What is Employee Engagement?
The term employee engagement relates to the level of an employee’s commitment and connection to an organisation.
This emotional commitment means engaged employees truly care about their work and their company.
Employees want to be involved in their work, enthusiastic about the organisation they work for and committed to their fellow workers.
An effective employee engagement software solution drives better business outcomes.
It takes more than just a great product to create a great business. People are at the heart of any organisation, so creating a culture that encourages employees to thrive is key to success.
An engaged workforce is not just a happy one, but a satisfied one too. This can result in lower labour turnover, higher productivity, and improved customer satisfaction levels. One study even found that companies with high employee engagement are 21 per cent more profitable.
But despite this, the industry has some way to go. Recent research from Gallup found that over half (51 per cent) of employees are disengaged in the workplace.
So then, how do you manage and keep remote teams engaged? Let’s take a look at some ways businesses can build an employee engagement long-term strategy into their business plans.
Employee Engagement Long-Term Strategy
Taking a long-term approach to employee engagement activities is a great way to invest in your business. After all, long-term employees have been found to outperform their counterparts.
But this requires a mindset change to keep colleagues engaged at work and feel valued. To create a culture that’s inclusive and respects employees, whilst giving them a sense of worth and purpose. Having a long-term vision involves using people to their strengths while creating opportunities for growth, and making the workplace an enjoyable place to be.
So how can this be achieved? Let’s take a look at some ideas.
Employee Engagement Activities and Ideas
In terms of employee engagement best practice, here’s ten great employee engagement ideas to integrate into your strategy.
- Celebrate milestones
Work anniversaries, birthdays and personal milestones are all great opportunities for recognising employees.
- Office parties
An excuse for an office party is an excuse for fun! When colleagues get on together outside of the office, it helps relations inside the office too. Be it an annual Christmas party, a summer drinks celebration, or a Thanksgiving dinner.
- Recognition and awards
Sometimes it’s the small things that make a big difference. Whether it’s employee of the week or a fun award like annual Christmas team awards, this can be a lovely way to make employees feel valued.
- Lunch and learn
Inviting team members to host lunchtime sessions is a great way to showcase and share talent. It’s also a great way to recognise different skill sets within the company.
- Team building
They say that business is done on the golf course, so why not take the team on an away day? Think about the employee engagement activities your team would enjoy and/or benefit from. Rock climbing, cake baking, paddle boarding – there’s so many great activities on offer.
- Training and development
There’s a difference between essential corporate training, and development geared towards personal growth. Creating a tailored training programme is an important way to make employees feel engaged at work, as well as bolster the skills within your workforce
- Volunteering opportunities
Studies show that millennials today are looking for businesses that align with their values. Perks that are non-financial, such as days off for volunteering, are highly valued by employees.
- Pulse surveys
Measuring employee sentiment and morale is essential for business growth. One of the best ways to get a snapshot of your company is by conducting surveys, specifically pulse surveys. These quick and frequent questionnaires allow businesses to monitor engagement and respond accordingly. If you’re wondering how employee engagement is measured, this is a great place to start.
- Flexible working
We’ve all succumb to the benefits of working from home in recent months. As such, flexible working and flexible hours are growing in importance as an employee benefit and should not be overlooked, especially amongst working parents.
- Support external interests
Employers can build morale, retention and satisfaction by helping to support individual interests. Whether that’s allowing individuals to work part-time to pursue personal interests, or helping them level-up on a skill to develop a passion for instance.
Final thought
As shown, there are numerous benefits to investing in your workforce. When it comes to employee engagement best practice there are plenty of ways to integrate this into your strategy for continued long-term success.