Remote operations
Marc Prempain
15 April 2024
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Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.
Employee engagement leads to increased productivity. Employees who are engaged are aware of the company’s values and are aware of its mission. Organizations with high levels of employee engagement outperform their competition, enjoy higher profitability, and can recover from financial setbacks more quickly. It also aids in attracting and retaining top personnel.
One of the most overused and misunderstood concepts in organizational management is employee engagement. Employee engagement is frequently confused with employee satisfaction; this article aims to clarify the concept of employee engagement and help companies develop sustainable employee engagement strategies.
Employee engagement refers to the emotional commitment and enthusiasm of employees towards the organization and its goals and put discretionary efforts into their work. When employees are committed, they care about the organization’s goals and are willing to voluntarily go the extra mile to achieve its goals.
Employee engagement must not be confused with employee satisfaction. Employee happiness is measured by employee satisfaction. Staff satisfaction may or may not translate into greater performance, but often means stronger employee loyalty. They may be content to do less work while still receiving a full paycheck at the end of the month. Low-performing personnel would want to keep things as they are and maintain the status quo.
Employee satisfaction merely measures the happiness of employees. Improved employee satisfaction might not result in improved employee performance. Employees could be satisfied by just doing lesser work and still collecting a full paycheck at the end of the month. Disengaged employees would be happy to continue with the same condition and ensure the status quo. High-performing personnel, on the other hand, embrace change, take on new tasks, and are always looking for ways to improve.
The organization’s human resource staff are in charge of ensuring levels of employee engagement. To measure employee engagement, the HR department must create employee engagement surveys. Employee engagement surveys should be comprehensive (50 to 80 questions) and cover a wide range of topics, allowing the HR professionals to detect engagement issues.
Employee engagement has two main components: i. engagement with the organization and ii. engagement with the management. Employee perceptions of the organization, its principles, and its senior leadership are measured by employee engagement. Employee engagement with management is more specific, and it assesses how employees interact with their bosses. It covers subjects such as being treated fairly, being recognized for one’s efforts, receiving feedback, and being guided.
On the basis of the survey results, employee engagement efforts can be launched. The HR department can draft and implement and employee engagement strategy to increase engagement. In order to make a change, employee engagement must be supported by the entire organization.
Companies recognize that engaging employees is critical to retain valuable talent within the organization and ensure a productive workforce. Managers are, however, often confused about how to go about improving employee engagement, here are some employee engagement initiatives that organisations could implement.
The 3 key drivers of employee engagement are leadership, rewards and recognition, and personal growth. Various research organizations have recently done studies demonstrating the relevance of leadership. Managerial leadership is responsible for 70% of the variation in employee engagement across business units. Responsible leaders would aid in the creation of healthy working environments, the development of an accountability culture, and promote communication.
Employers must recognize and reward employee performance. Employees are more engaged in their work when they are appreciated. Companies can create employee recognition programs that incorporate the company’s beliefs, culture, and values.
Managers must create programs and provide feedback to employees that will help them advance in their careers. Employee retention is improved by investing in employees, according to research, because individuals quit firms when they perceive their obligations do not align with their personal aspirations. Furthermore, companies that invest in long term growth employees enjoy higher profits as well.
Managers and Human Resources personnel could implement the following initiatives to improve employee engagement.
1. Recognize and praise employees’ accomplishments in order to make them feel appreciated.
2. Determine each employee’s strengths and assign duties accordingly. This allows employees to reach their full potential.
3. Create healthy competition among staff by incentivizing goals. Managers might reward employees who fulfill targets with movie tickets, incentivizing them to work harder and quicker.
4. Provide mentoring and training to employees. Organizations should strive to increase their employees’ competencies through workshops and training events on a regular basis. Create team-building exercises such as going on picnics or social events that enable employees to bond with their peers with whom they do not interact on a day-to-day basis.
5. Establish a health and wellness program for employees to improve their mental and physical well-being. Employees who are unwell at work are unable to work efficiently and may suffer long-term consequences.
6. Create a road plan for employees to follow in order to attain their professional objectives. Employees would be dedicated to bettering themselves and working harder to reach their personal objectives.
Traditional employee engagement strategies concentrated on increasing employee engagement for a limited period of time; however, today’s firms must develop strategies to maintain high levels of employee engagement over a period of time.
1. Companies must develop a strong organizational mission statement and values. It must guarantee that its vision and values are communicated to internal and external stakeholders, ensuring that people who support the organization’s commitments are drawn to it.
2. Companies may help their employees improve personally by providing internal opportunities. Employees can communicate with their superiors in order to plan their professional careers. Companies would be able to create responsible in-house leadership and ensure long-term commitment.
3. Employees are more engaged when they believe their work is important to the organization. Formal recognition methods that assist managers in connecting with their team members must be implemented. Top achievers could also be awarded a gift card, e-card, a book, or a massage voucher, for example. It’s critical to make sure it’s in line with the company’s culture and the basic values of the team.
Companies could adopt some of the following effective employee engagement strategies to create engaging work environments.
1. Conduct an employee engagement survey and set up an action plan
The present degree of employee engagement must be measured by companies. An employee survey is one way to measure employee engagement. A range of different questions can be used to build the survey, including i. open-ended questions, ii. multiple-choice questions, and iii. rating questions. After the engagement survey is done, it should be examined to see where improvements may be made. After that, a strategic roadmap can be created to determine how to improve employee engagement.
2. Set up an employee engagement committee
Managers can form an employee engagement committee, which is made up of motivated employees who want to make a difference. When selecting a leadership team, ensure that it is diverse. By making employees feel included, diversity and inclusion may be used to increase employee engagement. The committee would be in charge of generating ways to improve engagement, finding trending engagement ideas, and working with management to put those solutions into action.
3. Provide incentives
Employees should be rewarded for their efforts in order to develop a more committed workforce. Managers need to improve the work-life balance of employees by making sure that employees have sufficient time for their friends and family.
Employee engagement refers to making employees feel like they are not only a part of a company, but also a part of a community. Employee engagement promotes job satisfaction and allows for more meaningful relationships. Employees will develop an emotional attachment to the organization’s mission, which will benefit the company’s bottom line.
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