Six Steps To Improving Employee Engagement

Six Steps To Improving Employee Engagement

An engaged team is a highly effective team. Employee engagement is one of the toughest challenges faced by managers today. As time passes, it can be difficult to keep your team motivated and determined to go the extra mile. Workers can quickly become complacent and end up doing the bare minimum to get by. Turnover is costly and time consuming, so it’s crucial to keep your employees motivated and satisfied, with plenty of opportunities for development and upward mobility. This week, we’re sharing six tips to engage your employees and foster a healthy team.

Be a leader they can believe in and lead by example.Caring managers that take a strong interest in their employees are much more likely to have a satisfied and engaged team. Concentrate on building strong relationships with your team members and show interest in both their professional and personal lives. Learn what is important to them. Make a special point to engage those with the company longer than five years, as this is when engagement is most likely to decline or stagnate. Recognize individual contributions and offer incentives to top performers that exceed expectations. 

Empower your employees. Give your employees the ability to make decisions and offer input in order to keep their engagement and job satisfaction high. Provide them with the necessary resources to go above and beyond their responsibilities. Create a sense of ownership so that employees have direct control over their projects and can take pride in a job well done. Provide growth opportunities to keep your team motivated to work hard and focused on upward mobility. We all own the world we help to create, so let them play a role in the creation of that world. 

Build a positive work environment. Create a company culture that promotes positivity and give your team opportunities to interact with each other on a personal level, have fun, and blow off steam. Show respect to work life balance. Employees are more likely to work hard and go the extra mile if they know you respect their personal time and health. 

Build confidence in your employees. As Dale Carnegie’s principles state, "Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise." Take the time to recognize hard work and achievements of all magnitudes to keep employees motivated and on the right track. It is a busy life, so we sometime neglect praise. We take people for granted and we shouldn’t. We know this but we often forget. Put it in your ‘to do" list – find things to praise, rather than search for things to criticize.

Give feedback. Feedback is more important now than ever, as younger generations thrive on input regarding how they can improve. Provide opportunities for coaching and training to teach employees new skills and identify where hidden talents may lie. Mentorship and shadowing programs can be a valuable tool for younger team members as well. This applies to all staff, including the top performers. We can sometimes leave them alone, as they are doing well, and concentrate our efforts on those not doing so well. The top performers need recognition too, so don’t imagine they don’t, just because they seem very capable and independent.

Measure employee engagement. Dynamics within your organization are sure to change over time. You will need to gather metrics on employee engagement as you will most likely need to adjust your strategy at some point. Surveys and in person interviews are both great ways to get a better understanding of engagement levels at your company. Make sure that your team members are comfortable enough with you to be honest about challenges they may be facing. Honesty should be rewarded and employees need to know they are in an environment where they are safe from repercussions. This is a continuous process, so make sure to keep checking in with employees and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at [email protected]

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About The Author

Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan

Author of Japan Sales Mastery, the Amazon #1 Bestseller on selling in Japan and the first book on the subject in the last thirty years.

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.

A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, "THE Sales Japan series", THE Presentations Japan Series", he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.