Tips to Improve Employee Engagement in Your Business

5 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement in Your Business

That’s a significant portion of a person’s life. It makes sense that most employees would have a strong opinion on their jobs and the companies they work for, whether positive or negative.

Companies seek to keep the overall working experience positive and employees engaged. They want those hours spent within their walls to motivate workers to go the extra mile and put their true 110% into what they do. The opposite, disengagement, has wide-ranging costs that organizations should be keen to avoid: lost productivity, weakened customer service, increased sick days, and more are among the consequences of disengagement that have been proven through numerous studies.

Companies are best advised to start with a simpler approach, addressing the work itself to ensure that while completing their daily tasks, workers know their voices are heard and that they’re playing a valuable role. No amount of perks will save engagement if employees wonder why they perform the core functions of their jobs.

That’s why we’re recommending the following 5 ways to improve employee engagement in your business.

PROVIDE THE RIGHT TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY

This is an important and tangible first step to improving employee engagement. The workplace tools such as room scheduling systems, room screens, desk booking systems, desk screens, kiosks and wayfinders help to transform the workplace, empowering employee engagement, collaboration and increased efficiency.

The importance of collaboration in the quest for innovation is widely acknowledged, but companies need to recognize that it will not happen unless the right environment is created, in which it can take place easily and naturally.

These tools demonstrate to workers where they fit into the larger team and company goals, giving them a sense of purpose in all that they accomplish. They ensure that workers’ performance is assessed based on the quality of work performed, rather than hours spent at our desks.

GIVE RECOGNITION WHERE IT’S DUE

This dovetails the last point nicely because, as we pointed out, meeting room and desk booking technology can play a big role in giving employees recognition.

Imagine toiling day in, day out, never understanding where your efforts went, and never getting so much as a “thank you,” or a “good job.” How engaged do you think you’d be? Unfortunately, this is a reality for more people than companies would probably like to admit.

Being conscious of what employees work on and accomplish is a big part of the battle for higher engagement. Merely knowing that someone else appreciates them and their work is enough to make employees put insignificant and sincere effort. In fact, 69% of employees report that they would work harder if they got more recognition.

There are many ways to show this appreciation. Some companies give thanks over their intranets, using rewards programs that both give employees material or monetary compensation and display their accomplishments publicly.

REFINING YOUR PHYSICAL SPACE

I know this may run slightly counter to the point I made earlier that fancy, Silicon Valley-style comfort isn’t everything. However, there is something to be learned from that trend. The physical space of office matters. From the office furniture to the type of lighting, employees shouldn’t feel that they’re caged indoors while they’re at work.

EMPHASIZE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, NOT HOURS WORKED

As it was highlighted earlier, Americans are working well over the traditional 40 hour week on average. While some are making good use of that time, many people are in their offices for those extra hours simply because they’ve been pressured to be present. Those hours that they spend at work without being productive don’t contribute anything to the organization and make people feel trapped or resentful.

On the other hand, when a company rewards the accomplishments of its workers, the equation changes. Employees deserve to know that what they accomplish with the hours they spend working is what matters, rather than their mere presence.

DON’T WAIT

Unfortunately, many companies understand that employee engagement is important but never get around to implementing policies aimed at promoting it. The reason may be that they don’t think new policies are in their budget, that they have other priorities that come first or any number of reasons.

The fact is that disengagement is too great of a risk to be ignored. Happy, engaged employees add much to the bottom line, while their disengaged counterparts cost far too much in both money and productivity.