Business is getting more complex; the global market is increasingly being competitive; consumer preferences are constantly changing; there are only a few resources available to adapt to the ever-changing market conditions; managers need to quickly adapt to the turbulent and rapidly changing global environment to succeed; organizations rely on the energy, commitment and engagement of their human resources to survive and thrive; are some of the major challenges of the 21st century business environment. Yet only a fraction – just about 15% of employees worldwide are engaged in their jobs. Giving the importance of employee engagement to the survival of any organization in today’s business environment, there is need to pay even more attention on the subject and reinforce our approach to managing engagement in the workplace. Below are the 5 best approaches that can aid you boost your employee engagement to achieve optimal productivity.
Employ The “4 Rights” Approach
This is a decisive driver of employee engagement. The approach ensures that the right people are employed, are placed at the right job, are given the right tools, capabilities and resources to work, and are placed at the right work environment. Having the right infrastructure in place helps employees to easily and effectively complete their task, and consequently, impact on their level of commitment and engagement to their work. To improve your employee engagement, you should make sure to eradicate all the structures, processes, procedures and policies that are inefficient or bureaucratic to the extent that they frustrate and hamper employees from getting things done.
Articulate Your Organizational Vision
This is another critical factor that determines your employees’ level of engagement. To impact on employee engagement, you have to clearly define and effectively communicate your organizational vision to your employees, right from the hiring stage. This will help to make sure that only employees who are emotionally invested in the organization’s mission and vision are hired. It will give them a clear picture of how they fit into the company mission, what is expected of them and what kind of behavior will be rewarded. Employee engagement should be continuously and frequently discussed with employees throughout their life cycle in the company. This does more than give the employees a sense of being cared for. It also helps to carry everyone along in seeking out better ways to improve their level of engagement.
Train and Retrain
Just like people naturally feel beholden and committed to give in their best to those who care and invest in them, employees are more likely to fully commit to the achievement of an organizational goal if they feel the organization cares about them, believes in their potential and invests in their future. Employers who wish to have a high level of sustained engagement must ensure to create a culture that fosters continuous training, learning and development. Such culture will not only improve engagement, but will also build loyalty and positively impact the company’s employer brand.
Connect To Employees’ Emotions
Another way you can boost engagement is to foster closer connections with your employees. Show them you care about them and not just about using them to achieve your business goals. Know a little more about their personal lives- health, wellbeing; seek their opinions; listen to what they have to say; and act on their feedback. Research shows that 70% of our decisions is based on emotional factors so employees tend to exert high level of engagement when they feel you are not a self-centered employer who only cares about yourself.
Recognize Your Employees’ Contributions
If you are one of those still asking how often you should recognize your employees? The answer is as often as they contribute. The good thing is that you don’t have to spend much to appreciate your employees, it can be something as little and cheap as key holder, sunglass, doll, etc. The most important thing about recognition is not just about what is given, but the fact that their little contributions are being seen and appreciated. Also, recognition can come in form of praise, more responsibilities, promotion, to mention a few, and all these do not necessarily cost a dime. People respond well to being appreciated so appreciate your employees, praise them and never forget to give them constructive criticism when the need arises.
If you are looking for a management consulting firm to help you improve your employee engagement to the optimal, Clarionttech Services is your ideal partner and resource. We operate as a HR manager for small and mid-size enterprises in Nigeria. We will help you focus on your core business processes by lifting all your HR challenges.
Reach out to us today for more information.
