Engaging your employees both physically and emotionally can be a good way of improving productivity as well as boosting employee’s job satisfaction. A successful engagement is bound to bring out discretionary effort at work, commitment and most importantly, passion. Some of the engagement activities include team-building games, retreats and even occupational therapy. To get the best out of employee engagement, here are a few steps you can take.
Define your business’ mission, vision and goals
This is the very first step towards fully engaging your employee. Clearly stipulating your desires, goals and visions helps to create an atmosphere of engagement. Once your employees are in tune with your company goals and mission, then they can make up their minds on their contribution towards achieving the desired results.
Your mission and vision are like a road map to guide the employees on what might be expected of them, driving them to put their best effort into the job. To boost job satisfaction, every employee needs a purpose and meaning. Sharing your vision makes them part of the mission, gives them purpose. Provide your employees with a purpose, then give them all the motivation they may need to increase engagement.
Employ the right managers
In most employee engagement survey questions, managers have been found to significantly contribute to job dissatisfaction among employees due to bad leadership. It is best to scout for managers with a track record of employee mentorship and engagement as some may lack this quality. You can also choose to train your managers, equipping them with how to treat and handle employees to improve engagement. The training can even be attended by seasoned managers.
To get the best out of employees, managers should recognize the integral part the employees hold in the company. Empowering them to achieve both individual and company growth while excelling in their careers.
Consult with your employees
It’s not enough to give your employees what you think they need. Set up meetings and forums where employees can openly express what they want in order to boost their engagement. Most employees respond positively to monetary motivators. However, there are other different ways you can motivate them. These include bonuses and pay raises, promotion, recognition, employee benefits and packages, freebies and paid leaves.
Don’t just assume. Ask the employees what they need. It is also advisable to keep the communication channel anonymous to prevent employees from feeling targeted due to their opinions. Evaluate your company position and see which of the motivators you can comfortably support and share it with the employees.
Empower your employees
When you empower your employee, you give them authority over their work. This way, they know you believe in and value their capabilities. Hence, they put in extra effort to exceed both your expectations and theirs. Avoid micromanaging your workers. Give them a chance to prove themselves on their own terms, then hold them accountable.
Allow for ongoing feedback
Don’t wait for the Annual General Meeting to give employees their performance reviews. Set up open forums where employees can freely air their grievances and also get their performance reviews as well as pointers on improvement. Regularly holding this discussion allows them to gauge their performance as the year progresses.
