While traveling around the U.S. and Canada training managers on the importance of embracing the generational workforce, I have noticed a consistent theme: Managers want to know how they can do a better job engaging their employees.
Every company can’t be like Facebook or SAS, where amenities such as free on-site medical care for employees and their families, low-cost/high-quality child care, a fitness center, a library, and a summer camp for employees’ children are the norm. Or like Google, which provides free food, fitness facilities, massage rooms, hair dressers, laundry rooms and on-site doctors. So what are you to do?
First, you have to understand what employee engagement is and the impact that the lack of employee engagement can have on your company or business.
Wikipedia defines employee engagement as the extent to which employee commitment, both emotional and intellectual, exists relative to accomplishing the work, mission and vision of the organization. Employee engagement has become an area of focus within organizations because it boosts employee retention, thereby helping companies avoid expensive employee replacement costs resulting from staff members who voluntarily quit their jobs.
According to the Society of Human Resource Management, the cost of replacing one $8-per-hour employee can exceed $3,500. Information like this obviously gives companies a strong financial incentive to maintain their existing staff members through strong employee engagement practices.
Organizations that recognize that higher employee retention, increased productivity and reduced absenteeism all have financial impact will see that their employee engagement efforts make sound business sense. Engaged workers tend to complete tasks faster, get higher customer service ratings and demonstrate greater loyalty.
Use these five quick tips to improve employee engagement starting today.
● Build trust: Employees need to be able to trust their managers and their company’s leaders. Clear communication is a key element of trust. To build trust, monitor how and what you communicate to people around you. In organizations under stress, sometimes it’s difficult for leadership to be completely forthcoming. Few people expect everything to be perfect all the time.
● Create connections: People want to have meaning in all aspects of their lives. If they do not feel the importance of what they do, they disconnect. Therefore, it is important to highlight the connections between things and people. Help employees see the big picture of how their role and objectives fit into the organization’s objectives.
● Appreciate people: Recognition is an important part of motivation and engagement, and it can be as simple as genuine appreciation. Praise people when it’s warranted and give credit where credit is due. The best recognition is immediate, specific and personal.
● Motivate others: Motivation is our desire or willingness to do something. An organization where people are willing and able to work toward a common goal is stronger than one where people are badgered, threatened or generally reluctant.
● Support growth: There is nothing more demotivating than feeling you’re in a dead-end job. Talk to employees about the directions they’d like to see their career paths take and help them identify opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them achieve those goals.
You don’t have to be a manager or leader of an organization to build trust, create connections, appreciate people, motivate others and support growth. Anyone at any level can make a difference in the work lives of those around them. The payoff shows up in increased innovation and productivity, lower turnover, lower sickness rates, and higher employee satisfaction. In a world warring for increasingly sparse talent, the importance of a strong employee engagement program should not to be underestimated.
Sherri Elliott-Yeary is the CEO of human resources consulting companies Optimance Workforce Strategies and Gen InsYght, as well as the author of “Ties to Tattoos: Turning Generational Differences into a Competitive Advantage.” She has more than 15 years of experience as a trusted adviser and human resources consultant to companies ranging from small startups to large international corporations. Contact her at [email protected].
