29 Jul
Employee turnover is not a factor that organizations can ignore for very long. You will need to find employee engagement methods to improve the number because high turnover can get very expensive for the company.
Also, disengaged employees indirectly affect the organization negatively – in terms of low productivity, reduced overall morale, and a dip in the overall team efforts. Imagine a disengaged employee getting paid the same as an engaged one. The engaged employee will stop making as many efforts as he doesn’t see much value in his extra efforts.
Here are 5 proven ways to boost employee engagement:
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Make employees feel valued
Yes, productive employees help organizations improve their revenues. However, an organization shouldn’t hire and engage with employees just for this purpose. According to experts, organizations can boost employee engagement by actually being interested in who they are and their interests and showing that they genuinely care about the progress of individual employees.
For instance, managers can schedule meetings with employees just to check with them instead of having only work-related conversations. All organizations have client-retention strategies. These can be very effective employee engagement methods, too, to retain your precious workforce.
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Invest in the right work experience
What is work experience? It is creating an ambience where employees like to work in and can give their best. This could include physical spaces, availability of tools and solutions, and other benefits at the workplace. Here are some examples of a great work experience that will help boost employee engagement.
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- Make sure the workspace is well-designed, with ergonomic tables and chairs.
- Invest in noise-cancelling dividers in cubicles that help employees work peacefully.
- Make sure employees have access to best-in-class technology that eases their work and makes them more productive.
- Offer ample opportunities for employees to learn and get trained. This can be done by improving your L&D platforms and is a sure way to boost employee engagement.
- Offer sleep pods to help employees get a quick nap and get back to work refreshed.
- Provide healthy and nutritious food and beverage in-campus for employees to feel energized.
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Facilitate 360-degree and transparent communication
Humans crave feedback, and this is one of the easiest ways to boost employee engagement. When we say feedback helps in improving engagement at work, it is not just about positive feedback. Constructive criticism is also equally valued by employees, as long as solutions and support follow such criticism.
Your team may have weekly calls and other scheduled meetings where the entire team gets together to discuss different things. However, one-to-one sessions are necessary too, if managers want to develop deeper connections with employees and understand what exactly helps them to stay engaged. They should also start practising 360-degree, transparent communication with their workforce.
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Prioritize employee health
If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught organizations one thing – it is that the physical and mental health of employees is as important as their skills and productivity levels. We have a separate blog that discusses the Mercer Survey 2022 and popular post-pandemic benefits. If you read it, you will see that many organizations have already started prioritizing the health of their employees to boost employee engagement.
If organizations aim at boosting employee engagement, they must ensure their employees are physically and mentally capable of staying engaged. Here is where employee health comes into play. You can start by arranging health camps for employees, reimbursing them for mental health sessions, and improving your medical insurance plans.
Prioritizing employee health is not just one of the most effective employee engagement methods. It can also help improve employee loyalty, keep your workforce healthy and active, and portray you as an empathetic and holistic company. Therefore, take care of your employees’ health to boost employee engagement.
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Reward and recognize
These two simple words are the foundation of a healthy and happy workforce. They affect every single aspect of Human Resources, including improving engagement at work.
This is because the human brain is hardwired to enjoy and bask in recognition. In fact, did you know that recognition and rewards release a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the brain? Dopamine is called the feel-good hormone, and it makes people happy and sated. No doubt, recognition is one of the vital employee engagement methods that organizations follow.
Employees who are recognized and rewarded for their work get the motivation to keep doing the good work, and they imitate their past behaviours that led to those rewards. This naturally helps boost employee engagement without the organization having to do anything else.
Organizations need to analyze their existing R&R system. How consistent, effective, and technologically savvy is it?
To boost employee engagement, your R&R process needs to be very consistent and timely, so the employees know that when they stay engaged and focused, the management will take notice, appreciate and reward them for it.
PossibleWorks offers exceptional technological solutions and our Rewards and Recognition solutions have proved to be very effective for our clients.
We bring R&R solutions that help strengthen your existing employee engagement methods, organically helping employees to boost their engagement levels. Starting from plug-and-play gamification and leadership systems to virtual recognition platforms, automated milestone award feeds, and peer-to-peer endorsements, there is so much you can incorporate into your existing R&R process.
Do get in touch with us to know more about R&R solutions to boost employee engagement at work.
Conclusion
All organizations want to boost employee engagement and productivity. However, what are they doing to deserve improved productivity levels? For an employee to stay engaged at the workplace and at work, an organization must consistently practice all the above 5 employee engagement methods.
Don’t keep pushing employees to improve their productivity without understanding how engaged they are. A disengaged employee, when forced to be highly productive, may cause more harm and reduce the overall quality of the product/service offered by your organization.
Also, engagement is not something organizations can take for granted. If your employee engagement levels are high at one point in time, they might not remain so forever. They can dip if your organization starts slacking and cutting down on the efforts needed to keep employees engaged. Once you decide to boost employee engagement, do keep in mind that this could be a recurrent effort.
All in all, have a genuine interest in your employees as individuals and make sure they have the best facilities to get their jobs done with ease. Always recognize worthy employees and make them feel valued. All these will definitely help boost employee engagement over time.
