An engaged employee is not only more enthusiastic and involved but also more committed to his/her work than a disengaged employee. Unfortunately, the percentage of employees who are engaged at work is surprisingly low. This indicates the need to increase employee engagement and heightened commitment to the organization. Here are a few tips for employee engagement.
Tips for Employee Engagement
This article outlines the tips management can use to improve employee engagement to inspire innovation and performance, and promote commitment to the organization’s vision and mission.
Lead with Optimism
Leaders have a key role to play in employee engagement. By projecting a positive attitude about the work environment, organization, professional role and life in general, leaders can influence employee morale and engagement. As such, starting each day with an optimistic outlook can give employees the boost they need to improve their engagement and morale. If you’re able to boost morale, you notice this is in your time tracking tool that you’re using.
Create a Healthy, Positive Work Environment
Fostering a culture of respect and trust has a positive impact on employee engagement and plays an essential role in strengthening relationships and satisfaction. A friendly and welcoming work environment that emphasizes teamwork among employees at all levels of the organization enhances an overall sense of community, employee engagement, motivation and trust within the organization.
Be Visible and Available
Skilled leaders make themselves available and approachable in the workplace. Rather than micromanaging and spending their time checking up on employees, they engage with staff to converse and genuinely interact with them. The idea is for managers to spend meaningful time in the workplace to engage with staff and build goodwill.
Foster Organizational and Interpersonal Trust
Effective leaders build confidence among team members, inspire trust and keep their word. A great leader will cultivate a work culture where each employee is trusted to fulfill the organizational goals and treated with respect and civility. They create a work environment where every employee feels appreciated and thus becomes motivated to do their work.
Cultivate Relationships
Cultivating relationships takes dedication and discipline – and is at the epicenter of creating an engaged workforce. An effective leader understands this all too well and appreciates others’ needs. This means they need to understand each individual’s needs and provide an environment of transparency and open communication. They are open to new ways of doing things, encourage others to share ideas, varying perspectives and concerns, and listen well. They realize that people are more motivated to try new things and work harder if their leaders acknowledge their efforts and can in turn, improve employee attendance as well.
Set Clear Goals and Provide Feedback
Employees succeed when they not only understand their performance goals but also have the resources to perform their duties and receive feedback about meeting their goals. Providing ongoing feedback helps employees to feel involved, connected and engaged. This will in turn improve staff performance and productivity.
Bottom Line
Fostering and sustaining employee engagement is both rewarding and challenging. Additional tips for employee engagement include encouraging individual growth and autonomy, providing meaningful work and using simple yet powerful strategies. Ultimately, these tips can help managers and the organization as a whole to reap the countless benefits of an engaged, high-performing workforce for startups or established businesses.
