6 Effective Employee Engagement Strategies

Employee engagement has become an often-discussed subject in recent years, and for good reason. Engaged employees perform better, they remain with your company longer, and ultimately, they benefit your bottom line. But that’s not even the main reason why improving employee engagement should be at the top of your HR to-do list. Engaged employees are a joy to work with. They bring insight and creativity to the table, and working with a team that cares and is present is completely different than working with one that is not.
Let’s look at six strategies that can help you work on employee engagement.

Ask your employees

The first thing you can and should do is ask your employees for their insight. What is it they would like to see changed? What are their own suggestions for making day-to-day operations run more smoothly? What is it they need to achieve their maximum work potential?

Not only is running this initial survey a great way to start working on employee engagement, but it should also be turned into a regular facet of your company. An online employee suggestion box like the one Vetter makes is a great way to go about it.

With Vetter’s suggestion box, your employees will be able to provide feedback, rate ideas and suggestions, and submit their own ideas in an easy and straightforward manner, enabling you to implement solutions that actually make sense.

Encourage a healthy work-life balance

Work-life balance is the key to being the most productive, engaged, and creative version of yourself. If you focus too much on either, you simply won’t be as satisfied as you could be when a proper balance has been achieved.

Coach your employees about how to work on this balance, and know that it’s not always sustainable. Things will happen both in life and at work that will disturb it, but as long as you keep working on reaching it again, all will be well.

Discuss things like the importance of getting enough sleep, how much actual leisure time they have in a week, and try to figure out a way to balance out the work part. Think in terms of working hours, deadlines, communication methods – anything you can tweak that will suit a particular employee’s balance.

Foster team spirit

Making your employees feel they are a part of a group, a tight-knit community that cares about them and that is there to support them, is an excellent way to foster team spirit, inspire camaraderie, and boost employee engagement.

When your teams feel like they are there for each other, when they know they won’t be judged or ridiculed, when they feel safe to voice their opinions and concerns, they will perform much better.

There are plenty of ways to work on this: from celebrating important milestones, like birthdays, marriages, babies, promotions, and other important events, to hosting team building events, team lunches, game days, and office parties. Remember to keep the event in line with what your business stands for. Tailor it to your employees, rather than doing what everyone else is doing.

Provide praise and recognition where it’s due

Providing relevant and timely feedback is one of the best ways to boost employee satisfaction, and thus engagement. It makes employees feel valued and listened to.

When someone does something that deserves praise, make sure to provide it at that moment, and not wait for the end of the month or a specific timeframe to voice it. Provide feedback to individuals and to groups, one-on-one, and in a more public setting.

Tailor your praise to the individual – don’t just set specific milestones and praise people when they get there. Each person is different, so when someone stands up and speaks out at a meeting for the first time, praise them. Others may have been doing it for years, but this was that person’s first time, and they have certainly achieved something special.

Lead by example

Your employees will always look to you to set the bar and an example, so how you behave is especially important, most notably in situations of high stress and crisis. If you lose your cool or patience for minor things, if you cover up your own mistakes or are dishonest about your own achievements, there will be very little trust between you.

Honesty is always the best policy, so admit when you were wrong, apologize when you need to, and treat people with integrity and respect at all times. Don’t make any business matter personal, and don’t hold grudges or point fingers. It’s not easy being a manager or a leader, but if you continuously work on your people and leadership skills, you’ll see how it reflects positively on your employees.

Think about your office space

Sometimes the way your office was conceived can significantly impact your employee engagement. If people feel left out, or on the other hand, if they feel too crowded, they might not be able to perform at their best.

Talk to them about the way they would like to work and consider their input carefully. You won’t be able to grant all wishes, but you can certainly figure out a more productive arrangement if you need to. Try to keep teams that often work together in the same space, or at least near each other. Provide a place for meetings (both formal and informal ones), where people can get together and discuss their work without bothering anyone else. Lastly, make sure to provide a quiet space for those who need it, when they need it.

Final thoughts

Employee engagement is not a one-off task you can tick off your to-do list. It’s something to keep on your radar at all times as the dynamics of your business will keep changing. When changes need to be made don’t be afraid to make them. On the other hand, when something is working well, don’t introduce changes just to shake things up – it rarely proves to be the right choice.

Nick Kanter is a digital marketing strategist. He has worked with many leading companies around the world to increase their online visibility through search engine marketing.
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