5 ways to improve employee engagement
Once managers understand engagement's role in accomplishing objectives and driving performance, they must explore their culture's opportunities. When leadership knows where improvements are required, developing solutions becomes increasingly focused.?
Based on a 2022 Gallup study, US employee engagement fell for the first time in a decade, with the proportion of actively engaged workers shrinking from 36% in 2020 to 34% in 2021. This change serves as a wake-up call, especially given that engagement levels held steady during 2020's upheaval. Regardless, it is clear that employees have increasingly higher expectations of employers.
Reversing negative employee engagement is not easy, but fundamental approaches are a good guide. Actively listening to employees can help to gain organization-specific insights to tailor effective actions.?It also establishes a feedback loop for ongoing engagement and development.
Whether familiar with employee surveys or not, below are five critical considerations when developing a successful employee engagement plan.
Ongoing participation is necessary for success. Incorporating listening as a regular part of manager's schedules at all levels communicates to employees how important their opinions are. This involves integrating surveys and informal discussions into the regular workflow.
2. Prioritize experiences that pro-actively help employees
Sometimes it's necessary to respond to issues immediately, but prevention is always preferable. Assisting employees from onboarding through exit will determine the strength of their engagement. Enable them to be more effective and demonstrate care with needed resources, training, direction, etc.
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3. Encourage managers to take initiative
Responsibility for employee engagement must be shared across the organization at all levels.?Leaders need access to engagement data and training on the best responses. They must continue the conversation day-to-day to show the organization's commitment to improvement.?
Feeling cared for and valued are ultimately the most powerful engagement drivers.?
4. Transparency in results, information, and action.
Whether the data is positive or negative, make sure all employees have convenient access to it. Doing so builds trust in the process and ensures that their concerns have been heard.?Acknowledge issues directly, provide more discussion time, and report back on any plans for improvement.
5. Provide anonymous feedback opportunities?
While survey results should be shared transparently, caution should be exercised for verbatims that might identify an employee. Too much transparency can cause employees to fear retaliation. An option to submit anonymous comments ensures results are as accurate as possible.
Employees' emotional commitment to employers is often overlooked but is at least as important as production and efficiency?measures. Inspiring passion requires relationships with employees fueled by trust.?Developing a feedback and improvement culture will pay long-term dividends. Once an organization asks employees about their experience, it can understand and address issues in ways that demonstrate care. Feeling cared for and valued are ultimately the most powerful engagement drivers.?