The Power of Engaging Employees.

This month will mostly be changeable with a positive outlook at the start of the month and the occasional cloudy period. Joking aside, do you find January can start with good intentions that fizzle out as the month progresses?

I hope you enjoyed the Christmas holidays. The break allowed me time to catch up on current affairs and think about how our business will evolve with new trends, the economic situation, and changes across the business landscape. The year ahead for SME’s is likely to be one of change, uncertainty and optimism combined.

3 Media released a statement in November that summarised its view of the year ahead for UK SME’s. UK Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are looking forward to a bumper 2024, as they expect to hit an average of 15% year-on-year revenue growth, bringing overall SME turnover from ￡2trillion (tn) in 2023 to ￡2.3tn next year[1]. Whatever the year ahead brings, working closely with those in your organisation is of the upmost importance to be a force of power.

January is typically a month where people evaluate their working life and often look for new opportunities. Gallup reported that 51% percent of currently employed workers said they are watching for or actively seeking a new job.

Why employees decide on a career change and move from one business to another can be for many reasons. As an employer there are things that can be done to create a desirable working environment and keep your best assets engaged and part of your long-term strategy.

Ideas to engage

1. Regular comms

2. Sharing plans/strategy

3. Team building & social engagement

Events that build team engagement can be of various scale. Some companies go big with conferences at the start of the year to share strategy and plans for the year ahead. Other events LemonZest work on with customers are smaller more intimate events that promote coming together and involving the team in a united approach to success.

Thinking outside of the box is second nature for LemonZest and we have ideas for strategy briefings, award and recognition events to celebrate employees and even social/celebration events. How about team building workshops and activities to improve collaboration within the team? It’s important to understand that employee engagement is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and attention – not a one off event. As the event calendar continually shifts to a less cyclical format, the opportunity for regular events to engage is plentiful.

Engaged employees are more committed, motivated, and likely to contribute to the success of the organisation. In maintaining open communication, it keeps employees informed about company goals, strategy and changes and two-way communication should be encouraged.

Remember, the key is to tailor your events to the needs of your organisation and specific teams. We suggest this and other ideas to engage as part of an initial ideas generation session we can run with you to maximise your engagement events calendar.

Book in a call or face to face meeting with me or one of the LZ team and we can share ideas for how to leverage events for engaging employees and in turn, getting everyone on the same page and aligned to a better working environment for all.

Enjoy your fresh start to the year!

Source: [1 Calculated using baseline 2023 revenues from ONS data, October 2023. ONS: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2022 ]