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Retaining & engaging employees: Here are the tricks for businesses

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There are employees who may feel stuck in their roles, motivate them about the fact that they can achieve professional growth

What makes or breaks a company is its workforce, better known as human capital. It’s the staffers that determine both the quality of the workplace and the future of the organisation. The simple tagline here is: the more engaged employees, the better it is for the organisation.

In a 2017 study by Gallup, it was found that only 15% of the world’s one billion workforce were engaged at work. The stats, even though they are eight years old, are alarming because it suggests that lower engagement leads to lower productivity and thus, slower economic growth. However, at the same point of time, very few organisations actually understand or value the meaning of the term called “Employee Engagement”.

Knowing The Topic In Detail

The term called “Employee Engagement” sounds simple but goes deep. A sound employee engagement strategy signifies that the relationship between the employee and the organisation is positive in nature. Let’s simplify things further by stating that employees want to be challenged and see their growth.

So as an employer/business leader, you need to focus on building a culture around learning and development, where your staffers will achieve a positive emotional connection with the organisation and, most importantly, the work they are assigned to do. A feasible employee engagement strategy carries components like:

Physical, a scenario where employees exert a high amount of energy to do the work. The level of complexity of work corresponds to the employees’ specialised skill sets. Emotional, where employees understand the job’s significance and put their heart into the job. They feel challenged and inspired, apart from feeling a sense of achievement while finishing the task.

Cognitive, where employees become engrossed with their work and start to get into the flow.

Engaged employees remain self-motivated, carry a clear understanding of their roles, recognise the significance of their contribution, focus on future training and development and most importantly, carry the feeling of belonging to the community, i.e., the organisation.

Today’s article will discuss the tricks to pull off a successful “Employee Engagement Strategy.”

Help Employees Plan Their Future

To keep staff from jumping ship (job switch), show them how they fit into the future of your company. Help them explore and determine growth goals which align with their current job roles and the roles that they want. If they have clear objectives that include advancement opportunities, they will be more engaged in their day-to-day and more enthusiastic about taking on new challenges.

There are employees who may feel stuck in their roles, motivating them about the fact that they can achieve professional growth. Encourage communication and collaboration among your team members, even if they work in different locations. Also promote regular team-building activities (like lunch, volunteer days, or annual company weekends) to create a sense of belonging among your staffers. This will keep them in good shape mentally, thereby increasing their productivity in the long run.

Communication Is The Key

Hire highly competent managers, who can keep your teams satisfied and happy, while setting the tone and guiding/mentoring their juniors in completing the toughest of the toughest tasks. Invest in your employees. Conduct questionnaires and surveys to know your employees’ opinions and concerns. It will also help you to game up your “Employee Engagement” game as the team members will feel esteemed, entitled, respected, and like they belong to the organisation.

While business leaders need to break down details on how corporate decisions will affect the workplace and how the employees should deal with it, the latter too should be encouraged to share their concerns. It’s called the “Open Door Policy,” which is practiced by 21st century businesses, where they adopt a more casual, no-walls organisational policy, while setting accountability wherever needed. X (previously Twitter) was a prime example of this culture, till Elon Musk took it over in 2022.

Set And Track Goals

Chart a yearly success roadmap, which is basically a plan that will evolve as your team’s and company’s needs change. Share it with all your team members. Show them the parts they are needed to play in the bigger picture. Outline your communication plans, recognition and reward strategies, training initiatives, measures for work-life balance, and your company culture.

Hire good managers, who will be the honest communicator between you (referring to the management) and your employees. Don’t see your employees as a commodity. Invest in them so that they transform into champions of your organization’s values and principles. And the investment here should be both monetary and emotional. More than hefty paychecks, it’s the employee’s emotional connection to your brand that will make your business a profit machine. Make your employees feel that they matter.

Conduct one-on-one type of performance assessments, where you will provide feedback on employee performance and help your staff set short- and long-term goals. Help your employees track their progress toward the team goals and stay actively involved in keeping them on track. Your managers can team up with employees to help them manage their goals. In that way, the staff will also know things like taking proactive actions that will help them to grow further professionally. Employees prefer sticking around in a place where their careers can grow further.

Recognise Your Employees

Job satisfaction is more than money. Try to offer additional perks like health insurance, retirement plans, or flexible work hours that will increase your employees’ expectations of you and make them more committed to your company’s cause. They will deliver as per their maximum potential.

Create a recognition-rich environment where good work will be rewarded with perks and incentives. A few good words and a certificate of appreciation can go a long way in letting others feel valued for their work.

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