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Improving employee engagement in the workplace

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Employee Engagement

 

The connection between employees’ engagement and an organization’s success can’t be underestimated. When employees are engaged at work, they bring out the best in themselves and those around them. Engaged employees are contagious. The same goes for disengaged employees. Not only do employees who are engaged often have higher morale, but they also tend to be more productive and committed to their work. Ultimately, they tend to stay at their company longer.  
 
Significant organizational growth and success can be achieved when there’s high employee engagement. It can start with one person but with the right employee engagement best practices and strategies, it will spread throughout teams and companies. But what is it and how do companies build it? 

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What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is an employee’s level of dedication and connection to their job, team, and company. It’s demonstrated by their commitment to their work, their feelings about their workplace and coworkers, and their emotional connection to the company. Engaged employees care about doing exceptional work and fostering positive relationships with their coworkers and managers. They believe in the company’s mission and align their professional goals to it.  
 
When looked at holistically, employee engagement is a combination of work interactions, culture, and environment that shape how employees see themselves within an organization. It influences how productive and committed they are to their job and company.  
 
Ultimately, there’s a strong connection between engaged employees and high-performance organizations. They put time, energy, and resources into their workforce. The outcome is a solid organizational foundation that’s designed for growth, adaptability, and success.

 

Why is employee engagement important?

High employee engagement and retention is an important factor in whether a company keeps employees and attracts a strong pool of new candidates. When employees are engaged, the entire organization is positively affected. Engaged employees are innovators and contributors to the company culture. Their commitment fuels productivity and guides a company’s resilience, adaptability, and growth.

Here is why strong employee engagement is essential to a company’s success.  

  1. Drives motivation. Engaged employees aren’t just showing up to get the work done. They’re inspired to do their best work.  
  2. Fuels productivity. When employees are engaged, they’re more interested in their work. This leads to increased productivity and a higher quality of work.  
  3. Promotes innovation and problem solving. It’s often easier to find solutions and contribute new, innovative ideas when employees are engaged. 
  4. Better customer satisfaction. Engaged employees are motivated. They’re more likely to feel valued and go above and beyond to support customers.   
  5. Better retention. It’s natural for employees who have high job satisfaction to want to stay at their job. Turnover rates are reduced.    
  6. Increased profitability. Engaged employees are more satisfied with their job. As a result, not only do they stay longer, but also the cost of hiring new people is reduced.  

 

What is the difference between employee engagement and employee experience?

Employee engagement and employee experience are connected, but they’re not the same. Employee engagement is an aspect of the full employee experience, which captures an employee’s entire journey within the organization. Employee experience starts with the onboarding process and continues to the day-to-day work and interactions with colleagues and supervisors. A positive, supportive employee experience can lead to higher employee engagement and motivation. Managers can nurture employee experience, creating a more engaging and satisfactory work environment.  

How to measure employee engagement

Measuring the level of engagement across the organization is key to understanding the weaknesses within the employee experience and where improvements can be made. Data must be captured. After there’s a clear picture of the employees’ level of engagement, a strategy can be developed, and employee engagement programs can be implemented.  
 
Surveys and polls are excellent tools for capturing the motivation, commitment, and emotional connection employees have to their work and organization. Specifically, employee engagement surveys are a valuable way to gather feedback and can help to paint a picture of the organization’s overall health.  
 
It isn’t enough to simply ask a series of questions to employees. To gain valuable insights, the survey must have a strong organizational structure and reasoning behind the questions. First ask questions such as: 

 

  • Whose feedback do we want to include? 
  • How long will we give participants to complete it? 
  • How often will we have surveys?
  • Will there be a reward for participation? 
  • Will the survey allow for anonymous responses? 
  • What areas do we want to focus on? 

