Almost all businesses have employees that fall into three different categories: engaged, not engaged and actively disengaged. Out of this category, engaged employees are the ones who are the most productive for a workforce.
While most businesses do try to hire people they feel are engaged, it’s also a good idea to improve employee engagement in your workplace by applying the following:
1. Encouraging Productive Breaks
It’s never easy to be creative or productive when you’re stuck at your desk. People need to take breaks to refresh their minds, take a breather or just to stretch their tight muscles. Taking a break is also a good time for someone to brainstorm a difficult problem they’re facing in their project.
Just 5 minutes of fresh air can make a huge difference in the results produced. These productive breaks should be encouraged and as long as they aren’t getting too out of hand, there’s no reason to worry about them.
2. Indulging in More CSR Activities
People care about businesses that care about their communities. Start practicing more corporate social responsibility activities that help your community and allow your business to give back. It also instills a feeling of loyalty and pride that employees like to associate with their workplaces.
Whether it’s a blood drive, a jog for charity, or even helping with the clean-up of a park or an oil spill, you will be able to engage more employees by helping them give back to the community.
3. Getting Feedback
Always keep channels of communication open for feedback. This also benefits employee engagement as it means that employees have more confidence in their company. They know that their voice isn’t being disregarded and their feedback is being actively considered to improve the company.
This also builds a feeling of trust and loyalty in the employees. Be mindful of the fact that you don’t need to get feedback every single time. However, after a training session, an activity or more, you can get feedback to see how the program was for everyone and how it can be improved.
4. Be More People Focused
People love businesses that put their employees first. Additionally, many businesses have found that if they keep their employees happy, they keep the business happy. Places like Google, Apple, Microsoft and more have found that the incentives they offer not only keep their employees happy but allow them to attract a talent pool of engaged individuals who are motivated and wish to work with the business.
5. Encourage Mentor Programs
Engaged employees can be great mentors for new employees. They can help to train them and instill healthy practices which can help you get more engaged employees. It’s not just beneficial for the new employees but also for the old ones.
In this manner, they see that they are an asset which can help their company enhance their talent pool. Additionally, they might also learn something new when they’re mentoring someone who just joined.
With the help of these tips, you can enhance employee engagement in your workplace and improve productivity with ease too.
