5 Ways to Engage Employees Right Now

January 16, 2020 at 1:27 pm
Three colleagues smiling and talking while looking at a laptop computer screen.

Engaged employees happen when employers and managers genuinely listen.

Employee engagement is critical for productivity and retention. Additionally, engaged employees are essential for a positive workplace culture that inspires and encourages rather than deadens the spirit. Don’t put employee engagement on a “someday” list. Here are some ways your company can engage employees today.

1. Genuinely listen and take suggestions.

Employees can tell when management and the C-suite really want to hear what they think, and when they are just humoring them or checking off a box. The first and most important step to creating a culture of engagement is to genuinely listen to the concerns of your employees and show that you truly care what they think. If you can find a way to satisfy the concern or incorporate the suggestion, that’s even better.

2. Recognize effort and achievements.

Your full-time employees spend more time working for you than they do with anything else in their lives. If you don’t recognize that work in some way and show that you value it, you lose your biggest opportunity to create engagement and foster a positive relationship. One of the best ways to do this is by sharing some of the business’s profits with employees, maybe in the form of stock options or a bonus given when objectives are met.

3. Help employees make a personal growth plan.

Personal and professional development are important to career employees, and having a growth plan will help them feel more connected to your company. When you take part in crafting such a plan, it also gives you an opportunity to show employees how their own growth can align with your company’s growth, which will foster engagement and a sense of connection to the company.

Two men looking at a laptop screen and tablet screen.

Helping employees make a personal growth plan can increase engagement.

4. Show fairness and be realistic about expectations.

A major complaint of many disengaged employees is that management treats them more like a work machine than a person, then slaps them down when they make a mistake or do something wrong. Another complaint is that they are held to different standards than management–in other words, management doesn’t follow its own rules. Part of treating employees like people is understanding their reasonable limitations–not complaining about sick and vacation time, for example–and understanding that they aren’t going to be perfect and will make mistakes sometimes.

5. Make purpose apparent.

All work has a purpose or no one would do it, but the purpose behind some work gets hidden until it just seems like a meaningless exercise that no one really cares about. It may take a little work, but it’s important to be able to communicate the purpose behind each position and clearly articulate that to employees if you want them to feel engaged and connected to your company as a whole.

Narish International uses assessments and other tools to increase employee engagement and deepen understanding of each employee’s strengths and areas for improvement. Let Narish help you build higher-performing teams today.