7 good ways to boost employee engagement

Having highly engaged employees working in your business can make a huge difference to their productivity. Studies by the CIPD have shown that when workers are actively engaged in what they do, their discretionary effort can increase by over 50%.

Here are 7 proven ways to ensure you can maximise employee engagement in your organisation

1. Foster a culture of openness

One of the best ways to engage people at work is to allow them to speak their minds and to be open to whatever issues are on their minds. Whether it is a suggestion relating to the workplace directly or to other issues in their lives, businesses that actively support openness have much better levels of staff engagement and retention. As well as creating a great atmosphere, inviting people to speak their minds also provides more opportunities to hear some great ideas and become more innovative.

2. Encourage socialising

We spend a lot of time at work each day and so the more people can get to know fellow colleagues and develop close working relationships, the happier they will be and the better they will perform. If you can organise regular social events and break down barriers, you will potentially get more out of your workers. Younger employees in particular who may not have such established lives outside of work will often like to socialise with colleagues as friends, so bear in mind the differences between different age groups when considering how to plan work events.

3. Only reward for good performance

If reward and recognition is handed out across the board regardless of individual performance this can dilute its impact. To really see the benefit in improved engagement, be focused about targeting financial incentives and recognition to recognise where individual staff have really gone the extra mile and shown outstanding performance. This will encourage a higher performance culture, make the process far more meaningful, and ensure those who do contribute more to the organisation do not feel resentful that others automatically get the same rewards as them.

4. Put health and wellbeing on the company agenda

Lots of businesses provide gym memberships for their employees. It is a good start, but frequently they are not fully utilised because staff must themselves be motivated to use a gym. This is bad for engagement and is counter productive in the long term. Consistently, research into the daily habits of high performing people – CEOs and senior management at high profile companies – has shown that what differentiates them from others is the time they create each day for regular exercise. It is worth making exercise within your organisation part of the culture; don’t just give employees the gym membership, help them make time each day to use it, create incentives to use it, and you will see the rewards.

5. Communicate business goals and what they mean

If your employees don’t understand the big picture and what your business is trying to achieve you can’t expect them to be engaged and willing to help you get there. Be clear about your organisational goals, communicate the business strategy to everyone and ensure they all appreciate what their individual contribution is.

6. Make a good first impression with careful onboarding

Someone has accepted a new job with you; they are excited about starting and about the new opportunity this will offer. It is worth ensuring their first few days live up to expectations; you want to ensure you deliver on the good impression that has made them accept the role. Make sure they have an impressive induction and a supportive buddy to help them through the many questions they will have during their first few weeks. Thoughtful onboarding of new employees, which shows them they are important to the organisation and ensures they can quickly understand the business culture and what is expected of them, is often neglected by small companies. Employees are one of the most powerful advocates your brand can have, so treat new employees with the same level of attention you would new customers and don’t leave them to fend for themselves.

7. Encourage philanthropy

Businesses that give back to their local communities tend to have very high levels of employee engagement. If you encourage your employees to get involved with charitable initiatives, they will feel inspired and at the same time, it can generate some valuable publicity for your business. It is also possible to benefit directly from such ventures if you can choose a charity that has a relevance to your business sector.

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