Everyone has their own opinion on the key ingredient for a successful business, but at the end of the day, the one thing every company needs is employee engagement. Developing employee engagement isn’t always an easy task, but it’s necessary in order to build a positive corporate culture.
What Is Employee Engagement?
When you were in school, you probably had at least one teacher that stood out to you by making you love their subject, supporting you through difficulty – in short, engaging with you. In business, you should be doing the same for your employees – building engagement so they in turn develop loyalty to you. Employee engagement can be demonstrated in many ways, including:
- Dedication and loyalty to your company.
- Motivation in working towards a company goal.
- Commitment to the values of your organization.
- Mutual respect for managers and coworkers.
Why Is Employee Engagement Important?
There are many reasons why employee engagement is important to the success of your company. First and foremost, engaged employees are, quite simply, happy employees. They’re more likely to be invested in the success of your business, so they’ll be more involved, work harder, and be more productive.
Here are a few additional reasons why developing employee engagement is important:
- Engaged employees outperform disengaged employees: Engaged employees are more productive with their time, and more focused on getting the task done.
- Engaged employees are more likely to help increase profits: An employee who is more productive is ultimately helping your bottom line and increasing profits.
- Engaged employees are more present – literally and figuratively: Studies show that an employee who is engaged will use fewer sick days and participate more in meetings and discussions.
- Engaged employees are more loyal: An engaged employee is more likely to be content with their job and remain in their position, not seek out alternative employment.
3 Signs of Disengaged Employees
Now that you understand the importance of employee engagement, you may be wondering: how do I tell whether or not my employees are engaged? Here are three easy ways to recognize a disengaged employee:
- Lack of involvement: A disengaged employee will be less likely to volunteer, or become involved – even in smaller things like office get-togethers or conversations.
- Decreased effort and productivity: A disengaged employee will begin to demonstrate a lack of effort in their job, resulting in decreased productivity. They may also display apathy and a lack of interest and will be more likely to be late or absent altogether.
- Increased frustration: A disengaged employee is probably unhappy and experiencing some frustrations. While engaged employees may voice constructive criticism using proper channels, a disengaged employee will be more likely to simply vocalize their frustrations, to whomever whenever they feel like it.
If these signs made you think of anyone within your organization, now would be a great time to start working on engaging them.
6 Ways to Increase Employee Engagement
Once you’ve identified employees at risk of feeling disengaged, here are six ways you can increase employee engagement.
- Show your appreciation: Employees like to know their work is appreciated and not being taken for granted. Grand gestures aren’t necessary, just a few kind words.
- Maintain open lines of communication: Keep an open and honest line of communication among your employees. Transparency adds confidence. Open communication also ensures employees always know what is expected of them.
- Provide opportunities for advancement: If employees know there are opportunities for advancement within your company they will work harder and be more committed to their career with your organization.
- Invest in their success: Employees appreciate employers who are willing to invest time and money into training them and providing them with the tools they need to perform their jobs efficiently and productively.
- Empower your employees: Everyone likes the feeling of being trusted to do their job correctly. Micro-managing often negatively affects your employees. Build trust and empowerment by giving employees room to make decisions and perform to the best of their ability.
- Build a positive work culture: Employees deserve to work in an environment free of fear. Be sure to provide employees with a positive work environment where they feel comfortable and confident.
Keep in mind, these are not one-time solutions to create engagement. These are elements that should become a regular part of your organization’s culture in order to maintain employee engagement.
Increase Employee Engagement through Training
One way to build employee engagement from the start is by building a learning management strategy for new hires. Using a learning management system allows you to provide interactive training as part of a blended learning program that combines eLearning with on-the-job learning. Investing in your employees from the start with well-planned onboarding program will demonstrate your desire for their success and begin building that foundation for employee loyalty.
Employee Training with trainingGrid®
trainingGrid® is an LMS developed with you and your employees in mind. Its intuitive design makes learning management simple and allows employees to begin training with just a click. This flexible system comes with a variety of robust features customizable to fit your needs in addition to built-in reporting and certification tools that track your compliance documentation.
