10 employee engagement strategies to create a winning work culture

Do you want to deliver the greatest possible employee experience to boost productivity and foster a positive company culture? One of the best ways to do so is by understanding the drivers of employee engagement and highlighting meaningful employee engagement strategies.

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Building a winning work culture is not easy. It requires a genuine understanding of the people who work for you and a focus on fulfilling their needs and expectations. A good employee engagement strategy starts with identifying the existing problems within the company, finding the loopholes, and implementing solutions that can enhance employee satisfaction.

This article highlights some effective employee engagement strategies that will drive better performance, productivity, and loyalty.

Here are the 10 employee engagement strategies you need

1. Start with your company culture

In the midst of a talent war being fought remotely, if employees cannot relate to your culture and values, they are sooner or later going to leave you.

To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace

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Doug Conant

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CEO, Campbell’s Soup

Prioritizing culture is the first step towards a sustainable engagement strategy. If you do not have a well-defined culture that aligns with your organizational goals, your strategies will remain half-baked.

Quick tips for company culture:

  • Establish strong core values that align with what your company stands for.

  • Promote diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.

  • Respect your employees’ views and opinions.

  • Create a culture of recognition.

  • Foster social connections in the workplace.

  • Build a culture of mutual respect and trust.

RELATED: How to use feedback to improve company culture

2. Is your organization reward-driven?

Rewarding your employees is one of the most effective ways to improve their engagement.

Rewards and recognition can hugely affect your employees’ feelings of satisfaction and self-worth and are directly linked to their motivation and morale. Therefore, companies must practice a culture of recognition to drive employee engagement.

Most successful companies provide incentives and monetary rewards to their employees to motivate them to improve their performance and boost engagement.

But automation and digitization have made it possible to send, receive and manage appreciation-based recognition even when working remotely. Online recognition platforms help you instantly appreciate and strengthen internal communication and connections, even when your team members work in different locations.

Quick tips for recognition:

  • Practice a culture of recognizing employees in a timely, frequent, and value-based manner.

  • Give both monetary and non-monetary rewards to employees for their achievements.

  • Encourage peer-to-peer recognition.

Here is a guide to Rewards and Recognition that will help you build a culture of recognition in your company.

3. The power of continuous feedback

A company that believes in the importance of continuous feedback will improve both employee engagement scores and the overall employee experience.

A feedback culture allows you to identify and understand any issues that might be stopping your employees from performing better and provides insightful data that can help you identify your company’s strengths and shortcomings.

It also helps you leverage your company’s strengths to make the employee experience better. When feedback is acted on, it also builds trust and transparency as employees feel heard and valued.

Therefore, acknowledging the importance of continuous feedback is vital for your employee engagement strategies.

Quick tips for continuous feedback:

  • Conduct online employee engagement surveys to understand your workforce better.

  • Have one-on-one meetings with your employees.

  • Conduct exit interviews.

Continuous feedback

4. Encourage transparency

Having a transparent culture and keeping your workforce informed about your company’s activities creates a sense of equality.

Hence, transparency plays a vital role in keeping employees engaged. Lack of transparency can lead to unmotivated employees, lower morale and the spread of misinformation within the company. It can also lead to confusion among teams. To prevent this from occurring, establish open communication channels and ensure a free flow of information between people and teams.

Quick tips to encourage transparency:

  • Prioritize two-way communication channels.

  • Organize town hall meetings among leaders and the workforce for open interactions.

  • Keep everyone informed about small/big business decisions.

  • Provide access to information and involve employees in decision-making.

5. Empower your employees

When employees are empowered at work, they show greater job performance, employee satisfaction, and commitment to the organization. They manage their job well and reach high levels of motivation and creativity.

Leaders who are seen as empowering are more inclined to give their employees authority, seek their opinion, and promote autonomous decision-making. And giving employees the autonomy to perform their roles leads to greater feelings of ownership and productivity.

Quick tips to empower employees:

  • Give enough freedom to make their own decisions.

  • Provide flexibility to balance their personal and professional commitments.

  • Motivate and inspire them.

  • Encourage active listening among the workforce.

6. Provide a sense of purpose

It is an inherent need of humans to find purpose in what they do. This sense of purpose is crucial for employees to stay motivated, understand their goals and aids in higher engagement, productivity, and performance. So, are you successful in helping create a sense of purpose for your employees?

When your employee engagement strategies go hand in hand with people-centric policies and values, they’ll find a greater sense of purpose.

Quick tips to help employees create a sense of purpose:

  • Help your employees understand how their work can impact the business.

  • Give clear goals and objectives that are aligned with the company’s mission.

  • Create opportunities for them to grow and learn.

  • Encourage team collaboration and active communication.

7. Understand your people

It is crucial to understand your people individually – their diverse backgrounds, their needs, wants and what drives them. This starts with building an inclusive culture, where everyone feels comfortable working and participating in activities.

Understanding your employees’ skill sets and expectations will help you ensure they’re in the right role. No leader or manager can build a culture of trust and accountability without understanding their people.

Quick tips for understanding your people:

  • Listen to your employees.

  • Send check-ins and pulse surveys to understand their expectations.

  • Encourage two-way communication.

  • Encourage employees to give their views and opinions freely.

8. Take care of their well-being

Take care of your employees, and they will take care of your business

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Richard Branson

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Richard Branson

Photo credit: INMA/Jarle Naustvik

Employees run your business. When your employees are not happy and satisfied, your bottom line will suffer.

If your employees are feeling stressed, anxious or burnt out, they won’t be able to be their best selves, and engagement and performance will likely take a hit too.

Ensuring the health of your team is even more challenging in distributed workforces. When you’re working in an office, it’s easier to see their behavior, but in remote work environments, it isn’t easy to act on such cues and employees working from home post-covid-19 are more susceptible to health issues due to uncertainty and changes in work culture.

Therefore, it is critical to implement digital wellness programs for your employees, even if they work remotely or in a hybrid work environment.

A digital wellness platform can help them develop healthy habits and improve their well-being.

Quick tips for employee wellbeing:

  • Encourage in building fitness goals.

  • Provide aid and support when there is an emergency.

  • Have clear health policies and benefits for the workforce.

  • Be flexible with work hours.

Managing a hybrid or remote team? Download our free Hybrid Teams Toolkit for managers.

9. Invest in employee training

The Training Magazine reports that US corporations spend an average of $4.5 billion on staff training and development initiatives.

But why is employee training so necessary? The answer is simple.

Employees who are well trained are more engaged and confident at their jobs. Training allows companies to build a motivated and skilled workforce that is up-to-date with the newest technologies in this quickly developing environment.

If you want your employees to thrive, training and development must be one of your main focuses.

Quick tips for employee training:

  • Offer training opportunities for their career development.

  • Invest in learning and development programs.

  • Don’t make training a one-time process. It must be continuous.

10. The leadership effect

The impact of effective leadership on employees is immense. It provides a clear picture to employees of where the company is heading, inspires them and motivates them to rise to challenges.

An important element of good leadership is regular check-ins with employees – to see how they’re progressing towards their goals, if they need any support and how they’re generally coping. These interactions, sometimes known as continuous performance management, help identify opportunities for growth and increases employee engagement.

Your employees must have a leader they can look up to in times of need for guidance. Thus, having an effective leader is of utmost importance.

Conclusion

If you look closely, building the right employee engagement strategies is not difficult or costly. It just has to be completely employee-centric and provide the best employee experience. Engaged employees deliver improved performance and boost organizational success. Make sure you keep them happy!

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