How to increase employee engagement

Your people make your business world go round. This will come as no surprise to business owners and employers.

You may have the best technology solutions on the market and the sharpest processes in town, but they’ll fall short without the right team on your side.

Attracting great talent is a challenge unto itself, but keeping your staff engaged and invested in your business for long-term success can sometimes feel impossible. You need a solid strategy for both talent acquisition and retention to build a workforce to be reckoned with—and that’s where employee engagement comes in.

Employee engagement is a crucial component of modern business operations, so there’s no success to be had for those who ignore it. Those who embrace it, can reap the rewards that come from a happy and invested workforce.

That's why we're going to show you how to increase engagement with employees. Whether that's through an employee recognition platform or employee e-learning courses, we've got you covered. As we take a look at the practice of improving employee engagement and how you can employ the right strategies and tactics to increase and keep your employees engaged.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is the concept of nurturing the relationship between a business and its workforce in order to deliver mutual success and growth.

It’s concerned with the levels of loyalty and job satisfaction a workforce feels towards its employer, and it’s a vital aspect of running a successful, sustainable business.

When a business dedicates time, effort, and resources to looking after its people, these efforts will have healthy and long-lasting impacts on performance for both the business and its staff. People who are passionate and motivated to deliver at work can develop from both personal and professional standpoints, while the business can grow as a result of their engagement—whether it’s from key individuals or the teams with which they collaborate.

Can employee engagement differ between industries?

The way you engage your employees depends, of course, on your industry and type of business. If you’re in retail running shifts and balancing ever-changing schedules, you may benefit more from live leaderboards for staff sales targets.

If you’re big on the remote working side of things, engagement may rely more on online tracking for hours worked and digital training courses completed.

An employee engagement strategy takes on a different shape for every business because every business takes on different people, so try to tailor your approach to your staff as much as possible.

Tailoring your employee engagement strategy to your workforce

A one-size-fits-all approach to employee engagement may simplify your efforts, but that’s sadly not the case.

Every business has its own unique challenges. There are also many cultural, social, and economic factors that can influence the way your employee engagement strategies land. You may operate in a highly competitive market that offers greater financial incentives for those who switch jobs often or you may be surrounded by startups that upend the traditional concept of office working and offer much greater flexibility.

In a Gallup report on the State of the Global Workplace, it was reported that 52% of employees are keeping an eye out for, or actively seeking a new job. The same survey revealed that only 23% of workers are engaged at work, 62% are not engaged, and 15% are actively disengaged.

The challenge for all modern businesses is maintaining an engaging and rewarding environment for employees to thrive in, so it’s important to find the strategies and tactics that work for you.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with them to test and learn from your experiences—nobody gets it right from day one.

Top employee engagement approaches for modern businesses

Leadership and communication

Of course, like any aspect of company culture, positive change must start from the top down. Great leadership can create a healthy culture of trust and transparency, which can ultimately build an excellent foundation for success.

If leaders can lay out a clear path for progress and let it be known where every employee stands at any point on that journey, the business will be geared up for great things. Employees need to know what their efforts are contributing to, so be sure to keep them updated about the business—good employee engagement is making people feel like they’re part of something bigger.

Recognition and rewards

Another valuable aspect of the employee experience is being rewarded for great work. Nobody likes to feel like their hard work and commitment are going unnoticed, so it’s an employer’s responsibility to put an employee recognition program in place to celebrate top performers.

A culture of healthy competition can have a positive impact on a business and its workforce. You can even gamify your efforts with a leaderboard that motivates staff and encourages teamwork across your organisation. A good way to implement this is to listen to an employee’s individual needs, get feedback, and choose rewards that align with their interests—the prospect of tangible rewards they actually want will motivate your employees even more.

Work-life balance and flexibility

Offering your employees an attractive work-life balance is a great perk. In fact, it’s often one of the key factors job applicants are on the lookout for  in this day and age.

People want freedom and flexibility in their jobs so they can balance their work responsibilities with their personal responsibilities, so build these benefits into their offering if they are to attract and retain talented people. When employees have a healthy work-life balance and their jobs don’t take over at home, they can stay much more engaged in their roles, loyal to their employers, and lower the chance of burnout.

Professional development and training

Flexibility is one thing, but opportunities to grow skills and foster new ones is another. Employees need to know there’s a clear path for their own development in any role, from both a personal and professional perspective.

Employers that incorporate upskilling and training into their employee engagement strategies often get rewarded by staff who want to put their newfound talents to the test. Offering goals for them to achieve, through measures like e-learning is an effective tactic to keep them engaged.

Employee autonomy

On the same vein as flexibility and professional development, it’s a no-brainer to instill a certain degree of autonomy in relevant roles.

Hiring people you trust and empowering them to make business-changing decisions can be a great way to keep them invested in the success of your organisation as a whole.  So be sure to avoid bottlenecking any progress because the higher-ups need to sign everything off.

Build sensible approval processes and efficient workflows into your business and your employees will thank you for it.

Employee wellbeing

A huge part of employee engagement comes down to looking after the mental and physical health of your people. Creating an environment that understands and enables them in every aspect is a surefire way to be a supportive employer, but it’s easier said than done.

Employee wellbeing takes more than filling the kitchen with coffee and fresh fruit and offering the odd takeaway pizza—it’s about making sure your staff feel heard and seen as people and not just employees. This is where things like equal pay and fair shift patterns and breaks come into play.

Being an employer that understands what people want can seriously boost your levels of employee engagement.

If you want some invaluable pointers for improving employee engagement, download our free guide to workplace wellbeing here—it’ll take you through the best ways to nurture a people-centric workplace and deliver an engaging environment in which your staff can thrive.

Engage your employees with the help of BrightHR

Employee engagement is and always will be a crucial component of any successful business in today’s competitive landscape. It’s a strategic approach that helps businesses like yours attract and keep top talent all over Australia, so there’s every reason to ramp up your rewards and fine-tune the work-life balance you’re offering people.

Your staff are looking for rewarding experiences that bring them high levels of job satisfaction—if they don’t get it where they are, they’ll have no hesitation looking elsewhere for it.

Invest in a solid employee engagement strategy that can help you drive performance through gamified employee recognition, enhance development with essential e-learning, and attract and retain staff with a free employee perks platform—the sooner you start on yours, the greater employee engagement will become in the long run.

Get in touch to book a demo with BrightHR today and start streamlining your people management.