When creating survey questions, the drivers of employee engagement can be a useful guide for determining where to focus. These areas can help determine the level of employee engagement and the growth opportunities within the organization. They include: 

 

  • Purpose
  • Development
  • Ongoing conversations
  • Quality of managers  
  • A focus on strengths

In addition to surveys, key performance indicators (KPIs) also help organizations understand their employees’ level of motivation and commitment. Here are the top KPIs for employee engagement: 

  1. Employee satisfaction. Overall measure of employees’ happiness with their job and the company. It can be determined by questions that ask about their satisfaction with their work, the company culture, and their manager.  
  2. Retention rate. How many employees stay at a company over an extended period of time. The higher the engagement often leads to lower turnover rates.  
  3. Absenteeism rate. Tracks the number and frequency of employees absent from work.  
  4. Productivity metrics. Includes sales figures and the number of new projects and clients.  
  5. Equity and inclusion. A sense of belonging and fairness that is felt by everyone at the company.  
  6. Wellbeing. Measures energy, contentedness, and relationships.  
  7. Recommendations. The number of referrals current employees give to potential new employees. Do they want to invite other people into the company? Are they actively promoting the company? 

STRATEGIES FOR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

After a complete view of employee engagement is formed, strategies for growth and greater engagement should be developed. Create valuable change and improvements within the organization with employee engagement solutions and strategies that: 

1. Promote open communication. Communication goes both ways. It’s not enough to share information and create a transparent environment. Organizations must also listen, respond, and react to employees to build trust. Open communication supports a work culture where employees feel valued, motivated, and committed. 

 

What does open communication as a strategy mean? It includes constructive feedback and clear communication about roles and expectations for the individual employee and the organization. This allows employees to see the bigger picture. Employees should be encouraged to share their ideas and concerns. Provide a space for employees to feel valued and empowered to communicate openly. 

 

2. Provide recognition. When employees aren’t acknowledged for their good work, enthusiasm for and commitment to their work can suffer. Employee recognition for their contributions can boost excitement and dedication to their work and company. This might come in the form of awards, verbal announcements, perks, and bonuses.  


 
It’s important for recognition to align with the company’s goals and mission. While it’s impactful when it comes from leadership, praise and acknowledgement from coworkers helps to develop community. It creates appreciation and comradery among one another. Provide programs where employees can nominate and recognize each other for their contributions.  

 

Other ways to support employee recognition: 

  • Celebrate achievements publicly through newsletters, social media, and company-wide communications. 
  • Create development opportunities such as conferences, training, and mentorship.
  • Develop employees by giving them leadership opportunities or special projects.  

3. Promote strong managers. It’s true that a manager can shape an employee’s feelings about work more than anyone or anything else in the company. They’re the link between the top-level executives and employees and can play an essential role in promoting high employee engagement.   


 
Skilled managers provide clear direction and support with open communication. They can be the sounding board for employees by providing a space for conflict and resolution, career development, and trust. Managers are in the unique position to lift up the energy and motivation of their entire team. They can also serve as role models, demonstrating how to be a positive example and inspiring others to follow suit.  
 

4. Create a path to success. Help employees understand where they fit within the company and where they are going. What’s their career trajectory? Managers can serve as career counselors, working with employees to create roadmaps for their career paths. Here are steps to do so: 
 

  1. Ask the employee about career aspirations. Where do they want to go within the  company? Do they want a new role, projects, or responsibilities?
  2. Identify opportunities. Create a plan for how they’ll get there.
  3. Brainstorm the actions steps and a timeline for how they’ll achieve their goals.
  4. Schedule regular check-ins to discuss progress, roadblocks, and successes along the way. 
  5. Support the employee in adjusting the plan as needed.   

 

5. Promote wellness programs. Employees want to be viewed as more than just the work they do. Support the health of the individual with wellness programs that tend to their emotional and physical needs. A few ideas to promote employee health include:  
 

  • Support a work-life balance with flexible hours. 
  • Allow for remote and hybrid work. 
  • Organize fitness challenges.  
  • Provide healthy snacking options in the breakrooms. 
  • Schedule remote or on-site yoga or meditation sessions. 
  • Host educational talks on nutrition, mental health, or financial literacy

Just as there isn’t a quick fix to developing a high-performance organization, high employee engagement doesn’t happen overnight. Both require clarity around the company’s mission and goals, as well as open conversations between employees and leadership. Akin to the health of the organization, high employee engagement involves investing time, energy, and strategies. Along with tools and processes that are implemented, tracked, and finetuned over time, it’s possible. It all starts with an earnest effort to create a company where people want to stay and thrive..

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