15 Ways to Engage Your Employees

A report by Gallup affirms that employee engagement is a prime factor in building a future-ready workforce that drives a company's success. A highly engaged workforce can achieve 21 percent higher profitability than the others.

No wonder, firms like Google are acing at employee engagement. In fact, a 37 percent increase in employee happiness and engagement transformed Google's productivity.

Thus, increasing employee engagement can pay big dividends in the long term.

Here are fifteen effective tactics to increase employee engagement and boost your ROI.

#1: Strengthen Internal Communication 

Clear communication is the foundation of a successful team.

Surprisingly, 70 percent of team leads hesitate to communicate openly with their team.

The converse is also true among team members, especially the new joiners.

Also, avoid overwhelming employees with emails to address the communication gap instead create a standard operating procedure that explains the employee how to complete specific tasks or operations. Trust your team to deliver tasks as planned. 

Tools, such as Slack, Trello, and Zoom, offer a robust platform for communication and collaboration. Invest in them to create an engaging and productive environment. 

#2: Stop Micromanaging 

No one appreciates micromanagers. 

Over-scrutinizing can result in poor employee morale and staff turnover.

Research states that micromanagement is one of the top reasons employees left their jobs.

Set timely goals and trust your team's ability to achieve them. The focus should be on achieving the expected outcomes, not how your team gets there.

Here are a few quick tips to consider. 

• Convey realistic expectations.

• Implement a project management system to view their daily work status.

• Encourage open communication.

• Share constructive feedback.

• Allow your team to learn through mistakes and failures. 

• Be upfront while discussing work-related concerns.

#3: Offer Employees the Tools They Need

Equip your employees with the right tools they need.

For instance, a developer might need software to streamline their work. This will save them a lot of mundane and manual work. 

So, get your employees’ opinions on the tools they need to make their job easy. Involving them in the decision-making process will keep them engaged and boost their morale.

#4: Listen to Their Concerns

A simple - "Do you need any help?" can make employees feel valued and respected.

HR professionals and team leaders that listen to employee concerns can achieve 20-25 percent higher productivity.

#5: Develop a Standard Feedback Process

As an HR leader, it's your responsibility to create a constructive feedback system that helps employees learn and grow. 

Almost 69 percent of workers say they would put in more effort if their work gets recognition.

Thus, random feedback goes a long way in keeping employees engaged and motivated to perform.

But try to develop a standard feedback process that allows you to identify their professional strengths and weaknesses. 

Below are some tips to help you create an effective feedback system.

• Share the insights with their manager and ask for their opinion. 

• Give them ratings on work and behavioral aspects.

• Arrange a personalized meeting to share the feedback. 

• Explain that feedback is about their work and not personal.

• Suggest improvement paths that support their professional growth.

• Allow them to respond with honesty. 

• Communicate with them at regular intervals to keep them engaged.

#6: Make Them a Part of Your Business Vision

One of the most successful companies, Walt Disney, had the vision to be the world's leading entertainment provider. Disney’s success was a result of aligning its team with its vision. They kept everyone on the same page by maintaining transparency. This practice boosted their employees' engagement and productivity, which resulted in massive success

The lesson? Every company begins its journey with a vision.

Most companies fail to align their employees with the business vision. Sharing your goals during the induction session is not enough. It’s equally important to share the vision and tell them how their role and contribution impact the vision.

This simple tactic will help your team relate to the bigger picture and feel valued, thereby boosting engagement.

#7: Recognize and Reward Their Work

If you check Google, you will find around 1,98,00,000 searches for "how to stay motivated when you hate your job."

This clearly points to the massive number of professionals feeling workplace burnout. As an HR leader, it can seem impossible to engage and retain unhappy professionals.

But rewarding and recognizing their efforts can work wonders! 

Show some appreciation by rewarding your dedicated employees. 

Here's a screenshot of a survey conducted by O. C. Tanner that reflects how appreciation is the most crucial driver of great work. 

What's more?

Here are a few more benefits of recognizing your employees. 

• Create a positive workplace.

• Encourage friendly competition.

• Increase motivation to work.

• Improve work productivity.

• Boost employee retention rate.

#8: Hold Informal Chat Sessions Once a Week

Team meetings are an integral part of any organization.

Since the onset of COVID-19, the frequency of communication has increased even more. 

However, multiple calls and emails between routine work can overwhelm employees. So, as an HR leader or manager, give your team some breather by arranging informal chat sessions once a week.  

