Engaged employees are productive employees. They perform better, are torch bearers of your culture and always strive to make a positive impact on the bottom-line for the organization. As the saying goes, good HR is almost the same as good PR if engagement efforts are put in strategically. And given the fact that now there is a significant chunk of new generation professionals who have a higher probability of being 'distracted' and 'disengaged', employee engagement efforts now are more crucial than they ever were.
But above all, good employee engagement leads the employee to have an overall positive attitude towards the organization and its values.
Therefore, it is safe to say that building concrete and relevant values is the first step towards better employee engagement. Primarily because they help establish one unified identity by lending a character and voice to the company. Often, values end up becoming good hiring tools and simplify the process of recruiting the right talent through soft-skill mapping and cultural-fit analysis.
While building an amazing value framework is an important first step, it is definitely not sufficient when it comes to sustaining the whole employee engagement process in the organization. Here are a few other important things that can be done to set sturdy expectations and ensure a smooth run of the entire employee engagement plan:
Create a Circle of trust: Engagement essentially begins with trust and transparency. Therefore, to ensure that your employees are feeling connected to the whole purpose and mission of the organization, it is important you create a circle of trust. Interacting with the team through regular meetings aimed at sharing information and updates thus becomes very important for the leadership of the organization in leading by example and setting good benchmarks for the rest.
Provide Consistent Coaching: Development and growth of their own self is a major part of the expectations people have from their jobs today. The game is no longer about mere bread-winning. The new age employee wants to flourish, grow and prosper in their chosen career. Therefore, the organization must take proactive steps in order facilitate this and make sure expectations on this front are met to the maximum extent possible. The coaching an employee receives while on the job also goes a long way in enriching and enhancing the overall capital of human resource at the organization’s disposal.
Ditch The Cubicles: More and more organizations are moving away from the culture of cubicles to embrace open and modular working areas. This not only encourages a free flow of ideas and conversation, but it also helps employees connect better. What’s more interesting is the use of indoor plants, motivational or quirky posters, color pops and other installations that are known to be mood enhancing and lend an overall good vibe to offices. After all, who would mind spending a third of their day in a setting that is as appealing as it is inspiring?
Foster Well-meaning Relationships:Today, it is more important to ensure that your employees’ interactions go beyond their usual 9-5 schedules. And the HR can facilitate this through multiple (time-tested and reliable!) channels like sports, offsites, team lunches or family get-togethers. Eventually, this effort translates to meaningful relationships that go beyond just being colleagues and getting on with daily schedules.
Leverage Technology: Lastly, what most organizations cannot overlook today is the extent to which social media and the whole online culture has penetrated into the lives of their employees. Getting employee engagement online has become very important in the whole picture. The concept of having new-age tools like social networking platforms for the organization’s internal use and connect has gained a lot of popularity and is now being widely considered as a vital part of employee engagement exercise at leading organizations.
As an HCM vendor engagement has always been an element of the strategic importance of our platform at . And therefore the social networking module ‘Vibe’, as well as the ‘Pulse’ functionality of the product, are built to give the necessary boost to your employee engagement efforts! Schedule a demo today to know more.