“Employee engagement” is a big buzzword these days, but it’s not just some empty term. It refers to making workers feel valued, challenged, and like they’re growing personally and professionally in the course of performing their jobs.
It’s one of the most important ways to improve employee satisfaction, and businesses of every size and in any industry benefit from focusing on it. Let’s take a quick look at why you should worry about whether your staff feels engaged, and how to improve employee engagement at any brand.
Benefits of an Engaged Workforce
Ultimately, an engaged workforce yields higher revenue and profits. But a lot contributes to this, and there are so many compelling reasons to figure out how to improve employee engagement at your organization. Just to name a few:
- It reduces turnover, and all the associated inconveniences and costs; engaged employees are nearly 90% less likely to leave their job for greener pastures
- Engaged employees are happier, more focused, more creative and innovative workers, which means higher productivity and better customer service
- Better customer service leads to stronger customer loyalty, higher customer retention rates, higher and more frequent spending, more free word-of-mouth marketing on your behalf, and plenty of other benefits
- When happier, more engaged employees represent your brand while doing their jobs, and when they talk about it outside of work, they’re much more likely to be positive, professional, and boosting your reputation
- The improved mood, increased satisfaction, and lower stress that come with being engaged also makes employees healthier; engaged employees even take three times fewer sick days than disengaged ones
Tips on How to Improve Employee Engagement
- Provide professional development opportunities for your employees
- Regularly meet with employees on an individual basis to talk to them about whether they feel engaged and satisfied, to ask if they have any ideas or concerns, and to solicit general feedback
- Offer workers constructive criticism to help them improve their job performance
- Remain open to unconventional hours, work-from-home days, telecommuting, and other flexibility in scheduling when possible
- See to it that employees have all the tools they need to succeed, and never stop working to improve your processes
- Establish a culture of collaboration, and—while competition can be a great motivator—be careful about fostering so much that it creates undue stress or encourages employees to distrust or undercut each other
- Make sure employees clearly understand how they contribute to short-term and long-term goals of the company
- Also make sure they clearly see what’s in it for them when they excel
- Run a transparent organization where employees have a good sense of what’s happening, what’s going to happen, and why things are done the way they are
- Show gratitude to your employees, and offer rewards and positive reinforcement
- Provide a safe, clean, healthy, comfortable work environment
- Find ways to promote your employees’ physical and mental health
- Be a brand that demonstrates social and environmental responsibility, because employees feel more engaged when they’re proud of where they work
- Find out which causes your workforce believes strongly in and organize related team volunteer opportunities
- Arrange different types of social events outside the workplace for employees interested in participating