Whether your team works from the office or home, try conducting informal chat sessions over a cup of coffee.

During these sessions, talk about anything but work. Such conversations break down silos and create a sense of trust between your team. Most importantly, such sessions can refresh their moods and reduce stress after a long day at work.

#9: Organize Health and Wellness Activities

It's common to find employees with clutter on their work desk, a to-do list on their pinboard, and a dull look on their faces.

Working for nine to twelve hours in a competitive environment can be stressful. 

Such a work culture not just affects their health but also their performance. Further, it can lead to -

• Lower productivity

• Absenteeism

• Turnover

• Decreased job satisfaction

• Reduced engagement 

• Greater conflicts with colleagues

No manager or HR wants to lose talent to health issues. But, most don't realize it until it is too late.

Here are five wellness activities that can help you uphold employee health.

• Incorporate walking meetings to ensure that everyone gets up and moving.

• Allow everyone to take ten minutes of meditation breaks to turbocharge their minds.

• Encourage your employees to follow a healthy meal plan.

• Bring a doctor to your workplace for regular checkups.

• Throw wellness challenges to motivate your employees to stay fit. 

#10: Arrange Team Building  Activities

The primary goal of team-building activities is to encourage your team to interact with each other. 

When done right, they can increase employee engagement. 

Here are some fun team activities to help you get started.

• Blind Drawing: It requires two teams. A player from any team needs to draw an object blindfolded. His team needs to guess what he's drawing. This activity will help you check the employee's imagination power.

• Truth and Lies: Here, participants need to write three statements – one lie and two truths. They need to read out loud what they have written. Others need to guess whether that's a lie or truth. The coworkers that make the correct guesses win the game. This activity breaks the ice between employees and promotes fun interactions.

• Office Makeover: Create a couple of teams and allow them to decorate their desks. The team with the most creative desk makeover wins. It's simple yet engaging and fun.

#11: Upskill Employees to Boost Their Career Growth

Upskilling is vital for anyone who wants to stay relevant.

In a famous interview with The Corp, Tom Bilyeu, the co-founder of Quest Nutrition, highlighted how skillful employees can boost the profitability of businesses. He also advised professionals to focus on skills rather than money. 

Arranging career training programs can empower your employees to a great extent. As an HR or team lead, talk to the management and conduct insightful learning sessions once a month.

By investing in your staff's long-term career growth, you can create, engage, and retain valuable assets for the organization.

#12: Invite a Motivational Speaker

If you have access to a renowned motivational speaker, invite them to your workplace for a talk.

Suggest a few topics that you'd like them to talk about.

It is a great way to set an example and let your employees understand how hard work can bring success.

Arrange the necessary infrastructure and see how these inspiring sessions add value to your employees' lives.

#13: Show Genuine Care

Nurturing a culture of genuine care and kindness can make employees feel valued and enhance their engagement with an organization.

As an HR professional or team manager, take some time and think about articulating your care for them.

Your approach should be genuine. 

For instance, try helping your juniors when they feel overworked. 

Offer them a cup of coffee, or take them out for lunch. Be attentive to the professional needs of your team. Compliment them for their efforts.

Such small gestures can have a more powerful impact than you might imagine.

#14: Let Your Team Suggest Innovative Ideas

Innovative ideas can take any business to the next level.

But brainstorming for innovative ideas needs time. 

As an HR professional, create a forum where employees can share their ideas and suggestions.

This strategy can keep them engaged and boost their forward-thinking abilities. 

One of the largest organizations, Walmart, follows this tactic to build a culture of innovation and unlock the potential of its assets.

#15: Emphasize Work-Life Balance

Every organization wants to attract and retain motivated, talented, productive, and loyal employees.

Unfortunately, employee turnover is a problem that is getting worse with time.

The reason is the lack of work-life balance.

Brain Kropp from the Gartner HR team mentions, “Ultimately, employees want their 9-to-5 to look like their 5-to-9, and the organizations that deliver on that idea will gain a competitive advantage.”

Here are a few tips that will help engage and retain your best assets.

• Create process documentation to streamline the work.

• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your employees.

• Assign work according to their experience and capabilities.

• Identify their early stages of burnout. 

• Offer greater work flexibility whenever you can.

• Offer holiday packages to the top-performing employees.

Conclusion

As your organization grows, you need more engaged, productive, and skilled professionals to bring your vision to life. 

Tremendous growth and higher ROI are possible only with a strong team by your side. 

Follow the tips shared in this article to keep your employees engaged and build a super successful organization.

Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!