Three ways to improve engagement in the workplace
For years, HR managers and employers have been searching for the formula that would allow them to better engage their employees. They have tried new benefits, overhauled corporate culture and even supported career development. Although these initiatives were not bad and were not entirely wrong, they could not solve the problem of low employee engagement.
Recently, Quantum Workplace published a report (in English only) in which they examined around 300 companies regarding their employee engagement strategies and HR priorities. Only 12% of those companies considered themselves highly engaged: engaged!!! 12%!!!
But as the report shows, all those companies had some interesting things in common.
Here are three ways in which many companies have been able to improve their employees’ engagement.
- Having a continuous employee engagement strategy: all year round
One of the biggest differences between engaged and disengaged organisations was the way they approached the issue of employee engagement. Almost 78% of highly engaged companies carry out employee engagement initiatives all year round. In fact, 50% of disengaged companies stated that they focus on engagement only for a short period of time, as if it were not important for the rest of the year. You cannot learn a new language unless you speak it often. Similarly, organisations cannot improve employee engagement unless they focus on daily improvement. A year-round engagement strategy means monitoring and tracking performance metrics regularly. And then making small adjustments iteratively.
- Follow up on employee surveys
Most organisations conduct employee surveys. However, they are only useful if you act on them. And it means much more than creating a chart showing what percentage of employees feel engaged and presenting it to management. The results of the engagement survey will only tell you how employees feel about their work and help you understand how to improve things. You’ll be glad to know that the extra effort has paid off. According to the Quantum Workplace report, if a manager acts on employees’ feedback from the survey, they are 12 times more likely to be engaged the following year.
- Do away with annual reviews
With companies like Adobe scrapping their Annual Performance Review, business leaders are beginning to realise just how terrible annual reviews are. But it is the most engaged organisations that realised this a long time ago. According to the Quantum Workplace report, 54.6% of engaged companies ensured that their managers held one-to-one meetings with their employees every 1–3 months. On the other hand, 77.8% of disengaged companies still rely on annual reviews. If you want to enable your employees to perform at their best, you need to check in with them regularly and not wait until the end of the year. This will help both you and your employees identify issues sooner and address them quickly.
If you really want to improve employee engagement, you need to be more involved in the process. This means talking more with employees, understanding and analysing their perspectives, and taking steps every day to improve things incrementally.
ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Avallone F., Bonaretti M., Organisational Well-being.
University Handbook of Human Resource Strategy.
OD&M Consulting, Reward Systems. Design Guide.
WEBGRAFIA
Quantum Workplace, Employee Engagement Trends Report.
INAIL, Work-related stress (2017).