According to Gallup, employee engagement is on the rise with 34% of employees engaged at work. While that’s great news, it still leaves 66% of employees who are potentially not engaged or not happy at work. And chances are, these disengaged workers are also less productive and loyal to your business.
Employee engagement is a major contributor to your business’s success. If your employee engagement is on the rocks, learn how to develop and sustain employee engagement at your business.
Employee engagement strategies
Employee engagement can work wonders for your small business by bringing employees out of their shells. It can also:
If you want to see these positives become a reality at your business and improve employee engagement, try the following six strategies:
1. Recognize achievements
You’ve heard it before: location, location, location. The location of your business is critical to your business’s success. But here’s a new one for you: recognition, recognition, recognition.
Like how location is essential to your company’s success, recognition is key to employee success and engagement. Recognition can make or break your employee retention and engagement.
If you want to increase engagement, recognize employees for a job well done. Say “congratulations” to employees when they reach a goal. Give employees a card for their work anniversary to show that you appreciate them. Take them out to lunch as a thank you for landing that big client.
Don’t let employees’ hard work go unnoticed. Instead, keep an eye out for employees going above and beyond to make your business the best it can be.
2. Create employee-led committees
I think I can speak for many fellow employers when I say that growing your employees into leaders is essential. After all, they are the future of your business. But what does growing leaders have to do with employee engagement?
According to one study, only 19% of organizations are effective at developing leaders. If your business is falling flat in the leadership area and needs a way to improve employee engagement, I have a solution for you: employee-led committees. Committees led by employees are ideal for encouraging camaraderie and showing employees you value their input. Plus, committees can help employees develop valuable leadership skills and keep them involved in your company.
Create an employee-led committee and ask employees to sign up and participate. Chances are, employees are looking for an opportunity to lead. A committee is the golden ticket. Depending on your business, you might even need to create multiple employee-led committees (thus spreading the opportunities for employees).
At my accounting and payroll software company, we have various committees to discuss improving our software, operations, and marketing strategies. We implemented our committees about a year ago, and in only one year, they’ve produced great ideas, boosted engagement, and strengthened teamwork.
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3. Host social events
One surefire way to improve employee engagement and foster connections is to host social events in or outside of the workplace. There are endless possibilities for social events. Think food trucks, potluck meals, or raffles at work.