There’s a consensus among a significant fraction of company executives that improving employee engagement should be in their top five global business strategies. Surprisingly, businesses still fail to invest in the proper employee engagement initiatives.
Recent research from Gallup shares that employees feel more engaged when they spend time working remotely and on-site. In fact, weekly meetings while working from home can result in an optimal boost in engagement.
However, it’s not always the case for some remote workers. Consider Buffer’s recent State of Remote Work report that cites communication and collaboration as one of the biggest challenges of remote work. These obstacles could, in turn, have a negative impact on employee engagement, as well.
That said, let’s take a closer look at employee engagement and how you can promote it better.
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement revolves around the following:
- How enthusiastic employees feel about their work
- How committed workers are to their company
- How much effort employees put into work
In a way, employee engagement shows how connected individuals are to their workplaces — mentally and emotionally. After all, engaged employees can contribute to greater company success. Trust, integrity, and communication between your company and its employees are the pillars of team engagement.
How Do Employees Show Engagement?
Employees show their engagement in many ways, which include:
- Open to collaboration and innovation - Engaged employees think about how they can make their jobs and company culture better
- Exhibit leadership potential - Involved and committed employees gladly take the lead and collaborate with senior management to create a better working environment
- Embrace open communication - Employees who feel engaged are always ready to communicate and are receptive to feedback
- Passion for career growth - Engaged employees are constantly looking for ways to grow and hone their skills
Why Does Employee Engagement Matter?
Engaging employees are crucial to any organization because it offers the following benefits:
- Improves company culture
- Reduces turnover rates
- Improves productivity
- Strengthens work and customer relationships
- Increases company profitability
More importantly, focusing on engagement results in happier employees. After all, engaged employees have higher morale, are less likely to leave, and feel more motivated to do their best.
How Can Employee Engagement Benefit Your Workplace?
Why is maintaining staff engagement so important? We’ve explained the reasons in greater detail below.
Encourages Employees to Stay
If your employees feel they’ve stagnated or aren’t growing in their current role, they could look for better opportunities elsewhere. Focusing on team engagement can help your company retain talent and reduce employee turnover.
Improves Employee Productivity
If employees are passionate about the work they do and believe in the value they can offer for their company, they’ll work harder to achieve their goals. When this happens, it could contribute to higher levels of productivity and innovation. Data from a Gallup study confirms this: engaged workers are 17% more productive than their disengaged counterparts.
Boosts Innovation
Innovation is the key to a consistently agile and successful business. However, your company can only boost innovation when managers are hands-on when providing feedback. Use Performance+ to facilitate a continuous feedback loop and automate your performance management process.
Motivates Employees to Show Support
Organizations that want to create a more engaged workforce should have a good rewards system in place. After all, team members who feel appreciated are more likely to support your company’s initiatives.
Improves Customer Service
Employee engagement can help your company provide better services to retain customers and get more referrals. Engaged employees care more about clients and put more effort into delivering the best customer experience.
How Can Managers & HR Teams Promote Engagement?
Managers and HR professionals are key contributors to successful employee engagement. Here’s our advice:
Measure Team Engagement
You can measure employee engagement using Sprout Pulse to identify key areas that drive engagement. On top of that, consider conducting an annual survey that covers topics like profitability, productivity, and other key performance indicators. Some HR software platforms can help you create and roll out surveys and show you the data in real-time.
Recalibrate Company Values
Promote a better workplace culture by letting your employees know how important engagement is. Recalibrate your mission statement and core values to reflect the role it plays in your company culture. Keep track of progress along the way and make sure you acknowledge and celebrate small wins.
Embrace New Ideas
New ideas are born out of consistent feedbacking sessions, so be open to feedback from your team members. Engaged employees are more naturally involved when it comes to suggesting new ideas and improvements, after all. So foster a company culture that encourages open communication.
Provide Helpful Feedback
Providing feedback is just as important as receiving it because it helps employees grow. Make it a point to balance positive and negative feedback so your team members will feel more inspired to work hard and achieve their goals.
Conduct Training Sessions
Ongoing training can help sustain employee engagement because it shows that you care about team member growth. As your employees go through training, they’ll be more empowered and involved in the work they do.
Reward People for Their Hard Work
Hardworking employees deserve recognition. A reward system is a great way to acknowledge team members who go over and beyond what’s expected of them. Employee rewards can be as simple as giving “Employee of the Month” awards, gift cards, and cash incentives.
Keep Your Employees Happy & Motivated
The way we work may change, but keeping employees engaged will always be a priority.
Take the first step toward better team engagement with Sprout’s holistic, all-around HR ecosystem. Find out how our suite of tools can help you maintain an engaged workforce. For more helpful work hacks, head over to our blog.
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