Why employee engagement is important?
For any business to grow and prosper, a lot of emphasis needs to be given to the most important resource- the employees. Engaged employees are the backbone for any organization and employee engagement endeavors are the best way to achieve that.
According to Gallup, only about 30% of employees in the US are actively engaged. Imagine the impact if this number was to go to 50%. Employees who are actively checked out mentally from their workplaces are known are disengaged employees. Needless to say, you would not want any of your people to be disengaged. But for that to happen you, as an employer, need to take concrete steps towards employee engagement.
However, in my experience as an HR professional, I have seen a lot of skepticism regarding this matter. And sometimes this doubt comes from the business managers themselves. People often do not have the faith that employee engagement activity really works and hence they look at this undertaking as mostly a wastage of time.
So the question is whether employee engagement actually works or not?
The answer is both a yes and a no.
The effectiveness of employee engagement depends on its execution. In the past, employee engagement was mostly looked at as something one achieved through team building activities. While still in use, they are not really considered to be the most helpful. Instead, employee engagement is about a whole gamut of interventions nowadays.
Focus areas for effective employee engagement
This brings us to the question of what exactly results in effective engagement. Well, it is not so much about what you do as it is about how you do it. HR professionals and business management often forget to give due importance to the actual needs of the employees. As a result, employee engagement becomes just another check-mark exercise for them. To be effective, one has to break out of this cycle.
Designing an employee engagement program while keeping in mind the employees’ requirements makes it effective. For this, a lot of pre-program research is necessary. Also, do not be afraid to try out new things. And most importantly, ask your employees for suggestions and feedbacks. That saves a lot of hassle actually.
The following are some of the points that one must consider when designing an employee engagement program or calendar for their organization.
Invest in your employees
This is the most important factor of all. If you want your employees to uplift your organization then you will have to invest in them first. Remember that trust goes both ways and in this case, the onus is on the employer to act first.
Investment in your employees can be in various forms. For example, you can have learning and development programs that employees can choose if they want to advance in a certain field. Alternatively, you can have a system of reimbursement if an employee completes any training or certification of their choice successfully. Doing this ensures that you are helping your people to grow in their fields.
The sky is the only limit when it comes to the question of how to invest in your employees.
Make career growth the cornerstone
Honestly, career growth is almost always the driving factor of long term productivity for people. It is the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. A well-mapped out career path is what motivates employees to give their extra. People always want to avoid ambiguity.
Try to have the growth opportunities for the various roles in your organization laid out and be open to your employees about it. This activity will take a one-time effort and then will just require regular updating. Handle it as a special project and your employees will love you for it later.
Understand what people want
One of the most important aspects of succeeding in business, especially in the field of HR, is to be able to understand people well. While it is true that not everyone is the same, you will be surprised to know how similar are the wants of your employees. It is the duty of the management or the business owner to know what their people truly want out of their jobs.
This brings us to the next point.
It’s not always about the money
The common notion is that people are always looking for more money in terms of salary and variable pays. Well, that is not the reality in most cases as I learned from experience.
As an MBA grad, fresh out of college, my first HR job was in a rapidly growing technology startup in India. One week into my new role, I had to talk to several customer support employees and listen to their concerns. In my naivety, I was mentally prepared to hear about pay expectations and other salary issues. Instead, I had so many conversations about things like learning opportunities, flexible timings, career growth, etc.
That week-long employee interaction taught me that money is not the foremost motivating factor.
There are so many other things that employees want, things that are well within the power of the employer to arrange for.
Listen to what your employees want and then take a decision. Never assume.
Stay ahead of the curve
Understand that effective employees always have other options. So you will have to strive to be ahead of your competitors in order to attract the best talents. Employee engagement of the yore was all about the periodic team lunches and group activities. While these are still relevant today, they do not actually do much to actively engage the quality talents in the organization. Team outings and lunches have become more like perks and a chance to network. The real engagement involves much more than this.
One of the ways to seek active employee engagement is through the use of technology. For example, apps like Slack and Slido are really effective in sharing of ideas amongst people and many organizations are using them to their advantage.
The bottom line is to be innovative; whether through using technology or by implementing new ideas to achieve a competitive advantage.
To sum up
Employee engagement is an essential component of achieving business success. When done correctly, it results in an increase in productivity, more innovation, and a better workplace environment. Collectively, all these impacts lead to a smoothly running organization in terms of its human assets.
At the end of the day, the success of employee engagement means that your employees not only come to work, but they do so with eagerness and enthusiasm.
