How to create an engaged workforce - Viewpoint - careers advice blog Viewpoint careers advice blog

How to create an engaged workforce - Viewpoint - careers advice blog As explained in my previous blog, increasing your employee engagement is important for a number of reasons: staff retention, increased productivity and innovation, a bottom line boost and a more proactive workforce. The benefits are fairly apparent and well-recognised. Where it gets a little trickier is how to  actually engage employees in the first place. Increasing your employee engagement levels may seem like a daunting task, but by breaking it down into manageable segments you can start to positively impact engagement and increase the return from your human capital investment. The following practical advice will  help  get you started and is supported by findings from our Hays Australia, ‘Staff Engagement, Ideas for Action’ survey of 1,196 employers and employees. It is broken into two sections: intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic vs. extrinsic Intrinsic factors come from within, such as: having a purpose, a sense of achievement, a feeling of being valued, a feeling that emotions are respected, a sense of being treated fairly, and satisfaction from making a difference. While an organisation does not have total control of these factors, you can be an influence by ensuring employees have the knowledge, understanding and relationships that will allow them to switch on and engage. Extrinsic factors come from outside the employee and are external influences, such as the financial rewards received, the environment they work in, being given an efficient induction and onboarding process, recognition and flexibility. You have a greater influence over such factors. Employees can be engaged by intrinsic or extrinsic factors, but most commonly through a combination of both. They may also crossover. For example, a sense of achievement is an intrinsic factor, but extrinsic mechanisms such as your performance management process influence an employee’s view of their success and how their efforts are viewed within the organisation. To determine what will engage your employees, seek out their opinion and allow open and honest communication, such as via employee engagement surveys or one-on-one discussions, so that you understand their needs, goals and what makes them satisfied and engaged at work. After all, everyone is different and there is no one-size-fits-all answer. In the meantime, here’s a complete list of how you might engage your staff: Intrinsic factors Purpose Employees who understand what they are working towards feel a greater sense of purpose. Employees want to understand the organisation’s objectives and strategy, how their role helps achieve these, and how their role contributes to the organisation’s success. So increase communication flow, keep it regular, and provide an opportunity for employees to ask questions and raise concerns. A sense of achievement and of being valued Employees want to know how their success will be measured and what achievements constitute success in order to feel that their work is achieving something. They also want to feel that their efforts are valued and that they are recognised when they do a good job. Clear communication around achievements and recognition for quality work can go a long way in employee engagement terms. A sense that their emotions are respected A manager’s emotional intelligence  (EI) impacts engagement because it makes them aware of their own feelings and those of their team. So work on your own EI, be empathetic and see situations from your employees’ perspective. A sense of being treated fairly The number one reason people leave an organisation is due to their relationship with their direct manager. Employees want to feel that they are respected and treated fairly by a manager with strong leadership skills who is dependable, trustworthy, and who they can work collaboratively with. Satisfaction from making a difference People increasingly gain satisfaction from working for an organisation that helps to make a difference in the community. So embrace corporate social responsibility and think about the initiatives you could adopt, from partnering with community groups or charities to employee giving programs, encouraging more efficient power consumption, recycling or time to volunteer at a charity. Extrinsic factors Induction and onboarding When they start a new job people want to receive an effective induction and onboarding process. Use your induction program to impart the knowledge needed to perform productively and successfully. Then through onboarding help integrate staff into the organisation’s culture and engage with your values. Performance management that gives employees a voice People want to know how they’re performing, where they’re going and how they can improve. This should involve more than an annual performance review, so consider regular progress reviews that are a two-way process. Reverse appraisals make their voice louder Reverse appraisals can make a positive difference, provided you take the feedback seriously and employees see change as a result of their feedback. Diversity of thought To engage staff you need to include them and their varied ideas. So help employees feel that they can be themselves, share different perspectives and provide an honest opinion. Such diversity of thought helps utilise employees’ ability to think differently, while your employees feel their opinion counts. Salary and performance-based bonuses While an annual salary review is important, in recent years performance based bonuses have engaged and motivated employees. However there is no one-size-fits-all approach, so talk to individual staff about what they value, and ensure they understand what objectives must be met in order to qualify for a bonus. Learning and development People want to be good at their jobs â€" and they want you to care about investing in them. Given how rapidly the world of work is transforming, LD is a crucial tool in nurturing staff and growing their skills. And by showing you care about their skills development, you improve engagement levels. Flexibility Flexible work practices on their own will not improve employee engagement, but once you achieve high employee motivation and engagement levels it is an attractive incentive that will help keep it there. This is just as important for working fathers and other members of your workforce as it is for working mothers. Work environments Technology companies’ famously alternative workspaces are starting to be replicated by other organisations. However the key to whether a ‘cool’ working environment impacts employee engagement positively, or is a distraction, depends on whether it reflects and enhances your organisation’s culture. Technology With technology changing at a rapid pace, employees becoming more tech savvy and more Millennials entering the workplace, consider how technology can impact employee engagement. This includes the online delivery of training and gamification, as well as using collaboration tools for business. Offboarding Engagement doesn’t stop when an employee leaves, so an offboarding process can help them remain engaged with your organisation’s brand. This is crucial when their reviews on Glassdoor or Seek’s company review site can impact the perceptions of future job candidates. Temporaries/contractors Follow the same engagement practices for temporary and contract workers as you do for permanent staff. With more organisations turning to contract and temporary workers, engage them too in order to gain the most value from them. A moveable feast Given how rapidly the world of work has changed in recent years, and will continue to change in future, staff engagement strategies need to respond in kind if we are to continue benefiting from a workforce that is productive, innovative, impacts positively on the bottom line, puts in discretionary effort, and is more likely to be retained. As a results-orientated company, we hope the advice detailed above will help you achieve a lasting and positive impact in your world of work. Hopefully you found this blog valuable. If you did, you might also enjoy some of the following: How to handle an employees pay rise request Is your business doing too much typing and not enough talking? 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