Employee engagement is the X-factor for any company looking to claim a spot at the forefront of their sector. Your workforce doesn’t just make up the gears of your organization’s machine — they’re the machine itself. Keeping them actively aligned with corporate goals can be the key difference between success and failure.
A disinterested team can both bog down your department’s culture and financially handicap your operations. A Gallup poll found that about 14 percent of American employees can be considered “actively disengaged”, and that the economic impact of such disengagement is estimated to be about $550 billion per year.
Fortunately, while creating a working environment that fosters engagement may be a long-term project, the tools and techniques to do so are intuitive and accessible. Here are a couple of the most useful strategies to engage your staff:
Consistent, Creative Communication
Sure, everyone can say they communicate with their team, but it’s the type of communication and the frequency at which it’s done which determines its impact. Creating passion for the company’s mission is the priority when it comes to readying your workforce for the goals ahead, especially given the uncertainty of COVID-19 and any hybrid staff you may be keeping in the loop.
A structured engagement program is the perfect initiative to bring your employees together, cultivate communication, and give positive energy to the team. Make sure to promote the program at meetings and provide updates as it’s rolled out, whether through email or a company portal where you can post news and share events.
If you already have a similar program but don’t feel that it’s up to par, feel encouraged to revamp it with new features or invest in a new angle.
An engagement program isn’t only a means to streamline work-related communication, but it’s also a way to create a more joyful culture. Whether through incentives, humor, or games that your staff brainstorms, you can blend an environment of productive work with one of actual fun.
Keep in touch with your employees, open more lanes for discussion, and you’ll create a community of togetherness.
A Culture of Recognition
The best way to motivate your team is to recognize them for their hard work and performance. A 2018 research report by Achievers found that 44% of employees who were planning on leaving their jobs in the upcoming year primarily blamed a lack of recognition and engagement with their current employer.
Lowering turnover has an immediate positive impact on the overall business in multiple ways, resulting in a huge edge over the competition. No matter how you communicate it, recognizing people for their work is extremely important to their attitudes and the quality of work they give back.
We’ve hardly scratched the surface of building a better business with a better culture through HR — check out HelloTeam’s e-book, “Effective HR Strategies for a Competitive Advantage,” here. For more on engagement in general, go here!
If you’d like to see how HelloTeam can help you with employee engagement, schedule a demo or try the free trial today!
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