15 Proven techniques to keep employees engaged and motivated
Can employers afford to ignore employee engagement?
According to research conducted by Gallup, the answer is a resounding “No.” Low engagement alone costs the global economy $7.8 trillion.
Your next question is how to keep employees engaged and motivated in my company?
Continue reading for examples, tips, and suggestions to help.
1. Recognize and Appreciate Employees’ Efforts
Recognizing the efforts of employees is a critical motivational tool in employee engagement. It’s a simple thing that employers can do, and it doesn’t cost anything in terms of finances.
Example
Saying, “Thank you” to employees for their hard work can be as simple as giving them verbal recognition in front of their colleagues, recognizing a team in the company newsletter, or announcing an award for the Employee of the Month or Employee of the Year. This type of policy is an important part of creating a company culture where employees are engaged and motivated to do their best.
Tip
Be transparent, objective, and fair when recognizing employees. Avoid the perception you are favoring certain employees over others.
2. Provide Employees with the Resources they Need
Make sure that employees have everything they need to do their work. All employees should have access to the tools, materials, software, and training necessary to perform well on the job.
Example
Ensure that the onboarding process is a positive one from the moment a job candidate agrees to join your company. Once the new employee has logged into the system, they should have HR forms to complete, the name and contact information of their supervisor, and tasks to keep them busy during the first few days.
And, the experience should be the same for mobile, remote, and hybrid employees. Many technology tools don’t account for employees who are considered deskless. But, In fact, there are employee engagement software tools that allow you to connect all employees via your existing collaboration suite (like Microsoft or Google) and even can connect employees directly without using extra Microsoft teams.
Tip
On a new employee’s first day, they should arrive to find that they have already been assigned their login and password to the company intranet.
3. Offer Employees Opportunities to be Heard
Team members definitely become more engaged and motivated to contribute when they are part of a team where their voices are heard. Communicate with employees on a regular basis to strengthen their sense of belonging. Ask your teams for feedback on how to improve the workplace. Employees often have great ideas on how to make the workplace better.
Example
The best way to find out what employees think is to ask them. Employee satisfaction surveys are the perfect way to determine what is working well for the company. They also give employees the chance to speak out about aspects of their jobs that they aren’t happy about.
Tip
To get honest answers from employees, make the surveys anonymous. Assign a random number to all participants so that no one can be identified, and everyone can be honest.
4. Give Employees Regular Feedback
Feedback helps to keep employees engaged by identifying challenges and assisting them in finding ways to overcome these issues. It isn’t necessarily a negative thing to receive feedback from a team leader or a manager. Employees should maintain the mindset that the feedback is to highlight the areas where the employee is performing well as well as the ones where the employee can improve.
Example
Don’t wait until an employee’s regular performance review to provide feedback. Instead, schedule coaching sessions to discuss team members’ performance regularly. Keep the tone positive and supportive during these sessions to encourage employees to work toward the desired behavior at work.
Tip
Encourage employees to perform self-feedback, where they rate their performance toward their professional goals.
5. Provide Employees with Training Opportunities
Regardless of the sector your company is operating in, you should provide your employees with opportunities for professional development through training opportunities. Many employees are interested in training to qualify for promotions. Training allows employees to develop a career plan that will see them grow with the company.
Example
On-the-job courses, coaching, seminars, and lunch-and-learn sessions are all examples of how you can facilitate training for employees. Encourage employees to pursue IT training to help them stay current in their field and for licensing purposes.
Tip
You can offer to cover the cost of job-related courses for employees at colleges, universities, or online to give staff members maximum flexibility in their studies.
Employee Engagement
Time to start or overhaul an engagement strategy? Capitalize on Employee Engagement Opportunities.
6. Encourage Collaboration and Teamwork Among Employees
Collaboration and teamwork are crucial to achieving success in your company. Make sure that you are encouraging a work style that allows your team members to collaborate easily. When collaboration is an important part of the workday, employees feel like they are part of the team. They feel as though their thoughts and opinions are valued by their fellow team members. Management shouldn’t underestimate the importance of team engagement in the workplace.
Example
When employees share their thoughts as a team, they work together more effectively. Create a meeting space in the workplace (physical or virtual) where employees can gather to share ideas and work toward achieving common goals. Make sure your employees have the collaboration tools they need to successfully work together.
For employees who work remote and hybrid, your tech stack should be set up to allow for collaboration no matter where or where they work. An intranet like LumApps, will have collaboration spaces where employees can share knowledge and comment and collaborate back with each other.
Tip
Employees should be able to collaborate to find a solution to a problem, consult with colleagues for advice on best practices, or ask their counterparts for their opinion.
7. Offer Employees Flexible Scheduling
The Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 work schedule may no longer work best for all employees. Depending on their stage of life, it may not give them the work-life balance they need. Be open to working with employees to create a flexible schedule that will meet the employee’s needs while ensuring their work gets completed.
Example
Give employees the opportunity to become remote workers if that helps them to balance work and family obligations. Taking personal days when needed can also assist employees who need to take children or elderly relatives to appointments. A reduced work week is another option that can help an employee balance work and personal demands.
Tip
Be flexible and understanding when working out a schedule for an employee. Let your workers know you are prepared to take their personal situations into account.
8. Promote from Within
Promoting employees to higher positions is a form of showing appreciation. When a company advertises available positions internally first, it shows confidence in its employees and their abilities to step up and handle positions with more responsibility. The rate of internal promotions is also a highly informative employee engagement KPI.
