What are the best ways to engage employees in the workplace?
Best Ways To Engage Employees In The Workplace
Employee engagement is an important aspect and leaders, the HR department and the training and development personnel need to focus on the same, through and through. In fact, even before the organization goals and missions are finalized, organizations need to work on building a culture where employees love to work, look forward to coming to work every day and engage in well-intentioned collaboration with one another.
Here are a few perfect ways to build and encourage employee engagement in the workplace.
1. Encourage employees to express their views and speak up their mind
IT is one of the best ways to create the desired levels of engagement in the workplace. People need to come out and express their opinions without any fear of being criticized, mocked, or being judged. This gives them a unique sense of independence and flexibility that is ideal for the right kind of candour and team spirit to build up.
2. Help employees get to bond with each other informally too
In the workplace, a lot is covered up and concealed. Employees may be sitting next to each and other and work eight hours a day together without knowing much about one another. They need to move out of the office environment to be able to get to know each other personally. Therefore, many corporates organize team-building activities where members come together to perform different tasks and, in the process, develop a bond with each other.
Taking team members out for lunches is a tried and tested method of giving them the opportunity to speak, open and gel as individuals. It does a lot of good to know one another informally. Such team meetings help them know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, about their families, likes and dislikes and more.
3. Recognition and appreciation for good work is vital
Even as grown-ups, we look forward to people acknowledging our efforts and recognizing the same in front of our colleagues. It does a lot of good to the motivational levels of employees. It is one of the cheapest and yet the most effective ways to develop and build employee engagement at work. A pat on the back, a word of encouragement, a simple ‘thank you’ or ‘well done’ is enough to boost the morale of employees. It is one of the best practices that team managers and leaders can indulge in.
4. Encourage your employees to give feedback
As much as feedback and reviews from your customers are important; you cannot ignore the essence of employee feedback. In any form and at any platform, a meaningful way of employee engagement is having them give feedback on organizational culture, ways and means to improve their performance and contribution at work, and even feedback on their team managers and leaders. Such reviews help the HR gauge employee feelings and know how the seniors are behaving with their teams down the line.
5. Leaders should know their team members, in and out
Since people spend most of their waking hours in the office and their workplace, it is good to get to know the members on a personal level. Often, leaders need to take a personal approach to help individual employees enhance their performance and do better jobs. Being professional and working in an official capacity is fine; but when it comes to mentoring or helping improve employee engagement. you need to be more helpful and cooperative with your team to help them move a step forward towards the achievement of their dreams.
6. Encourage health and wellness
This can be done by arranging certain team building activities and ice-breaking tasks. Wellness-related tasks like going in for a meditating zone or encouraging employees to eat healthy by serving nutritious food in the cafeteria are some ways of doing this. Many corporates today have a gym, a de-stress room or zone in their office space where employees can walk in anytime to de-stress and energize themselves. On the other hand, many organizations promote a culture of work-life balance that helps employees to focus on their social life along with their careers. This is again a great motivator for employee engagement.
7. Have a properly designed induction program in place for new joiners
The first day at work can be quite a strenuous affair, be it a fresher to work or an experienced person. Having a well-planned and confident onboarding program can go a long way in making the new joiner feel comfortable, start on a good and positive note, and start interacting with others on an enthusiastic note. A well-planned induction program also shows that the organization is prepared to welcome the new hires onboard. It gives a lot of morale boost to them, paving the way to creating stronger employee engagement and comraderies amongst the employees.
Motivating your employees is the surest way to success. And the best way to do so is to ensure that you have the right employee engagement strategies in place. When it is about the achievement of organizational goals and objectives, ensure that you make your employees feel happy about work and feel valued as individuals.
