Employee engagement is a fundamental practice in every organization that seeks to maintain the relationship of the employees with the organization. Employee engagement emphasizes on creating a positive work culture so that employees feel motivated and enthusiastic about their work. Engaged employees have an optimistic approach to their work and take positive initiatives to develop the reputation and interests of the organization.
An organization that has better employee engagement practices tend to outperform those who are not engaged well enough. Disengaged employees would actively damage the reputation of the organization because of the lack of motivation in the work that they do. Employee engagement is a strategic approach looking forward to inspiring the employees and improve their productivity so that they give their best every day.
How do you think top companies in America such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Walmart are designated as the best companies to work for? It is because of the effective employee engagement strategies that they have adopted. The employees’ basic needs are addressed by communicating to them clearly what is expected out of them and they are provided the resources to help them finish their work on time. Employees thrive with nurturing and when they are recognized and rewarded for their work.
In this article, we shall discuss eight approaches to the successful implementation of employee engagement in your organization.
Strengthen your Employee’s Positive Self-image
The most important factor in employee engagement is encouraging an employee’s positive self-image; how you treat them. You need to treat them with respect. It is important that you remember that your job is not just assigning them tasks and ensure that they have met deadlines. You need to value them. You need to create a sense of belonging in the mind of the employee so that he feels that he is a part of the organization.
You can achieve this by expressing your gratitude for the tasks that he has managed to accomplish. You could pat his back and say that he has done a good job. This way, employees feel that they are being valued in the organization and they will be encouraged to do their best every day because of their high self-esteem. Employees tend to become cynical if they do not get the attention and acknowledgment that they need from you.
Convey his Importance in the Organization
Sometimes you need to get rid of the idea that your employee can be replaced by someone else. The key aspect of employee engagement is to tell your employees how valuable important they are to the company. You need to convey to your employees how they add to the company’s purpose. To communicate this effectively, try tailoring your everyday conversations.
For instance, instead of saying “Hey! I would like this article to be completed by tomorrow!”, you could say “You really did a great job writing that article previously. Which is why if you could do this, it will attract more customers.”
You could make this a little more challenging for them so that they feel motivated. Here is how you can do it: “Hi! It was very good to see that you completed that article on the same day. It was very engaging, and I believe you can pull ten articles for this month. What do you think?” the more you list down your employee’s significant contributions, the more important and irreplaceable they will feel.
Communicate your Expectations
For effective employee engagement, it is important that you communicate what is expected out of your employees. Set their goals clearly and give them deadlines. When employees are communicated about their responsibilities and goals, they will be able to meet those expectations sooner and perform better. Job expectations, aims, and objectives must be clear, and it is also important that you provide them with the resources to complete their tasks.
When expectations are not disseminated clearly, it may lead to a pessimistic attitude towards work. They will feel bored and resent everything that is being assigned to them. Then sometimes, they will complete the task only for the heck of completing it. In such a situation, all they want to do is survive in this regiment rather than helping in the success of the organization.
Scope for Further Improvement
When it comes to an organization, your job does not end only by giving employees appraisals at the end of the appraisal cycle. You need to come up with developmental strategies to improve your employees’ skill set and provide the relevant training to your employees. This way, you can cultivate better employee engagement because employees would then know the areas they can improve, and it would be beneficial for their career development as well.
For instance, you could hire a life coach in your organization who could help your employees to fulfill their goals. The key here is that employees need to recognize their potential and achieve what they desire in terms of their career. You would then be able to help your employees focus, provide them direction, challenge them, support them and motivate them. Empowering employees to perform better is also effective employee engagement.
Promote Continuous Feedback and Dialogue
An employee’s performance is inherently tied to employee engagement and his levels of motivation. For this, they need to have a sense of direction. They need to know where they are heading. For this to happen, you need to cultivate a culture of continuous feedback and dialogue. This is extremely essential because it promotes a sense of transparency within the organization. Many employees often feel like they are being kept in the dark when it comes to their performance reviews.
You can stimulate continuous feedback in your organization by doing something as simple as holding one on one discussions and prepare them for their performance reviews. Continuous feedback mechanism streamlines communication in an organization and leaves no room for any misunderstanding. Employees want their employers to feel invested in their careers. When employees have this kind of support from their employees, they will have a sense of loyalty to the organization and invest their time in the development of the organization.
Foster Collaboration with Dialogue between Peers and Superiors
On the one hand, when continuous feedback is important for employee engagement, it would become more beneficial when feedback is produced at multiple levels. The feedback produced by multiple sources provides an objective perspective on the employee’s performance. While continuous feedback serves as a great motivator, it also becomes redundant when the communication is confined only to the manager and the employees. This is one way of showing your employees how feedback from others can shape them and make them feel included in the company.
The feedback could be in the form of self-evaluation, peer evaluation, or ratings from customers, coaches, and mentors. Alternatively, you can receive feedback from your employees by distributing employee engagement survey forms and you can ask qualitative or quantitative questions in the survey. An example of a qualitative survey would include descriptive questions like, “How are you contributing to the growth of the organization?”. A quantitative survey would include ratings and multiple options to choose from. Example: “Do you find meaning and purpose in your job?”
Stimulate Creativity and Innovation
Employees like to feel that their talents and skills are put into great use. One of assuring this is to give them challenging tasks and encourage them to be creative with their ideas. Often, employees are bombarded with mundane boring tasks where there is nothing for them to learn. Those monotonous tasks do not require any form of innovation. It is important to balance it out with challenging assignments.
When you push them into those mundane tasks, you are in a way telling them that, “your skills are not required here.” Thus, you can engage them by giving them those challenging tasks and trust in them. You tell them that they can do it. You can develop new projects specifically for employees and what each employee can do best. For instance, you can ask them to train the newly hired ones and inculcate the same attitude in them. This way they will feel like they have some independence and autonomy to exercise their innovative ideas.
Recognize and Appreciate
The hallmark of successful employee engagement is to recognize employees’ achievements and appreciate their efforts. All you must do is to appreciate how their actions, behaviors, and performance have helped in the accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the organization. Employee recognition strengthens their performance levels. You can do this by giving them rewards and incentives.
But I would say employee recognition is not just confined to incentives. Employee recognition can take place even without resorting to monetary means. It just means that you have to witness them, approve their performance and appreciate their positive contributions to the organization. This makes them realize that they are being noticed and their work is being valued. They will feel empowered that way.
Conclusion
Employee engagement is a crucial aspect of every organization. When it is practiced using effective strategies, it can yield a lot of positive results to the organization. So, give your employees the best you can offer them, and they will take your organization to a pedestal.
