How Can We Improve Employee Engagement?

This is one of the most asked questions about employees on Google. Let’s have some background information about this fact. COVID-19 has emotionally exhausted many workers. The term “great resignation,” which refers to the high number of people who have quit their jobs as a result of collective burnout, was a trending topic in 2021. In this new era, securing employee engagement and loyalty has become more challenging than ever. Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace” report says that only 20% of employees feel engaged with their current workplace. If that is the reality, then how can we improve employee engagement? The good news is that it’s possible to improve employee engagement, but first let’s be clear about the terminology.

Employee experience and employee engagement are two related yet different terms. Simply put, employee experience is the sum of perceptions that employees have about their interactions with each unit in ​​the organization. Employee engagement, on the other hand, is part of the overall employee experience and refers to how workers feel about their organizations.  If employee experience is a journey, employee engagement is the output of that journey. Engaged personnel truly care about their job and their company’s performance. Employee engagement indeed affects every key success metric of your company, including profitability, revenue, customer experience, personnel turnover, and more. So, how can we increase employee engagement?

Here are 10 Simple Steps to Increase Employee Engagement:

1. Increase productivity. Bureaucracy and grey areas in decision-making may cause inefficiencies that hinder personnel from performing their best.  Furthermore, it may negatively affect employee engagement.
2. Increase communication. Effective communication creates positive feelings, especially in large organizations.  This definitely encourages employee engagement.
3. Recognize success. Appreciation for extra effort is crucial in employee motivation, and in particular for employee engagement.
4. Increase interaction. It doesn’t have to be work-related all the time. Social interactions between different teams and leisure engagement help improve employee perception of the workplace.
5. Invest in your employees. Investment in workers indeed constitutes a long-term investment in your business. It is important that you fulfill the needs of your employees and contribute to their personal and professional development.
6. Care about workers’ wellbeing. A peaceful workplace helps employees deliver their best in the framework of employee engagement. Create an environment where they are not distracted and can focus on the job itself.
7. Encourage feedback. Think of feedback as a gift. It helps everyone better understand what needs to be improved first.
8. Emphasize company culture. A well-understood and shared vision makes workers feel more connected, inspires them, improves employee engagement, and builds team spirit.
9. Provide a great onboarding experience. Onboarding is a key moment of truth when new staff gets their first impression of the enterprise.
10. Provide flexible working conditions. Flexibility is the new normal. Flexible work schedules and remote working opportunities have become key factors in increasing employee engagement.

Employees are the human capital of organizations, and they have a direct effect on a company’s sustainable economic success. Having happy customers is only possible if you employ happy workers.

Leveraging Voice of Employee Solutions to Measure Employee Engagement and Act on It

It is important to build a listening engine for the voice of your employees to understand where to start and guide your HR teams’ strategic roadmap and annual activities. With an AI-enhanced VoE solution, you can better focus on journeys and personas, and measure not only performance but also how employees are reflecting upon company events, announcements, and organizational changes. To learn more, you can visit Alterna CX’s AI-enhanced VoE tool.