5 top tips for employee engagement

Engaging employees might not be top of your list when it comes to business priorities, but it can positively impact productivity levels and, in turn, your profits.

Why is staff engagement important?

• Productivity is likely to go up.
• Sickness and absences are likely to fall.
• Better safety – the more engaged employees are, the less they’ll cut corners
• If staff love working for you, they won’t want to leave so your recruitment costs drop.
• Better service levels for your clients leads to repeat business and a good reputation.

The truth is, it’s the simple things that help to make an employee feel valued and happy.

Ask yourself – would you want your most ‘disengaged’ employee on the phone or visiting your most important client?

Businesses can fall into the trap of trying to achieve better engagement by increasing pay, but this isn’t always sustainable. And, not all businesses can join headline makers, like Google or Virgin and offer the likes of unlimited holidays or pet friendly offices.

The key to engagement is to start with attitude and behaviour. Here’s our top tips:

1. Respect

It costs nothing and is a simple and effective way of securing engagement from employees. By treating staff in a respectful manner, means that you’re likely to receive the same in return.

2. Listen

Share your vision with your staff and ask them what they think. They may have some brilliant ideas on how you can achieve it. Remember, following through on actions is just as important as listening. Not acting on these contributions can be demoralising.

3. Value

Praise and recognition when it’s due, is easy to do and will help increase motivation and help staff feel valued.

4. Empower

Allowing staff the opportunity to work independently where they can, increases job satisfaction and dedication to work, whilst helping to minimise the risk of staff moving on.

5. Get together

Having a friend is reported to be in the top 10 most engaging factors in the workplace. Even something as simple as drinks after work can strengthen team-bonds.

Given all the great results to be made from these simple tips, can you afford not to try them?

Final tip – Practice what you preach

Don’t forget what you’re working towards, if your leadership and management team are putting these tips into practice, it should filter down to the rest of your workforce and continue to have an enduring effect leaving you confident to get back to business.

Want to know more? Click here to download our white paper on Employee Engagement.