of the company culture, you clearly communicate that your organization values employee growth and development. Consider a mentor program where senior managers are paired with a less experienced employee to offer career advice, share knowledge and experiences, listen to questions and concerns, and encourage career development. Cross-training or Job Sharing is another development initiative that can help promote employee engagement by providing employees with the opportunity to learn new skills and face new challenges. Millennials especially love learning new skills and facing new challenges! Developing camaraderie is an important aspect as well teambuilding activities can be conducted at staff or department meetings or take the team out for a day of fun to somewhere like the TRAC Team Ropes Adventure Challenge.
- Ensure Open Communication. Share company’s goals and business results with employees and celebrate successes. It is also important to encourage employee feedback and suggestions. Take their suggestions seriously and while you may not be able to act on all ideas, ensure a process is in place to respond to each idea. If change does occur, as a result give credit where credit is due and consider rewards wherever possible.
Every job and every employee of your company is important to the success of an organization. By making employee engagement a priority of your culture, you will see returns on improved commitment, decreased turnover, and increased productivity – and you just might hear one of your employees say… “I love my job!”