Most organisations will create a culture and environment that best reflect their values, mission and goals. Some also actively focus on engaging their employees as a key driver of success. Employee engagement is an emotional commitment employees feel towards their organisation and actions they take to ensure organisation’s success. Engaged employees demonstrate care, dedication, enthusiasm, accountability and focus.
However, employee engagement cannot be accomplished simply by conducting employee surveys, change in procedure, or motivational training. To engage employees, employers must commit and invest in every and each employee’s stage, as follows:
Engagement is heavily related to drive and resilience of an individual. Some can stay engaged through stresses and obstacles, while others might be motivated by rewards and benefits. As an HR leader whose job is to pick talents during a recruitment process, it is not easy to discover and hire individuals who push into every initiative to take lead without ever becoming discouraged. Yet, bringing the right candidate that aligns with the company’s initiative is a fundamental basis for employee engagement.
See also: 8 Reasons Why Employees Hate Wellness Program
Onboarding is the practice of giving employees what they need to do their job, including resources, access, information, introductions and social inclusion. Leaving employees in the dark without the resources they need to do their job well creates a bad first impression that can quickly damage motivation.
Working conditions include hygiene factors, demands, environment and terms of a job that are relevant to employee satisfaction. For example, if a manager creates a stressful working environment, employees might feel disengaged. Or, an employee might be disengaged because they view working hours, such as shift work, as something unfair in some way. In this case, implementing changes to meet workers’ needs is important.
Providing opportunities to learn and acquire new skills. This includes things like mentorship, training and opportunity to take on challenging work. When employees feel nurtured, they will take care of business themselves.
Respect and social status are important to improve motivation. For instance, an attractive job title, business class travel and formal authority might be viewed as types of status. Providing such conditions could improve confidence and professional mentality in employees.
Giving employees opportunities to define their role and deliver work as they see fit could usher them to perform better. Employees value freedom and the ability to do things their own way. Getting recognition (especially good feedback) could encourage them to do more positive things and go beyond what is expected.
Read also: More than Just a Feedback: Better Employee Engagement Strategy
