Employee engagement is important for business results. Turnover has high costs in recruiting and training new employees, and by improving engagement, you can reduce employee turnover. Also, various studies have shown that engaged employees are more productive, produce higher quality work, and provide better customer service. Here are some innovative ways that you can boost your employee engagement.
Listen to employee suggestions Get employees involved more with the company by soliciting their ideas and suggestions. Often, employees may have great ideas about how your company could improve certain things, which management has never thought of. Knowing that their opinions are valued makes people feel more engaged. Make sure that you act on some of the suggestions, too, and then employees will feel a greater sense of ownership. Listening to employees additionally proves you’re a good boss. Support them, welcome their ideas and try not to be judge them for their mistakes. Rather than start screaming and shouting, why don’t you provide constructive criticism?
Align employee and business goals Employees want to feel that their efforts make a difference to a company, and one thing that can help in this regard is tying employee goals to larger departmental and business goals. Make sure each employee knows how his or her job responsibilities matter to the rest of the company, and are important to the overall organization’s success.Welcome their ideas, persuade them to speak their minds, and set up weekly workshops and seminars to keep them engaged. Settle on goals together, split tasks evenly and prove them that you’re the leader they want to become someday.
Provide flexibility and authority Don’t micromanage everything that your employees do. Make them accountable for their own results, and then give them the flexibility and authority to achieve results in their own way. Make sure they have everything they need to be successful. Managers can provide support and some level of oversight, without controlling all the details of the job. There are ways for entrepreneurs to be authoritative without sounding too demanding. Your employees need a good leader, they need someone who can teach them; however, it also a good idea to show them your humane side, too. Take them out for dinner once a month, connect with them, talk about trivial things that are not related to work, and they’ll certainly be more engaged.
Recognize a job well done Recognition doesn’t have to cost anything, yet it makes employees feel much happier about their job, and it fosters a culture where people want to do their best. Take every opportunity to recognize employees who have done a superior quality job, delighted a customer, gone above and beyond to meet a deadline, or delivered outstanding results. You don’t need to wait for a special occasion – you can provide recognition every day.
Identify a career path Have managers work with each employee in the company, to identify a career path within the company, and create a development plan that can move employees forward. Talk to employees about what they want to do with their careers, and provide them with the tools, training, mentoring, and opportunities to move ahead. Not only will they be more likely to stay with your company rather than switching jobs for career advancement, but they will also feel more like the company cares about them and their future.
Encourage manager mentoring A person’s relationship with their direct manager has an enormous impact on how satisfied they are with their job, how productive they are, and their level of engagement. When managers can establish a relationship with each employee, making people feel that they care about them, it creates a more trusting and positive work environment. Having managers take on a mentoring role with employees helps to build that relationship, and it also helps employees to perform at their best possible level. An organization that thrives for success should know that employee engagement is priceless. When workers are happy with their jobs, a company’s productivity increases. Managers are happy, HR is happy and that business has great chances for success. When was the last time you told your employees how valuable they are? Maybe now it would be the time to say that again, just to lift up their spirit and make them feel respected. By Steve Brown and Peopleinsight.co.uk!
