Employee engagement is talked about by companies all over the world, but what does it really mean? It's essential businesses define it in order to improve it.
Look around you. Two in five of your employees are actively disengaged. Two-thirds are considered "not engaged", while just 14 per cent can be considered engaged, according to Gallup data for Western Europe.
While employee engagement is a subject for discussion all over the world, employers often don't take the time to sit down and really define what it means for them. However, this is essential if businesses are to improve the growing engagement crisis.
So, what does employee engagement really look like?
1) The basic requirements
Employees must have the tools necessary to do their jobs.
At its most base level, employee engagement involves things like working in a safe environment where team members are able to get the fundamental elements of their jobs done. This means there are policies and procedures in place for escalation about workplace issues and employees know what those procedures are. It also requires health and safety measures to be followed - if you're in an office, this will be things like not having wires left out, while this will be much more extensive for those working in heavy industry or construction.
Employees must also have the tools necessary to do their jobs. Conducting a regular audit of the equipment in use is a good place to start, especially if you're not there on the ground very often.
2) Employees are able to learn and grow every day
Once you get beyond the basic requirements of engagement, you can start to look at the things that will really help set your organisation apart. Giving your employees the opportunity to learn and grow every single day is an integral part of this. Ensure you're offering regular training and pushing your employees to be the best they can be. It's all too easy to let employees simply chug along doing their day-to-day tasks. You need to be proactive in giving them new projects to work on that will help them develop new skills.
3) They feel they are making a difference
Another key element of engagement is that your employees feel they are making a difference. This can be linked to the company - i.e. they understand how their jobs fit in with the business' wider goals - or also with their communities - i.e. they feel that their jobs are having a positive impact on the people around them. Ensuring this will enable you to give your employees meaning, thus increasing engagement.
An excellent way to improve engagement is through introducing a Rewards and Recognition Programme.
To improve this, make sure you're recognising your employees' achievements regularly and showing how those milestones have directly impacted the growth of the company and the community your organisation serves.
Improving employee engagement through rewards and recognition
An excellent way to improve engagement is through introducing a Rewards and Recognition Programme. This allows you and your managerial team to recognise individual achievements. You can also introduce a peer-to-peer system that enables employees to recognise each other for their hard work.
Introducing this element of recognition will allow you to show how much you care about your employees' contributions, so much so that you are willing to spend money on rewarding them for it. When you communicate who has won an award, you can ensure you state exactly what action they performed to win it, and how that has benefitted your company.
At Power2Motivate, we have years of experience helping businesses across the UK improve their employee engagement. Contact us today or request a demo to learn more about our Rewards and Recognition Programmes.