The Power of the Engaged Employee

Here’s the cold, hard truth: your employees aren’t engaged. According to a Gallup survey, 64% of employees are disengaged. Gordon Tredgold, author of the article 5 Truths About Employee Engagement That No One Wants to Hear broke this statistic down best when he said “Odds are unless you're No. 1 in your sector, nearly two-thirds of your staff are disengaged. Not only that but 15 percent are actively disengaged. In other words, if your business was a boat, for roughly every two individuals that are rowing hard towards your goals, one employee is rowing the opposite direction — and the rest are just passengers.” Knowing that a potential two-thirds of your employees are disengaged can be a frightening statistic, after all, organizations with engaged employees have a lower turnover rate, a better grasp of company goals, and better relationships between coworkers. Employee engagement can be the key to taking your company to the next level. Here are 7 ways you can help increase your organization's employee engagement.

Many organizations believe that employee engagement is something that only employees can be accountable for. The reality is that managers can be even less engaged than employees! An engaged manager creates the culture of their team. Programs should be developed by HR that focuses on helping managers become better leaders. With a good leader at the helm, the rest of the team's actions will follow suit.

Have one-on-one chats with employees. Take the time out of your schedule to meet with individual employees, discuss strengths and weaknesses and most importantly help them identify their purpose within your organization. Each member of your team is an important part of the functionality of your company, from the intern to the CEO everyone needs to know that their position has a purpose.

Send care packages. A well-curated care package sends fantastic messages about the company that sent them. Consider creating a care package of health essentials for employees (it might contain a yoga mat, water bottle, and maybe even a sleep mask) another option is a work from home kit (mouse pad, blue light glasses, mug, and a notebook). Whatever kind of kit you create, the employee who receives it will feel appreciated and more motivated to do a good job.

Acknowledge all behavior (the good and bad)- The good done by your employees should always be celebrated, praise is a great tool for helping to empower your employees. On the flip side, letting poor performance slide by without acknowledging it or correcting it will create frustration amongst all employees.

Survey says… A great way to gauge team attitude and engagement is by sending out a survey. The survey can contain questions like:

1. What is one thing you’ve done this week, month, quarter that you are proud of?

2. Are there any projects you’d like to be a part of?

3. What skills are you looking to enhance?

4. What support do you need that you aren’t getting?

By asking these questions you show you care. Once you’ve gotten your survey responses it’s important to follow up and use the data to make improvements.

Spotlight a success. This is similar to #4 but taking a moment to spotlight someone on your team who has been creating a positive impact is great for morale. Not only does it generate more work from other team members who hear the spotlight but it creates a culture of support in the workplace.

Prioritize the well-being of your employees. Offer up seminars on how to decrease stress or fun activities for employees during the day (nutritious lunches, yoga breaks, outside work environments) each of these little things will be another way you can show your employees that you care.

For the above ideas to become impactful the leaders of the company must commit to providing long-lasting change. Of course, not every company is the same, take the time to integrate the best strategies possible for YOUR team. Once you begin to focus on how you can improve employee engagement you will begin to see your work environment change and employees' work ethic improve. The most important part of the business is the people behind the business, providing ways for your employees to become more engaged will demonstrate how important the people are.

*This article was inspired by 3 different articles from Entrepreneur magazine. To check out each of these articles follow the links: 5 Truths About Employee Engagement That No One Wants to Hear , How to Gauge and Monitor Employee Engagement , 3 Ways to Engage Your Employees Right Now