Employee engagement goes beyond the labor barrier. It refers to the degree of emotional commitment of employees to the company. This is influenced by factors such as working conditions, recognition, salary, work environment, among others.
To increase the degree of employee engagement, you need to put into practice a series of employee engagement strategies and some key issues to reinforce the organization's image.
There are advantages of employee engagement in a company and how it can impact the business and your work. Strategies can guarantee more job satisfaction, improve the talent attraction strategy, lower the job turnover and absenteeism and higher retention. Besides that, increase productivity, employee loyalty and commitment.
This emotional commitment means that employees who are committed to the company care about their work and its impact. The level of employee engagement plays a key role in increasing the organization's productivity. Therefore, if you want the business to stand out for being efficient, you must keep your employees engaged.
Working on branding
Outline the brand's values, mission and positioning and communicate them correctly to each of your staff. The better defined the brand is, the easier it will be for your staff to empathize with the brand values.
Safe working environment is everything
Regardless of the leadership that exists in the department in which they perform their tasks, the employee must have freedom and feel safe to express their opinions, ideas, and thus be able to take initiatives in a professional manner.
Align common objectives
When hiring employees, it is essential that in the recruiting process the people who best fit with the values and objectives of the company are chosen.
Building trust
To build a trusting working relationship you must focus on communication, transparency, and honesty. In this line, we recommend optimizing internal communication channels, involving employees in decision-making, conducting surveys on the work environment and other interesting aspects, and recognizing their achievements. It is important to work in the proximity of the company's managers and to strengthen ties with employees, showing interest in their tasks and functions.
Encourage recognition in all aspects
In addition to the salary, you can compensate your employees with extra benefits when they reach set objectives. It is also essential that you value the effort they make and that they receive feedback from their managers. People not only want to know that their work is valued, but they also want to be informed about areas where they lag and need to improve. Establishing a feedback loop centered on effective and empathetic communication can go a long way toward ensuring that your employees feel an attachment to their jobs.
Benefits is the new love language
One of the steps to outline the employee engagement strategy is to give employees a break, allow them to work from home, implement a flexible compensation plan, employer branding strategies and elaborate a wellness program that promotes healthy habits.
Promote personal and professional development
Teamwork as a base
This step is key to creating a team that is not fragmented and to improve the way of working. So, remember to encourage good cooperation between members of the same team and from different departments so that they are integrated into the organization and know how it works from different points of view.
Realistic expectations prevent frustrations
Feedback from employees is a light in the end of the tunnel
There are many questionnaires or checklists from the human resources point of view to evaluate the work, the office, the work environment, the dissatisfaction and to know the opinion that your employees have about any aspect of the business.
At least but not less important, check out these Forbes statistics that can help you understand the real importance of employee engagement:
- 53% of HR professionals confirm that employee engagement increases when the onboarding process is improved.
- 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week, while only 18% of low engagement employees do so.
- Companies that get employee engagement right increase sales by 20%.
- 83% of employees with opportunities to take on new challenges say they are more likely to stay with the organization.
- Nearly 25% of millennials have worked for 5 different employers.
- 65% of employees over 55 say they would sooner sign a contract that allows them to work from home.
