05th January 2021
Guest Blog: 7 Sure-shot tactics for employee engagement
7 Sure-shot tactics for employee engagement
Employee engagement is defined as the extent of emotional connection employees have towards their organisation. An engaged workforce is hugely beneficial for a business organisation. It exhibits higher productivity, reduced absenteeism and enhances profitability. Such immense benefits of an engaged workforce make it crucial for every organisation to engage its employees. If you are also planning to embark on the journey of engaging your employees, this blog is for you. No doubt, employee engagement can seem like a challenging task; the different tactics mentioned below will ensure that you focus your efforts in the right areas.
7 Sure-shot tactics for employee engagement:
1. Extend regular recognition to your employees:
Recognition is one of the most effective tactics for employee engagement. There are two main reasons for this. First of all, recognition gives a boost to your employees’ self-esteem. Secondly, it makes them feel happy. Both these factors together fuel their emotional commitment to your organisation. As a result, they become engaged.
So, regular recognition can go a long way in employee engagement. It is extremely beneficial if you recognise your employees publicly. By doing so, you get to hit two birds with one stone. Firstly, the employee who received recognition becomes motivated to serve you with the best. Secondly, the rest of the employees also develop a desire to become recognised. It is for the fulfilment of this desire that they start putting extraordinary efforts at work, which gradually lead them to higher levels of engagement. This way, recognition is a boon for employee engagement.
2. Be empathetic towards your workforce:
Empathy is your ability to manage your own emotions and understand others’ feelings well. 96% of employees regard empathy as an essential factor which enhances employee retention. This is simply because an empathetic organisation makes its employees feel that they are cared for. Their emotions and feelings matter. As a result, the employees feel valued and develop a strong emotional connection with the company. They become engaged and are likely to stay with the organisation. This implies that you can enhance employee engagement by being empathetic towards your employees. Along with this, you should also try to train individual team managers and leaders to have compassionate conduct towards their subordinates. You should motivate them to try and understand their subordinates’ situations and be supportive of them.
3. Work on employee stress management:
Employee stress is a significant factor which leads to employee disengagement. Data from Towers Watson’s Global Benefits Attitude Survey highlighted that more than half of the employees who claim to have high-stress levels, report being disengaged at work. Isn’t it quite natural? High-stress levels create a confused mental state and emotional turbulence. When employees are suffering from such immense adverse impacts of stress, then, how can they be engaged? This simply means that to cultivate an engaged workforce, you have to put dedicated efforts on reducing the stress levels of your employees. Here are some simple things which you can do in this regard:
- Conduct stress management programs in the company:
Stress management programs enhance employee well-being by helping them keep their stress levels at a minimum. These programs help them learn different coping techniques which they can regularly practice on their own. So, it is always a good idea to conduct stress management programs in your company. - Dedicate some time to physical activities like exercise and dance:
As highlighted by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, physical activities like exercise and dance offer immense relief from stress. This is simply because physical activities trigger the secretion of endorphins in the brain. Endorphins are chemical substances which elevate our mood and enhance the quality of sleep. Both these factors together bring a significant reduction in our stress levels. Now, to get a reduction in the stress levels of your employees, you can dedicate some time of workday to physical activities like exercise and dance. - Organise fun activities in the workplace:
Having fun is one of the most productive ways of stress management. Fun activities trigger feelings of enjoyment and happiness, which lower the levels of stress hormones in the body. So, you can bring a reduction in the stress levels of your employees by organising fun activities in the workplace. Games, movie days and creativity contests are some ideas for fun activities which you can conduct in your company.
4. Build employee relationships:
Employee relationships have a significant impact on employee engagement. Positive employee relationships create a happy work environment, which promotes your employees’ emotional connection with your company. This implies that building good employee relationships is crucial for cultivating an engaged workforce. Assigning group tasks whenever possible, organising group fun activities and celebrating employee birthdays are some easy practices to develop good employee relationships.
5. Get feedback from your employees:
According to Forbes, employees who feel their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered and perform their best at work. This is quite natural as it is always a joy to work in a company which allows you to express your opinions and works on resolving any existing work-related issues which you are bothered about. So, making the employees feel heard is an essential factor which leads to their increased engagement in work. For this, you just have to get regular feedback from your employees and take necessary measures to address their troubles.
6. Promote work-life balance:
The Corporate Executive Board, which represents 80% of the Fortune 500 companies, found that employees who believe that they have right work-life balance, work 21% harder than those who don’t, after researching 50,000 global workers. From this finding, we can derive an essential conclusion that work-life balance promotes employee engagement, which encourages the employees to work harder and better. So, to cultivate an engaged workforce, you should try and help your employees develop a better work-life balance. For this, you can offer them some facilities like flexible working hours and remote working opportunities.
7. Focus on employee growth:
Employees are more likely to exhibit enhanced engagement when you offer growth opportunities to them. This is because everyone wants to have a dynamic career. When your employees can grow in their career while working with your company, they’ll give their best at work and try to stay with your organisation. Isn’t it? This gives you another excellent tactic to engage your workforce, i.e. to focus on employee growth. You can offer a variety of training programs, online courses and tuition reimbursement facilities to your employees.
As discussed above, employee engagement is advantageous for your company’s growth. You can utilise the different tactics mentioned above to enhance employee engagement in your organisation. Wish you All the Best and may your efforts to cultivate an engaged workforce come to fruition.
About the Author
Jessica Robinson is an educational writer at “The Speaking Polymath” who loves to pour her knowledge into masterpieces of content.