Companies with higher employee engagement are 21% more profitable 

Employee engagement is pivotal to sustain the business and thrive in these unprecedented times. Employees are the frontline soldiers who interact with the customers directly. If the employees are not happy and satisfied with work, the customers will not be happy too. When an employee loves his/her job, the employee goes the extra mile to meet the expectations of the managers and the organization. An organization that has a definite engagement strategy records 41% less absenteeism. 

“71% of company executives say that employee engagement is critical to the company’s success.” 

Enhancing employee experience increases the engagement of employees, which provides the advantage of low operating costs to the company. According to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM’s) new Human Capital Benchmarking Report, the average cost per hire is $4,129 and $986 to onboard the new hire. But companies can avoid costs by adopting effective employee engagement strategies.  

Here are a few ways to boost productivity and engagement in your company. 

Continuous Check-ins Build Mutual Trust Between Manager and Team Members 

According to a report by DarwinBox, 73% of companies reckon that continuous feedback is the key to improve employee performance. Managers, by delivering continuous feedback, provide guidance and direction to the employees, which in turn lowers the chance of the team’s failure. Besides, continuous check-ins make employees trust their managers, and the team’s performance improves when they receive feedback frequently.  

A study reveals that many employees quit their bosses, not their jobs. When managers act as mentors and conduct continuous check-ins to give constructive feedback, the employees will stay motivated and also loyal to the company. Engaged employees come up with innovative ideas to help the organization thrive in today’s heavily competitive business world. Innovation is the way to lead and grow. 

Make Your Employees Believe in What You Believe 

When you recruit people, hire those who believe in the company’s vision and mission. The employees who believe in the organization work hard and put effort to achieve the business objective. In addition to that, employees who love their job because they share the company’s vision stay engaged and focused on their work, which in turn will increase productivity dramatically.

For instance, if the company’s vision is to ease the work of Human resources and the employees share the goal, they would come up with different ideas in marketing, product development, and enhancing user experience, etc. If the organization is ready to listen to the ideas of the employees, the employees will make sure the product addresses the pain points of HR and runs well in the market place. When engagement and productivity increase, the profits of the company increase. 

Care for Your Employees, They Will Protect You 

Employees do not leave a company when they feel that the organization takes an interest in their growth and development. People-centric organizations can survive any storm and even thrive if the employees are engaged. The crew does not abandon the ship when there is a storm, instead, they work harder to endure and overcome it together. But that happens only when the captain has cared for them and helped them to develop their work skills.  

Flexibility Makes Your Employees Love Their Job 

A perfect work-life balance is every working professional’s dream. Though there is no perfection, they at least expect a way to balance their personal and professional lives. Depending upon the work, the employee is capable of choosing his work timings. He/She knows better in how many hours a particular task can be completed. Do not micromanage and set rigid timings like 9 to 6 or 8 to 5. This will not work, especially in this pandemic normal. This approach will disengage the employees and lower their productivity. 

The employees as they are working from home have more responsibilities and distractions to be taken care of. Therefore, on some days, they might be forced to sit for work 4 hours a day or 12 hours a day. Let them decide, but the management should evaluate an employee based on the outcomes, not on the work hours. 

Take the Inputs of Employees in Setting Goals 

Ask your employees for inputs before setting goals. This will make employees feel cherished and valued. It is an effective business strategy because employees are the ones who interact the most with the customers and they know the customer needs better. Therefore, taking the opinions of employees in goal-setting can make your business create an impact among your target audience. Also, employees, when assured that their voices are heard by the top management, will be satisfied and perform well. 

This strategy helps in improving employee engagement, particularly when working remotely. The employees will not feel isolated, and they will have a personal connection with the organization. 

Autonomy is Your Way to Employees’ Heart 

Autonomy promotes individuality in teamwork. For instance, in a company, the marketing team had many young minds who are capable of thinking differently and exploring different paths. The company encouraged the young employees to try their ways giving the outcome expected. Boom! The team exploded with ideas and tried a new one every month. As a result, the company’s brand image improved generating them more leads.  

Micromanaging disengages the employees and lowers the quality of work and performance. Give autonomy to the employees to see exceptional results. Managers can guide them when they feel lost. Managers should coach them rather than nagging them. This method can work miracles for companies.  

Taking a Break is Good for Employees’ Well-Being 

In this remote scenario, employees overwork and they hardly move from their workspace. This will affect employees’ health seriously in the long run. Once the health is affected, the employee will lose interest in the work, and his/her absenteeism rate will increase. Therefore, as a manager or a team lead, promote taking breaks. You can also arrange a zoom call or Teams video meeting and do some stretches. This promotes collaboration, communication, and also a healthy lifestyle. The employees will feel relaxed and love their company for showing concern in its employees’ health.  

Reward Your Employees; Recognize Their Efforts 

A culture that rewards and recognizes the efforts of employees should be adopted by companies to stay ahead of their competitors in the war for talents. Employees seek instant gratification in the form of recognition. When employees are recognized for the efforts they put in, they work happily which will lead to an increase in productivity and quality of work. You need not necessarily give them monetary benefits; you can appreciate them using the following methods. 

• A thank-you note or a mail of appreciation 
• Offering to drop them by your car or bike for two days, if they go by walk 
• Recognizing the efforts in front of everyone or team meetings 
• Posting some goods on a social platform within the organization 

All these ways will definitely help you in improving engagement and productivity at your organization. 

Employees are engaged if they are able to respond positively and confidently to the following questions. 

1. What is expected of you by the management?  
2. Do you have the required resources?   
3. Does your company provide opportunities to grow? 
4. Do you trust your manager?  
5. Does the company listen to your concerns and take action on them?