Employee Engagement: 6 Ways to Keep Employees Engaged

Employee engagement is a broad term used to describe an employee’s level of interest and investment in the business’s goals and company culture. In businesses with high employee engagement, most employees are not only invested in the company mission, but committed to improving the company’s growth, profitability, and work environment. Businesses with low employee engagement may have inefficiencies or high turnover rates. Business managers and HR professionals tend to take on the work of finding effective ways to engage employees and increase connection with the business.

Employee engagement is a key driver of a company's success. Human resource management teams seek to sustain high levels of employee engagement for the following reasons:

• Employee retention: Employees who deeply engage with their work are more likely to stick around. When employee retention is high, companies save money in recruiting fees and other costs associated with new hires.
• Office morale: Employees who feel connected to the business's mission are more likely to report job satisfaction in employee engagement surveys, and that enthusiasm can be infectious. When one worker goes the extra mile to support their team, they can inspire other colleagues to put in extra effort as well. Conversely, high employee turnover or absenteeism can damage office morale and increase the number of disengaged employees.
• Improved customer experience: Employees who are engaged with their work can pass their enthusiasm on to customers. When an invested salesperson has a positive interaction with a customer or an engineer spends extra time thoughtfully designing a new product, customer satisfaction and business outcomes can improve.
• Productivity: Deeply engaged workforces are more productive than their disengaged counterparts. Highly productive teams improve a business’s bottom line and make the business more resilient to competition.

Some hiring managers and HR professionals measure employee engagement with advanced metrics, but there are a few basic signs of high engagement.

1. 1. Sustained focus and presence: Engaged employees tend to stay focused and mentally present throughout meetings and other workplace gatherings. Regularly texting during meetings, showing up late, and underperforming can be signs of disengagement.
2. 2. Going above and beyond: Completing a task before it is due, taking extra time to help a colleague, offering support to new team members, and other kinds of discretionary effort can all indicate deep employee engagement.
3. 3. Exemplary customer service: Engaged employees show a sincere concern for the customer experience. This might look like a sales rep staying on the phone to help a confused consumer or a teacher approaching a lesson differently to help a struggling student, but caring about the end-user signals engagement.

HR leaders have identified several reliable drivers of employee engagement.

1. 1. Welcome new hires. Acknowledging new employees from the day they are hired sets a positive and appreciative tone. An all-office welcome email can go a long way toward making a new hire feel noticed and valued during the onboarding process.
2. 2. Recognize employee contributions. To maintain a positive employee experience, managers should recognize workers for their contributions on a regular basis. Employee recognition can help validate the worthiness of hard work. Popular employee engagement initiatives in this space include employee-of-the-month programs and special awards for exceptional work.
3. 3. Maintain open lines of communication. Providing open channels of communication is one of the easiest and most effective employee engagement strategies. Employees who have a clear understanding of company processes, hierarchies, and objectives are empowered to do their jobs more effectively. Making sure employees understand how their role fits into the bigger picture can improve employee satisfaction as well.
4. 4. Encourage and act on feedback. Managers who encourage feedback and value employees’ opinions are able to build trust and increase engagement—so long as they follow up and act on that feedback.
5. 5. Set employees up for success. Managers can increase engagement by helping employees identify their strengths and weaknesses. From there, they can delegate a mix of tasks that will challenge the employee and give them opportunities to excel.
6. 6. Prioritize employee wellness. Companies show they value their employees by offering health insurance, paid time off, flextime scheduling, and, when possible, remote work opportunities. Promoting a healthy work-life balance can also improve employee satisfaction.

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