Employee Engagement Strategies That Drive Business Growth

Employee engagement is a hot topic in most business circles and has been for quite some time — for a very good reason. Engagement matters for business growth. When employees are engaged with the work they do and the organizations they do it for, they’re more productive, less prone to absenteeism and turnover, and more loyal.

But engagement isn’t something that should be left to chance, even in organizations that have historically enjoyed high levels of employee engagement. Employee engagement strategies need to be both strategic and intentional.?

How to Create Effective Employee Engagement Strategies

When creating employee engagement initiatives — especially those designed to fuel business growth — think intentionally and plan strategically. There are some specific things that organizations, their HR leaders, managers, and supervisors can do to ensure that their engagement activities achieve desired results.

• Align employee engagement strategies with company values and goals. Alignment is important from the top to the front lines of any organization, and that’s true with engagement initiatives as well. If your company’s core value is innovation, initiatives should be related to innovation, for instance.
• Ensure initiatives are inclusive and accessible. It’s important to ensure that your initiatives address the needs of all segments of your workforce, considering both DEI objectives and the needs of a multi-generational workforce.??
• Get feedback from employees. Don’t assume you know what’s important to employees, or what it will take to get and keep them engaged. Ask them! Ask them what matters, seek their feedback on initiatives, and examine the employee experience so that continuous improvements that contribute to a thriving company culture can be made.
• Ensure leadership support. Leaders at all levels of the organization need to support engagement initiatives both through their words and their actions. Demonstrating their strong commitment to engaging employees shows the entire workforce that leaders care and will take action to ensure engagement is ongoing.
• Make engagement a priority. Leadership support is foundational, but engagement needs to be a visible priority at every level of the organization so employees know that it’s real and that their participation and commitment is important.
• Measure success and track related key performance indicators (KPIs). How will you know if your engagement initiatives are effective? You need to measure them! This can be done through quick polls or surveys, as well as through monitoring metrics such as absenteeism, turnover, and productivity.
• Leverage technology! Technology can be a great enabler of engagement at every step of the way — from gathering employee feedback, to communicating about initiatives, to tracking progress along the way.?

With a solid, aligned, and strategic foundation in place, organizations can design initiatives that best meet the needs of the organization and its employees.

Examples of Employee Engagement Initiatives

Organizations are fortunate to have a wide range of options for employee engagement initiatives that can meet their unique needs. Here we take a look at some examples of ways companies have motivated their employees through effective engagement activities and initiatives.

Recognition of Achievements

When employees meet key milestones, it’s important to acknowledge their efforts — to recognize and thank them for their contributions. There are any number of achievements that could be recognized, from completing training programs, to finishing big projects, launching a new product, and more. These milestones can be recognized in a variety of ways — with social shoutouts, team congratulatory events, rewards, certificates, and even bonuses. In the process, not only are you rewarding those who achieved the goal, you’re also sending a signal to others about what you value, and how their actions could lead to similar rewards.

Celebration of Work Anniversaries

Many companies celebrate specific service anniversaries — like 1, 5, or 10 years of service, or more. You might also consider celebrating all of the years in between! Each year represents a valuable commitment the employee has made to the organization; they deserve to be recognized for their commitment! Consider that many employees may not make it from 1 to 5 years of service — but they might be more likely to do so if they’ve been recognized along the way for their service commitments. Consider that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median tenure for employees these days is between 2.8-4.9 years — short of that 5-year mark.

Celebrations can be big or small. Consider such things as social- or enterprise-wide congratulations, personalized celebrations with a message from the CEO, a thank you reward or gift, or even a shoutout at a company town hall meeting.?

Celebration of Birthdays and Other Special Life Events

In the “old days” employees were often encouraged to keep their work and home lives separate. That’s no longer the case and for good reason. They simply can’t! Work/life balance is more important than ever to employees; recognizing their important personal events can go a long way toward keeping them engaged.?

For instance, birthdays, marriage, a new baby, a new house, a big move — all of these are life moments that can be celebrated digitally with social messages from peers and personalized messages from leadership. Every memorable moment in our lives make up who we are. How we celebrate those moments (or how we fail to) impacts how happy and engaged we are.?

We all spend a lot of time at work — it makes sense to celebrate at work, too.

Incentive Programs

Incentives can be effectively used to engage employees in a little healthy competition—whether for achieving sales goals, wellnesses challenges, or something else. Acknowledge and rewarding accomplishments of any kind leads to more engaged employees, who are happier and more loyal.

Retirement Festivities

Retirements are special moments that can be used to celebrate an individual’s aggregate contributions to the company. Retiring employees can be thanked for their commitment by asking them to select a retirement give of their choice as a thank you for their years of services as well as through commemorative celebratory events with their peers — online or in person.?

These events give other employees the opportunities to let their teammates know that they are valued — and also send a signal to them about how their own efforts are valued.

Company-Wide Communication Spotlights

Keeping employees informed helps to connect them with the company and its mission. Frequent and consistent communication makes employees feel valued and feel that they’re part of the greater organization, and not just their own team.?

Connects Spotlights can be a great way to do this through news features, company information, tips, teambuilding activities, lunch and learns, and more.?

Benefits of Nurturing Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

Effective employee engagement can offer big benefits to any organization. Organizations, after all, are made up of people — people whose actions and contributions help companies achieve their goals. Engaged employees are more satisfied, more productive, and more likely to stay with the organization. The bottom line for employees: a job, company, and peers they truly enjoy. The bottom line for organizations: increased profitability and revenue.

Learn more about how employee engagement solutions can help drive these business outcomes. Talk with a specialist today.