Top Ten Tips for... Employee Engagement
Our blog this month focuses on why employee engagement is a key area for small to medium businesses and how spending time and resources on getting your people engaged will pay off in terms of performance in the long-term.
Check out our top 10 ways to help get your employees engaged:
1. Have an unequivocal open door policy
Make it clear to your employees that as leaders you are always available and that listening and interacting with them is a priority. Enabling engagement on a daily basis by demonstrating that you are interested in their feedback and collaboration will be far more effective than any formal ‘engagement campaign’.
2. Think about the work environment
Have a look at your organisation’s building and work spaces. Is it fit for purpose? Does it reflect the company’s culture? What small changes could you make to improve it a little? Small, inexpensive additions such as providing fresh fruit and water coolers or adding some art to the walls could have a big impact on staff morale.
3. Connect your people to the greater good
When employees feel connected to the company’s mission or they are reminded that their work is contributing to a goal greater than profits, they begin to feel like their work has purpose. It costs nothing to make that connection and provide it as a focus, but a sense of meaning can be priceless to people’s motivation and engagement.
4. Provide constructive feedback
Your people want to feel valued and that their contribution to the company’s performance is appreciated. Sometimes this can get missed when things are hectic and other priorities take over. Taking the time to provide someone with constructive feedback on their overall contribution or a specific task can have a massive impact and act as a great motivator.
5. Listen
Stop trying to control employees with commands, goals, targets, bureaucracy and rules. Instead, start listening to them and responding to their concerns respectfully and in a timely way. If done well consistently this will fully meet your people’s needs to be heard, respected and have competence, autonomy and relatedness.
6. Create a culture committee
One way to keep your whole team aligned with the company’s values is to appoint a committee of people from across the organisation to act as cultural ambassadors. They can be responsible for welcoming new staff, organising celebrations for company milestones and accomplishments and bring your company values to life on a daily basis.
7. Provide benefits that matter
As a small to medium business your budget probably won’t run to a state-of-the-art onsite fitness centre. But offering a subsidy for local gym membership or exercises classes might be a great way of supporting wellbeing, encouraging camaraderie and providing a special benefit on an accessible scale.
8. Encourage mutual support
A great way to improve engagement is to encourage employees to support each other. A ‘thank you’ from a colleague is almost as rewarding as one from a leader; and in some cases it may feel more personal and relevant. If you can find a way of making these ‘thank you’ messages public (via an intranet or an informal rewards scheme) the effect will be magnified and have even more positive impact.
9. Offer development opportunities
A sure-fire way of getting people engaged is to offer them opportunities to learn and develop in their role. Look for ways to introduce coaching and training opportunities within the existing team or if budget allows, encourage your people to look for external courses to increase their experience and broaden their skills. Not only will they emerge with more knowledge, they will also feel more valued and motivated to continually improve.
10. Provide non-work opportunities for people to interact with each other
You don’t have to spend thousands on lavish entertainment to bring your people together. Teams often have the most fun and engage with each other best when working together on volunteer projects. Find a worthy local cause you can team up to work for, such as a litter drive or a community improvement project. Or to introduce a little healthy competition, how about a ‘Bake Off’ challenge to raise funds for a local charity?
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cHRysos HR Solutions are a UK wide HR training and consultancy company offering CIPD accredited qualifications, Apprenticeships, Training and HR Services to SMEs. For more information about how cHRysos HR can help you or your teams successfully achieve further qualifications, contact us on info@chrysos.org.uk or call 03300 562443.