Engaged employees invest in overtime, effort and initiative to contribute to the company’s success. They have owner thoughts, bringing enthusiasm, passion and energy to the work they do. In addition to being motivated, committed and loyal, engaged workers are better professionals, contributing to the company’s results.
Engagement initiatives need to be unique, tailored to the needs and motivations of each individual. Below are 5 effective ways to boost your employee engagement:
inspirational leadership
Competent, passionate and proactive leaders are essential to employee engagement. Showing interest and investing time to understand your employee’s needs and ambitions will help make them feel that their contribution is valuable to the company. Talk to him regularly to understand how his workplace experience can be improved. Find out what motivates them and how they define success so you can create a rewarding environment in which they can thrive.
Growth and Opportunities
Engaged employees are encouraged to properly use their skills in order to progress professionally. Talk to your employee about your career plan. Does the company exploit its full potential? Are there any new projects he can work on and develop his skills? Discuss training and development opportunities that can help you progress within the company and provide clear, consistent feedback on how you can improve your performance.
Purpose at Work
Engaged employees believe that the work they do is important and has value for the company. They believe they are contributing to something significant and are proud of their efforts. As a manager, it is crucial to frequently reinforce the importance of your employees’ roles, helping them to identify a direct relationship between their activities and the success of the company. Set goals and challenge your employees to gain a sense of purpose. Grant them autonomy and involve them in important decisions so they feel meaningful to the company.
Recognition and Rewards
To keep an employee motivated to give their best for the company, it is important that they know that their efforts will be recognized and rewarded. Praise them regularly and offer incentives to further improve their performance. Take time to celebrate achievements in ways that are meaningful to them. Good benefits and market-compatible pay are key motivating factors, but providing incentives for higher performance generates extra motivation for the employee for their effort.
People-oriented culture
Companies that reap the benefits of an engaged team understand that employees are their greatest asset. Understand your people’s responsibilities and consider initiatives that allow them to balance their personal and professional lives. Encourage them to balance hard work with fun. Promote the exchange of ideas, suggestions and improvements. A work environment in which people feel valued and listened to is crucial for employee engagement.
What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement occurs when employees create a personal and professional involvement with the company. An engaged employee trusts the organization and mainly identifies with its objectives.
The engaged professional, in fact, “wears the company’s shirt” and joins the organization, not only for their own success, but also for the company to achieve good results and for the work to be carried out with excellence.
According to a survey conducted by the ADP Research Institute , engagement and resilience in companies increased in the pandemic. In Brazil, for example, employee engagement jumped from 14% to 18%.
The survey described employee engagement as a positive attitude, in which professionals are dedicated not only to their functions, but also strive to maintain a good relationship with the company they work for.
Who is responsible for employee engagement?
The company has a great responsibility for employee engagement. However, in the current market, engagement goes beyond the professional relationship and reaches the human factor.
This means that companies that wish to have engaged professionals need to be aware of the personal side of their employees, creating a humanized relationship .
Strategies need to go beyond the financial side, seeking actions that encourage motivation and professional and personal growth.
How to improve employee engagement?
Engaging people is not an easy task, but it is possible to achieve it.
The starting point is to get to know the employees themselves, with regular surveys on their satisfaction with the company and, based on this data, create strategies to please and motivate the team. But how to do this? Find out more later.
Do internal surveys regularly
Listening to employees is the first step to implement engagement actions correctly. After all, it is very important to know what they want, what their needs are and what they would like to see changed.
Therefore, carry out internal surveys regularly to find out what the employees in the company like most and at what points an adjustment or change is needed.
The survey can be open or anonymous and must contain questions related to the level of satisfaction, actions that could improve the employee’s life, if he/she feels engaged and especially if it is considered that the company listens to what he/she has to say on a daily basis.
The company, however, needs to encourage leaders to encourage everyone to participate in this action, explaining the reasons why the survey is being applied, ensuring confidentiality and reiterating that the results can contribute to improvements in the institution.
Analyze survey information
Based on the survey results, it is necessary to analyze point by point and assess the company’s possibilities to implement the actions that meet the most recurrent demands.
Defining these goals clearly, based on internal research , facilitates the creation of concrete strategies. All actions, based on this analysis, must have as their main objective to engage employees and consequently improve their relationship with the company.
strategize and put into practice
Putting into practice at least some of the ideas and proposals mentioned in the research is the essential point for this entire engagement process to be effective.