Keeping your employees engaged is the key to growing your business successfully. You need to know your employees and try out different approaches to keep them engaged. However, mastering this art requires significant effort on your end.
With massive diversity in a workplace environment, inspiring your employees to be passionate about the company and what they do is challenging. We are here to give you some suggestions on how and why you need to keep your employees engaged.
How to engage your employees
Keeping your employees engaged is not easy, but these tips will help you out.
-
Communicate with them
Communication is essential to know your employees. If you are aware of their strengths and weakness, you will be able to maximize your employees’ skills and expertise. Once they get a chance to work in their strength areas, they will be more passionate about their work. Even knowing more about their personal life may help you better connect with them.
You can provide avenues for your employees to engage in conversations with you and their colleagues. For instance, you can set up a pantry in your office where everyone can grab a bite and catch up with one another during breaks. If your office has ample space outside, you can even install an evolution canopy and add chairs and tables where your employees can have non-work-related communications. These spaces will allow your employees to socialize with one another.
-
Make them a part of the bigger picture
As a part of your company, employees have a right to know about its success or failure. Let them know how the company is performing. This will help generate a sense of authority and accountability. Giving them credit for your business growth and praising them for their good work are small things that can go a long way.
-
Create a supportive environment
Not everyone is capable of doing all their tasks perfectly. While your employees will have strengths, they will also have some weaknesses. It is your responsibility to help them work on these weaknesses. Create an open and supportive work environment to cultivate your team.
A supportive environment will allow employees to communicate and ask for help for their weaknesses openly. This will help the employees and, ultimately, your company to grow.
-
Take and act on employee feedback
While you work so hard on customer feedback, it is also essential to pay attention to your employees. They are the biggest asset for your company, so you need to listen to what they have to say. Taking constant feedback and creating a fearless, open communication environment are some ways to listen to employees.
One thing you need to know here is that simply listening is not enough. Once you have the feedback, also work on them. You don’t have to fulfill all the demands, but try to implement whatever possible.
Why employee engagement matters
Employee engagement offers numerous benefits, such as:
-
Increased employee productivity
As an employer, you would want to increase employee productivity. Engagement can help you here. According to Gallup’s 2020 Q12 study, engaged business units are 20% more productive than others.
Increasing productivity enhances your business revenue. Thus, many employers have become more interested in investing in employee engagement.
-
Enhanced employee retention
High engagement can also help in employee retention. If you go by the costs, annual employee turnover can cost businesses around $600 billion.
You can easily save on these costs by making your employees more engaged in their work. Engagement is a key principle in retaining your top talent. Even the employees believe that if they are engaged in a workplace and feel heard, they are more likely to avoid seeking job opportunities elsewhere.
-
Boasted customer satisfaction
Engagement will not only benefit your employees and you but also your customers. If a worker is passionate about his job, it will reflect in his communication. Even your customers will likely notice this passion.
Imagine two sales employees, one showcasing the product blandly and the other doing it enthusiastically and putting all his efforts. Who do you think will make more sales? It is evident that the engaged and excited employee will outperform the other one. Thus, if an employee is engaged, he will do his best to perform his daily tasks, which will help boost customer service and satisfaction.
Employee engagement undeniably boosts your company’s growth. But it will not happen in an instant. To leverage employee engagement benefits, you first have to create a workplace environment that promotes engagement. Try delving into your employees’ perspective and see what can benefit them. An engaged and satisfied workforce has the potential to take your business to new heights. So, start investing in strategies to increase your employees’ engagement.
