Employee engagement is one of the most important factors that will determine the success of your organization.

If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your business. It is that simple, provided you also have the right strategy and vision that is compelling to your people.

You could have the most comprehensive strategy, inspiring vision and leading-edge products and services, but it will fall flat without followership and engagement from every team member within your organization.

Without a doubt, the past six months have been challenging and unusual times. Have you stopped to ask yourself, what it takes to improve the engagement levels within your team and across the overall organization? 

As a leader in your organization, it is up to you to set the right tone and culture that inspires and motivates your employees to take ownership of their performance and overall contribution to the company.  

Of course, each organization is different, so what might work for company “A” might not work for company “B.” That being said, we've come up with five employee engagement ideas that will enhance the performance of any organization.

These ideas probably won't transform your business overnight, but they'll help you create a work environment where employees understand and embrace their roles as crucial members of your team.

‍#1 – Get to Know Your Team Members as Individuals

Too often, business leaders insulate themselves from the people who actually drive organizational results. If you are not able to connect with your employees at the human level and as valued individuals, it is highly unlikely they will be inspired and motivated to give you their commitment and best effort. 

Take some time to find out what makes each team member tick. Ask them what they are passion about. What is life like for them outside of their role within the company? It is amazing what you will learn and as their leader this will help you better position yourself to support them. Your role is to create a safe space, whether it is virtual or in the office so they can perform at their best which will have a direct impact on your bottom-line results.  

‍#2 – Treat Colleagues Like You Treat Your Customers

It should go without saying that your business would be nothing without your customers. Guess what? It would cease to exist without your employees, too. The way you treat your employees and colleagues should be identical to the way you treat your customers. Sadly, too many organizations just do not see it that way and their results and performance suffer as a result. 

Fostering a positive organizational culture that values their employees is paramount to creating an engaged workforce. Take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers. It really is that simple.

#3 – Don't Let Policies and Procedures Disable Empowerment and Excellence

Running a business is tough and keeping up with the competition is stressful. That is why so many organizations resort to implementing new policies and procedures whenever performance is suffering, and improvements are deemed necessary. Managers see problems, and they often retreat to want to change the way their people are doing things, i.e. implement new procedures, scripts, policies, and rules to try and control the outcome. 

This is not always effective and sometimes backfires as the training required to perform in the role becomes either cumbersome, complex, or robotic. We often take away their ability to do what is right for customer and the business because we have this underlying need to control and manage the outcome. All the checks and balances are great and are needed but be careful you do not create a complicated and unfriendly customer experience as a result.

How can you expect your team members to give their best efforts and use their unique, individual talents when you do not allow their individual strengths to shine? Instead, get to know your employees and empower them to bring their “A game” where everybody wins.  Give them the proper tools and training to do the job and then get out of their way. Look at your business through the lens of your customer and empower your people to do the same.  

#4 – Show Appreciation

When you do a great job, it is nice to know that your efforts are appreciated isn’t it? Just like food and shelter, we all have basic needs, and feeling appreciated is part of our basic human needs. Unfortunately, many business “leaders” forget this basic concept as they are too focused on the bottom-line results and not the people who are driving the business forward.  

If you want your team to feel positive, motivated, and inspired, simply let them know that you appreciate what they are doing for you and the organization. If your employees know that their voices are being heard, they will want to continue to contribute and treat the business as if it is their own. The best part about this idea is that showing appreciation is incredibly easy and does not cost anything but time and genuine care for your people – so easy that you can start implementing it immediately.

Research shows that employees who feel appreciated will be more productive and that has a direct impact to your bottom line. We make assumptions as leaders that our people must know that we appreciate them and often, that is not the case. Take the time to appreciate your people and be specific about what it is that you appreciate about their efforts. What we focus on grows and flourishes with appreciation. 

#5 – Proper Use of Employee Engagement Surveys 

Employee engagement surveys are great when used effectively to keep your finger on the pulse as they can give you unique insights into the minds of your people without making individuals feel uncomfortable about speaking their minds as most surveys are anonymous. 

The results and findings of your surveys should serve as a guide that will help you implement real, tangible improvements however should not replace the need to maintain open two-way communication with your people. In addition, if you are going to create action plans to address the gaps and leverage the company’s strengths, then ensure to follow through and openly communication the plan.

Too often I have either been part of a company or observed this as a consultant where a company launches an employee engagement survey and subsequently action planning falls apart, communication and accountability dissipate, which erodes employees trust and commitment. 

Here’s a simple rule of thumb – do not launch a survey of any kind if you do not plan on acting on the feedback. Your company’s credibility is dependent upon how well you respond and take action, and this applies to both employee engagement and customer satisfaction surveys.

What employee engagement ideas have you used? How have they helped you improve performance? Do you have any additional advice or insight you would like to share? Let us know what you think. I invite you to give me a call today at 1.855.871.3374 or send me an email at joanne.trotta@leadersedgeinc.ca. Together, we can solution employee engagement ideas to help enhance your bottom-line results.