Organizations who believe that employees are at the very core of their business are always looking for ideas for employee engagement in order to lessen friction and strife, increase creativity and productivity and streamline performance.
There will be times during the life of a company that in can be difficult to tell whether or not employees are truly engaged with their work and with the business. This leads to organizations tending to fall by the wayside when it comes to making sure that staff members feel valued and feel committed to the company. When employee engagement is lacking, it can lead to a lot of dismal and disastrous results, such as general discomfort and anxiety in the workplace, lack of motivation and decreasing productivity and even an increase in the number of employees leaving for better opportunities elsewhere. When solutions come in too late, a “snowball effect” can occur, leaving organization leaders and managers at a loss as how to manage and even save the company.
While maintaining employee engagement in the workplace can be challenging, here are some ideas for employee engagement that you can utilize in your business in order to ensure that workers are happy and dedicated in their work:
1. Hold brainstorming meetings and sessions.
Aside from the obvious potential for creativity and productivity, brainstorming sessions can also help give your employees a voice. Giving them a voice will, in turn, make them feel valued and will help them feel more motivated to work harder and better.
While brainstorming meetings in person are certainly effective, another option you can look at is to hold them online. Utilize the company’s intranet. Post a topic you want your employees to think about and share ideas on, and allow the best concepts to shine. Not only will your employees be utilizing a useful communication tool in the office, they will also be motivated to post their ideas and contribute to the betterment of the team and the company.
2. Close shop early on Fridays and bond with your employees.
One of the best ideas for employee engagement is to make sure that at the end of the week, employees are allow to relieve themselves of stress. One of the best ways to do this is to shut down operations an hour or two earlier during Fridays and having a “happy hour” with your work staff. This time can be used to bond with your employees, to debrief and to congratulate employees for a job well done during the week.
3. Give new employees mentors.
Giving new employees mentors is one of the best ideas for employee engagement. While coming up with solutions as how to get employees engaged again is certainly important, it is more advisable to make sure that you are able to keep employees engaged from the very beginning. This helps ensure that you retain staff members in the long run.
Assign a mentor to each new employee, a current employee who is actively engaged with his or her work and the company as well. Create a schedule wherein seasoned employees can work closely with new staff members.
4. Know what your employees are interested in.
Because your staff members have to divide their time between work and family, more often than not, they don’t have time to engage in their own personal interests and passions. This lack of time may leave them feeling deflated and disengaged. You can avoid this by allowing your employees time to indulge in the things that interest them. You could potentially allow them a day every month or every two months to focus on their own interests such as playing basketball, making jewellery, and others.
