Most companies today focus on their deadlines and targets in getting the work done instead of focusing on employee engagement within their company. They tend to ignore the importance for employees to be satisfied with the work that they do. Employee engagement has become one of the most important indicators in determining work satisfaction. Employees today want to be involved in their work and enthusiastic about the company that they work for.
Of the many challenges faced by companies today, engaging employees at work is one of the most important ones. Employee engagement drives performance as engaged employees look at the whole of the company to understand their purpose, where, and how they fit. This in turn results in better decision-making at the workplace.
With over 20 years of experience, we have all the right strategies specifically tailored for different companies spanning across different sectors that help boost employee engagement and achieve organisations’ business objectives.
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is a two-way process where a company values its employees and communicates openly with them. In return, the organisation receives their employees' full commitment where the business sees more success, resulting from an increase in productivity and wellbeing levels.
Reasons Why Employee Engagement is Important
Employee engagement is not a management trend. Company leaders need to start viewing employee engagement as a strategic business objective because engaged employees lead to long-term employee retention, higher levels of productivity and improved quality of work. Companies that fail to monitor employee engagement run a lot of risks that impact on their ability to succeed and build competitive advantage. Some of the risks if a company fails to track employee engagement are employee turnover, unproductive workforce, and negative customer experiences.
Engaged Employees Don’t Resign
When employees are not engaged at work, they have little incentive to stay. Engaged employees are involved and invested in their roles, hence less likely to leave their job reducing overall staff turnover and the costs associated with it. They feel a stronger bond to their company’s purpose, making them effective brand ambassadors. Implementing employee engagement programs will increase employee retention. Furthermore, engaged employees build stronger relationships with customers, helping their company increase sales and profitability.
Engaged Employees are More Productive
Employee productivity is important to any business. The more productive your employees are, the more successful you will be as a business. This in turn helps create a positive workplace culture that drives organizational success. Engaged employees are innovative and always have an idea or two about what they can do better. Their quality of being collaborative and enthusiastic towards work, allows them to complete their workplace goals more effectively, which leads to increased productivity.
Employee Engagement Drives Customer Satisfaction
A customer-centric approach always adds value to any company hence by focusing on employee engagement, employees tend to be happier and therefore provide a better customer experience. When the customers are happy with the service provided to them it eventually leads to the success of your business.
Engaged Employees are More Innovative
Engagement is highly correlated with innovation behaviors of all types of organizations. This encompasses having a culture that encourages its employees to innovate
Engaged employees are motivated to do their best on every task. They are also more inclined to take innovative risks, be creative, and build their skills through seminars, mentorships and courses.
Engaged Employees are Healthier
Identifying risks to employee health and addressing the problems are critical to improving business performance. Research on corporate wellness demonstrates that the proactive management of employees’ physical and mental health can result in a host of important business benefits — from improved staff engagement and productivity to a reduction in absence and staff turnover. Employee engagement is a catalyst for higher well-being by helping put employees in a mindset that encourages them to make healthy decisions.
How to Improve Employee Engagement
Prioritizing feedback and conducting volunteer opportunities are a great starting point for improving the employee engagement in your organisation.
Prioritize feedback: Employees always value feedback and managers should talk to their direct reports about their preferred methods for receiving feedback in order to engage employees in a way that’s meaningful to them.
Conduct volunteer opportunities: Employees want to know they work for a company that cares about making a positive contribution to society. Volunteering unites employees toward a larger purpose, offering an opportunity to engage on a deeper level.
Define and Communicate Core Values
Model your core values and emphasize your mission since employees are more engaged when there is a goal they can get behind and a purpose to inspire them. Company values are the central, underlying philosophies that guide a business and its employees. After you establish your values, you need to embed them in every aspect of your organization’s culture. And one of the best ways to build a culture that aligns with your company values is by recognising employees who epitomise them.
Provide Rewards and Recognition
A rewards system, personal thank you, or internal announcement on your intranet strikes a personal chord that makes employees feel valued. In turn, this will improve employee engagement and happiness. Although monetary reward ranked as the first-place stimulus, many employees valued alternatives such as:
- An email recognising the individual
- A promotion
- A monetary bonus
- Extra vacation days
Employee reward and recognition is a straightforward way to provide positive feedback and promote both individual development and large-scale growth. Adopting recognition into your company culture creates an environment of respect and is a powerful way to recruit and retain the best talent.
Focus on Employee Wellbeing
Employee wellness goes hand in hand with employee engagement. When employees do not feel well, it is hard for them to stay engaged with their work. If an employee is struggling with health or financial issues, they’re more likely to be distracted and unable to give their full dedication at work hence wellness programs are becoming increasingly common in companies of all sizes. Prioritising employee well-being is the main way an employer can reduce burnout in their organization which can be accomplished by adopting the right strategies on employee engagement.
Provide Flexibility
In recent months, the coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant amount of the workforce working from home. Many employees have also found themselves working more flexibly in terms of the hours or days that they work, often as a result of balancing work and other responsibilities such as home schooling or childcare. The impact of positive well-being and engagement, on the individual and their performance, is no longer in any doubt and flexible working has a huge part to play in making this happen.
Work life balance has never been more important than during the Covid pandemic - this came to the forefront of every organisation. With the opportunity to work from home many employees became more aware of what they were missing when they spent all working hours in the office. With the shift to working from home, many employees were able to benefit from the flexibility of working hours and this has now become a perk that employees expect to stay forever.
Improve Communication
Encouraging effective employee communication can build a strong bond between your company and your employees. With appropriate communication, employees start to identify themselves with the company’s vision, values, and goals. They are then enthusiastic about doing better and becoming more engaged in every aspect of their jobs. |Hence it is pivotal to develop clear internal lines of effective communication and execute the strategy effectively within the company to promote success.
Conclusion
As we have showcased, employee engagement is essential for every workplace. So, will you take the next steps to ensure your people are feeling like their work matters? At Ovation Incentives, we work with clients every day to address employee engagement concerns and provide a unique benefit that is proven to engage employees. Get in touch with us by booking a demo here on how we might be able to assist you with the right engagement initiatives for your employees