What is the ‘C series’ when it comes to employee engagement?
The ‘C series’ is 10 guidelines that should be incorporated into an employee engagement plan. They are:
- Career: Companies should provide challenging and meaningful work with opportunities for career advancement.
- Clarity: Managers need to communicate a clear vision. Success in life and business is, to a great extent, determined by how clear individuals are about their goals and what they really want to achieve.
- Communicate: Strong leaders clarify their expectations about employees and provide feedback on their job performance.
- Congratulate: Exceptional managers give recognition, which is sure to keep employees motivated.
- Contribute: People want to know that their input matters and that they contribute to the company’s success in a meaningful way.
- Control: Employees value control over the flow and pace of their jobs and managers can create opportunities for employees to exercise this control.
- Collaborate: When employees have the trust and cooperation of their team members, they outperform both individuals and teams that lack good relationships.
- Credibility: Upper management should strive to maintain a company’s reputation and demonstrate high ethical standards.
- Confidence: Good leaders help create confidence in a company by being examples of high ethical and performance standards.
- Connect: Your company must show that it values employees.
What else can an employer do to increase employee engagement?
No matter what the economy is like, employee engagement is imperative for businesses to survive and thrive. Here are five other ways to increase employee engagement:
- Reduce excessive workplace stress. If employees are stressed-out, which seems to increasingly be the case in today’s work force, they cannot be engaged.
- Address the situation by talking about it. Let employees know that you are aware there is stress in the workplace.
- Extend a helping hand. Let your employees know that you will work with them so they can keep a healthy balance between work and home lives.
- Think about innovative ways to reduce stressful situations. You may consider providing alternative and flexible scheduling.
- Think about hiring additional staff. Oftentimes, hiring an additional temporary employee seems like an expensive solution to employers. However, employers can end up spending a lot of time and money should an employee begin to have additional stress and become chronically absent or require medical leave. These situations can cause high turnover rates, so it is usually better to consider hiring temporary personnel.
M.J. Helms is the director of operations with The Ashton Group. Reach her at (706) 636-3343 or [email protected].
