The following article, written by Candice, is featured on Target Marketing
Effective employee engagement improves sales figures, decreases workforce turnovers and improves client satisfaction. The companies with the healthiest company culture are those with management who actively engage with employees. Engagement within an organization is the most effective tool companies can use to track and encourage employee successes.
Below are the five best HR practices for increasing employee engagement:
1. Employee Engagement Begins With Training
Employee training is key for ensuring new employees have a smooth transition into an organizations culture. An informative and instructive on boarding process is the foundation upon which employee engagement begins with an organization’s goals. By communicating clear and defined expectations management can pave the path for reaching the desired results.
Unfortunately a lot of management teams fail to incorporate employee engagement into the company’s organizational structure. In fact, 55% of new hires are not provided a sufficient induction or training plan.
Every company has different organizational structures. For that reason, it is imperative that management outlines the key expectations of the role. Outlining job responsibilities is the framework for which employees can reach goals and is essential for success.
2. Communicate Role Expectations
Setting up initial goals and objectives within your organization is a great way to ensure that your staff is on the right track. Individual roles should have their own set of responsibilities. Be sure to make time every few months for communication between management and staff members. This fosters the opportunity to evaluate role satisfaction and develop a plan for employee progression and career development. This will not only increase autonomy and integrity in the work place, but also allows management to understand the respective areas of interest for future positions and hiring.
This will also bolster engagements and motivate your new employees to strive for excellence in all areas. A successful CEO will make sure that new hires have a sound understanding of the firm’s values, mission, and goals.
3. Active Engagement and Role Maintenance
Once management is confident that the new hires have fully settled in to their designated role, it is important to keep levels of employee engagement as high as possible.
Commitment and gratitude toward employees goes a long way. Model behavior for employees starts at the top. So, it is likely that a company’s staff will mirror that same level of commitment and gratitude in their work performance.
Regular “one-on-ones”, acknowledgments and objective setting will motivate employees to reach goals and improve their skillsets. Don’t be afraid to challenge your people and engage in healthy competition.
4. Promote From Within
There are many tools available for managers to utilize to acknowledge the accomplishments of their team. One of the most traditional and effective means of rewarding hardworking employees, is granting them a raise or promotion; or both if you can. If available, promotion from within is key for morale and a great way reward your staff members for their hard work.
Promotion from within provides an extremely strong index of the firm’s core culture. Managers should recognize that the individual rewards send a message to the entire organization. Be certain that the behaviors which are being endorsed by the promotion are in line with the firm’s culture and values. Again, being a model of positive behavior will ensure the remainder of the staff will look to emulate those behaviors you want to see reinforced.
Encouraging employee engagement through vertical communication is also great way to express mutual respect and show appreciation amongst one another.
5. Hire Multi-talented Employees
To maintain an edge in this increasingly competitive economy, companies need to ensure that they employ individuals referred to as “Unicorns” by HR managers. A Unicorn refers to a multi-skilled employee who is able to multitask and wear more than one hat. .
Unicorns are normally talented in numerous areas and can execute them all beyond a superficial level. Finding these employees starts before the interview process. A persons references and past work experience provides a window to the type of benefits they can provide your company.
Here are some of the key advantages of hiring Multi-talented employees:
- Multi-talented employees can save you a significant amount of money.
- Employees with a wide range skill sets improve productivity and business efficiency. You won’t need to worry about the level of work quality since they’ll perform remarkably in all business tasks and projects handed over to them.
- Having multi-talented employees allows for other team members to take sick and vacation days due to their ability to step into various roles. He or she can easily fill in and execute many jobs impeccably.
- Improves staff retention and motivation.
