When employees lose their enthusiasm for their jobs, business suffers. Over 50% of US workers are doing just enough to get by. What steps can your company take to get its employees engaged? Here are some of the top ways suggested by successful business leaders and HR professionals:
1. Show That You Care
Show your employees that you care by keeping them informed about what is going on in the company. Taking the time to communicate with employees about the business sets a positive tone. It indicates that the leadership views all employees as respected and valuable assets.
It shows them that you trust them with information about the company. Keeping people informed also means keeping communications open. That also means encouraging their ideas and suggestions about the business.
2. Challenge Your Employees By Giving Them More Responsibility
When you challenge an employee by giving them more responsibility, you show your trust and confidence in them. Your employees will respond by becoming more engaged and operating with a higher sense of loyalty and responsibility to the company. One way to help ensure success is to identify individual skills and natural abilities and provide them with opportunities to apply those skills. Maybe assign a special project that is “perfect” for a particular employee or team of employees. With your support, this additional responsibility will also allow the employee an opportunity to grow and achieve a higher level of performance.
3. Competitive Compensation and Rewards
Good morale is driven by monetary and non-monetary rewards. Your company needs to provide a competitive compensation package to attract the best candidates, but non-monetary rewards are also important.
You can use an internal webpage to recognize people for their special efforts that go above and beyond or for their extra acts of kindness to a colleague. Some companies have a note card form for any employee to write a quick note of praise or gratitude for another employee’s help and post it on a break room bulletin board.
4. Develop a Cross-Training Program
Create opportunities for more seasoned employees to move to other areas of the company and learn new skills. The more opportunities the employee has to understand the broader business operations of the company, the more likely the employee will become invested in it. Provide learning opportunities through lunch-and-learn sessions. When employees know that the company is committed to employee opportunities, the employees will tend to commit to performing at the highest level possible. Moreover, those employees will be better positioned to step into key positions later on.
5. Develop a Mentorship Program
Establish a program where your key leaders mentor employees who are hoping to increase employee engagement. When you mentor someone, you will find it invigorates both you and your employee. Help them set short- and long-term career goals that give them a feeling of purpose.
Show them how to divide a goal into bite-size chunks to make them manageable and achievable.
6. Encourage Employees to Support Each Other
Motivating your employees is not completely a top-down effort. Develop a culture that fosters employees to recognize each other’s achievements and support their co-workers in accomplishing their goals. A friendly, inclusive workforce will help individual employees feel they are part of the organization and part of the team. Employees who feel good at work will boost the company’s bottom line.
Contact SmartHR for More Information
Energizing your workforce to improve morale and boost your company’s productivity is possible with the right tools. For more information about what human resources incentives will work best for your company, consult the HR experts at Smart HR. They can help you get your employees more engaged and manage any HR issue that your company may be facing. Contact Smart HR for more information about their outsourced HR services.