Example
If a new position becomes vacant at the company, let your people know. Send a message to all employees advising them about the vacant position, the requirements for applying for the job, how to apply, and the deadline when the HR department stops accepting applications. Follow up shortly before the deadline to remind employees who may wish to apply.
Tip
Promoting from within motivates employees to stay engaged.
9. Reduce Distractions in the Workplace
Distractions can reduce employee engagement levels. Ensure all employees have a quiet, productive workspace to do their work.
Example
Loud noises and uncomfortable workspaces can reduce employee engagement levels. Allow employees to use headphones at work to reduce the sounds generated by a busy office. Work with employees to ensure their personal workspaces are ergonomically correct for each person. Taking this step will reduce instances of eye, neck, and back strain.
If the employee’s desk area is too noisy, allow them to move to a quieter space in the office to complete a task. An employee could move to the office library or book a conference room so they can focus on a particular task requiring high levels of concentration.
Tip
Give employees the flexibility they need to move around the office to find a quiet place to work.
10. Acknowledge Service Anniversaries and Employees’ Special Successes
Mark employees’ service anniversaries with the company and their birthdays by sharing these special dates in the employee newsletter and posting them on the employee intranet. If your intranet is integrated with your HR software, it may even be able to show employee birthdays automatically, like LumApps does. Taking this step does wonders for building a positive work culture.
Example
Give an employee celebrating a special occasion a gift certificate to a restaurant or a gas card to let them know that their contributions to the company are appreciated.
Tip
Consult your local income tax agency to find out whether non-cash gifts are taxable. If so, you’ll want to ensure your business tracks the value of these gifts to remain compliant.
11. Allow Employees to be Creative
Repetitive routines at work are boring. Asking employees to follow rigid routines for every task they have to perform is only going to discourage them. As long as your team members get their work done on time, is there an issue in allowing them to be a little creative in their approach? Encouraging creativity will drive innovation and is one of the major benefits of employee engagement.
Example
Many people like to use their creative sides at work. They may enjoy listening to music through headphones to alleviate the boredom of performing repetitive routines. Other people may like to use charts or graphs to organize information, as opposed to writing lists.
Tip
The goal is to get the work done on time. The “how” is in the hands of the employees. If they want to be creative in their approach, don’t hold it against them.
12. Support Employees in Situations with Customers
One of the most important employee engagement strategies is for managers to support employees when faced with difficult situations. No matter what type of business you are running, employees will have to deal with difficult situations involving customers. Managers may need to act to resolve the situation, which means choosing a side. This isn’t an easy thing to do. Supporting the employee and enforcing any authority the employee has laid out is crucial to the hierarchy of leadership within the company.
Example
A customer contacts the company with an issue. The employee quotes the company policy to the customer regarding the issue. The customer wishes to speak to a manager, no doubt hoping that they will be able to change the manager’s mind and get their own way. The manager backs up the employee, telling the customer that the employee did the right thing initially.
Tip
Company policy should be applied equally to everyone and not varied. This goes for long-term customers or those who place large orders.
13. Find Employees Who Care About Customers
Engaged employees are more likely to provide exemplary customer service. In the modern business world, almost all communication is either digital or online. Customer service has become a secondary concern for many businesses.
In the most successful companies, this is not the case. Providing excellent customer service is still a priority. Employees who care about customers’ concerns are prepared to do more to solve their issues.
Example
A customer contacts the Customer Service department to place their regular order for parts. The Customer Service Representative (CSR) takes a look at the warehouse’s existing stock only to discover that there aren’t enough parts to fill the customer’s order. The part the customer needs is on backorder from the manufacturer for the next six weeks. When the CSR informs the customer that the order can only be partially filled, the customer says that they have a large order to fill, and they need to have that part. The CSR tells the customer they understand the situation and to leave it with them to try to find a solution. The CSR will be in touch with the customer soon.
The CSR reaches out to their manager to bring the manager up to date. With the support of their manager, the CSR contacts other company warehouses to attempt to find the required part. If that fails, the CSR reaches out to their contacts who could potentially ship the part to their warehouse for the customer. Once the parts are located, the price and shipping costs are communicated to the customer for approval and the final arrangements are made.
Tip
Don’t say, “I’m sorry, we can’t help you” until you have truly exhausted every option available.
14. Make your Work Environment One that is Free of Fear
Many businesses and companies operate in a performance-based workplace environment. This type of atmosphere is one where employees are only as good as their last month. It creates the perfect breeding ground for fear, insecurity, and uncertainty.
Example
Allow employees to make choices without having to consult their manager first. This policy provides the opportunity for staff members to have more autonomy in their work. Avoid reprimanding an employee if their decision doesn’t work out. Performance-based environments where employees feel they aren’t allowed to make any mistakes create an environment where employees feel they aren’t allowed to grow within the company.
Tip
When employees don’t feel safe at work, they become disengaged and are unable to take risks. Unfortunately, risk-taking is an element required for success.
15. Organize Some Team Activities
Group outings like sports days, celebrations, and volunteering for a charity help with team building and keeping employees engaged.
Example
Team members can attend a semi-professional or professional sports game together and go out for drinks and snacks afterward. If they wish to volunteer, there are sure to be local food banks looking for people to sort and pack food.
Tip
You may want to sponsor the local amateur hockey or soccer team. If your employees or their children play on the team, it’s a bonus.
The key to how to keep employees engaged at work is being attentive to their needs. This way, you’ll be able to find a balance between employees’ needs and expectations and the rewards you are offering.
Employee Engagement
Time to start or overhaul an engagement strategy? Capitalize on Employee Engagement Opportunities.
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