10 Effective Employee Engagement Ideas
With employee disengagement across Australia costing an estimated AU$70 billion annually, we decided to look at 10 ways to boost employee engagement.
The link between employee experience and customer experience is indisputable and research shows that Companies with highly engaged employees outperform their competitors by 147%. Engaged employees lead to higher productivity rates, improved morale, brand loyalty and in-turn an increased bottom line.
Engaged employees typically want to be at work and they are willing to go the extra mile.
A report by Gallup discovered that Australian workplaces are amongst the worst in the world when it comes to employee engagement and satisfaction, with employees blaming lack of respect and little opportunity for collaboration. Other statistics from the report show that only 14% of employees in Australia are engaged, a staggering 71% are not engaged and the remaining 15% are actively disengaged – where they instead are going against the values and mission of their organisation.
So, the question is, how do we boost and maintain employee engagement? Here are 10 ways to start:
1. Onboarding Experience
First impressions count. The whole process of onboarding is to fully integrate new employees into the Company. It is the first process that a new candidate will go through before they even get the job and the first impression that they will have of your Company, so make it a good one!
Research shows that a successful onboarding process makes a huge difference to engagement. It should be comprehensive and include:
- • an induction program, policy and procedure awareness,
- • on-the-job training, a mentor (where possible),
- • open feedback and guidance;
- • regular informal check-ins and/or a formal probationary review.
A major mistake Companies make when onboarding is spending minimal time on it and not seeing it as being important. Don’t throw your staff in at the deep end otherwise you may reap what you sow.
2. Workplace Culture
Culture plays a crucial role in employee engagement. It encompasses many things such as, shared values, thoughts, behaviours and mutual respect and will heavily influence your employee performance and loyalty.
Some workplace cultures motivate and push employees to do amazing things. Others completely drain employees’ motivation and any incentive to perform slowly diminishes – this is where active disengagement follows.
Culture starts at the top, so Leaders’ actions and words need to align with the culture they want to create across the workplace.
3. Empathy, Praise and Recognition
Empathy, praise and recognition are directly linked with employee engagement. Positive feedback reinforces the right aspects of what has been done well, so that behaviour is repeated. It also lets employees feel that their hard work has been noticed and is appreciated.
Empathy allows us to walk in someone else’s shoes and understand them better which leads to more effective workplace relationships.
It’s surprising how often management forget the simplest form of acknowledgement, praise and recognition there is – a Thank You, Well Done, Are You Ok?
“Recognition should always tie back to a company’s core values and mission” – Forbes
4. Accessibility / Open Door Policy
As a manager, if your employees find you difficult or impossible to reach, approach, or understand then you are not accessible. Managers who adopt an open-door policy promote transparency where everyone can be heard, and everyone is valued and respected.
If individuals feel comfortable going to their manager to discuss their concerns and issues, it presents the opportunity to address or fix the problem in a timely manner, rather than not hear about it until it’s potentially too late to remedy.
5. Training and Development
To keep employees engaged, they should be challenged or upskilled. Having training and development as part of your employee engagement strategy doesn’t need to be all about costs.
For Companies with small budgets, training and development could be anything from free online learning to shadowing other employees in the company or role swaps to take on more skills. There are many ways you can provide employees with the tools and opportunities needed for self-directed development.
“Highly engaged teams show 21% greater profitability” – Forbes
6. Technology
HR technology makes a huge difference to modern day working styles and having processes that are streamlined and easily accessible are beneficial to both the Company and the employees using it.
Technology makes it possible for Companies to:
- • manage paperless recruitment and onboarding;
- • provide easy access to policies and procedures;
- • conduct training and inductions;
- • boost the speed and efficiency of tasks getting completed;
- • enable flexible working;
- • measure performance; and
- • provide rewards and recognition in real-time – all of which contribute to a successful engagement strategy!
7. Flexible Working
Giving staff the option to work remotely from home at times or allowing them a little bit of flexibility on their work schedule makes a huge difference to how employees feel towards their employer.
Allowing more flexible working pattern creates a culture of trust within your business and your employees will generally reward you for it by working harder. It is also an effective employee retention strategy.
Just remember that workplace health and safety laws also apply when working from home.
8. Employee Wellness
‘Wellness programs’ and ‘mindful practices’ are top buzzwords in the corporate world right now and for good reason. Taking an interest in and supporting employee’s well-being, (whether physical or mental), will help employees feel better so they make better choices, resulting in higher productivity, higher job satisfaction and less absence from work due to illness or injury.
Ideas such as offering gym memberships or discounts, yoga or meditation classes, providing healthier lunch options, emailing employees weekly wellness and mindfulness practices, pet days at work or reminding staff to take regular breaks and get fresh air are all effective ways to show you are an employer that really cares – and that goes a long way.
9. Exit Interviews
To develop a successful employee engagement strategy for your company, you need to understand the root causes if your current staff are leaving.
Exit interviews provide a window of opportunity to ask the difficult questions about why they are resigning and to collect feedback on what you as an employer could have done better. Reviewing the data will then help management to highlight patterns of common grievances and start developing strategies to improve the problem.
10. Ask for Feedback
Management can often forget to ask their staff for feedback – sometimes managers can be so focused on targets or the bottom line that everything else is of secondary importance. It might not always be something you want to hear; however, it is necessary and another useful tool.
Some things to consider:
- • Is there something you are not doing as a manager that your employees need?
- • Are you easily contactable?
- • Do they feel that they can come to you for anything?
- • Do you micro-manage?
Employees are more engaged when under the management of a good leader who shows they want to be a good leader – so ask the questions.
Employee Engagement Strategies
Developing an effective employee engagement strategy requires effort, commitment and time to figure out what works for your company, but the return on investment is measurable and can not only improve company culture but improve efficiency, retention and profits.
If you need some extra support developing an employee engagement strategy, understanding your workplace legislative obligations or implementing effective change management practices, don’t hesitate to contact us at Human Resource Services on (07) 5530 1571.
