4 tips to get you started with employee engagement

Employee engagement is more relevant than ever. The effort you put in keeping your employees engaged and satisfied with their work will eventually make or break your business. If you want to keep your organisation moving forward and growing, the least you can do is show your team some love.

Employee engagement is one of the elements of the relationship between your organisation and the people that work for it. To make sure your employees are fully absorbed and enthusiastic about their work you must start with the basics. Work on building a strong and healthy relationship between your company and its employees.

Anyone who has been in a successful relationship will agree that this process calls for a holistic approach. Commitment and passion do not just manifest out of thin air. They demand time and effort.

Since relationships are complicated and employee engagement is far more than an annual HR measure, here are a few tips to get you started.

Keep your employees in the loop

According to Bersin by Deloitte“employee engagement has become the top issue on the minds of business leaders”. Business leaders, however, tend to forget to let their employees know what is happening within the organisation. Employees will commit to your organisation much faster if they feel like a valued member. Keep them in the loop. Communicate the mission and values of your company from top to bottom and within departments. Explain your business strategy. Showcase the value behind certain organisational decisions. The employee should be the first to gain access to this information, not the last.

Create an environment of trust

Your goal should be to create a workplace in which the conditions allow every single member of the organisation to give their best. Your employees are humans and they will make mistakes. Use the mistakes as learning opportunities. Value the opinions and ideas of your employees and empower them to share them with the team. One more thing. Do not micromanage. Trust that you made the right decision when you hired an employee and let them show what they can do.

Allow your employees to grow

As of 2015, millennials are the largest generation in the US workforce. What drives millennials is achieving purpose and fulfilment. It is your company’s responsibility to create the proper conditions for that to happen. Entrust your employees with more responsibilities. Assign to them tasks they have never done before. Create the necessary opportunities for personal and professional growth. Encourage your employees to create their own projects within the company or train them to use new technologies.

Foster a culture of communication and feedback

Feedback is a two-way street. Provide employees with feedback on their weaknesses and strengths. Studies suggest that employees who receive little or no feedback are less engaged in their work. To achieve balance, you ought to ask for feedback as well.

Employee engagement surveys are not a new concept. They are a revitalized concept which now includes metrics such as the employee Net Promoter Score. The best way to learn is to ask. Ask your team members how they feel about their work. Allow them to be truthful in their responses and turn the feedback into actionable insights. This process is time consuming and challenging. You should be willing to embrace change if you want to see results.