What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement refers to the connection and commitment employees have toward the organization. Engaged employees feel personally responsible for achieving the organization’s goals and will go above and beyond to ensure this happens.

You can assess employee engagement based on employees’ drive toward their jobs. It is not enough for an employee to come to work on time and achieve their KPIs. An engaged employee feels deeply about the company and is enthusiastic about contributing positively to the organization.

These criteria can help you determine whether your company has engaged employees:

• Work attitude: Engaged employees are optimistic about their work and the organization’s direction. Disengaged employees are more likely to be pessimistic rather than nonchalant.
• Workplace interactions: An engaged employee exhibits strong interpersonal skills, willing to work in teams and applies conflict resolution skills. A disengaged employee separates themselves from their colleagues and may prefer to let conflict fester as long as it does not affect their job performance.
• Motivation: The job and all it involves motivates an engaged employee. They seek opportunities to increase their competencies and are willing to take up undesirable tasks to enhance their skills. A disengaged employee values the job only as a means of making money.

If your company meets all its performance goals and can comfortably maintain its market share, employee disengagement may not feel like such a big deal. However, the impact of employee engagement can be felt and seen within and outside the organization.

It is, therefore, essential to create and implement employee programs for engagement.

Related: It’s Not All About Free Food — What Really Matters When It Comes to Employee Engagement

Benefits of employee programs for engagement

High performance

A high-performing organization consistently outstrips competitors in achieving its short- and long-term goals. Engaged employees are more likely to be innovative and creative to improve the company’s efficiency and effectiveness. It’s no wonder that studies show that companies with engaged employees have up to 147% better strategic outcomes than their counterparts.

Customer satisfaction

Engaged employees usually go above and beyond when accomplishing their tasks, and the results show in customer satisfaction indices. An engaged employee will create a strong relationship with each customer, personalizing their interactions to show they genuinely care. They do it not because their job requires them to, but because they want customers to have the same pride they feel for the company.

Increases the company’s value

The impact of high performance and customer satisfaction reflects in the company’s ROI. An organization with engaged employees is agile, sustainable and four times more likely to be profitable than competitors with disengaged employees.

Related: Engagement Brings Rewards: Maximize Your Employer Brand With Indeed Company Pages

Characteristics of a good employee engagement initiative

Successful employee engagement programs:

• Use employee feedback: Meetings, employee interviews and surveys are integral in developing an effective employee engagement initiative. Your staff can tell you what it needs to feel more involved in the organization better than any objective studies. Use employee feedback to determine how many engagement programs to create and what each should cover.
• Are applied from the top down: The company’s leadership should be the first to participate in employee programs for engagement. The activities can help reduce the barriers between employees and supervisors, enhancing communication and trust between the two parties.
• Have measurable outcomes: The results of an effective employee engagement initiative shouldn’t be measured only through the organization’s profitability. You can create a good program by stating the problem, the solution and the short-term outcomes expected at the end of the program. If you used employee engagement surveys to create a program, administer more surveys in the months following the program’s completion to see if there are any notable improvements.
• Are embedded in the organization’s fabric: You can increase the effectiveness of employee programs for engagement by ensuring continuous implementation. Employees will be more engaged if they always feel seen, needed and appreciated.

Related: 20 Employee Engagement Questions for Your Next Survey

9 employee engagement programs

Employee programs for engagement can fit into one of three categories based on how they motivate and inspire your staff.

1. Talent nurturing programs

Correct placement

Employees will be more engaged if they can apply their natural talents and learned skills in their daily tasks. Your company can get staff placement correct from the get-go by employing effective sourcing and talent acquisition strategies.

It’s crucial to evaluate candidates on more than just the qualifications they have on paper. The right candidate for any position has a solid record of exerting themselves. You can gauge this ability through one-on-one interviews, references from past employers and recruitment tests.

Once you select suitable candidates, use the probation period to rotate them in different functional areas of the company to determine which positions bring out their best performance. You should also monitor their interactions with colleagues and note how they receive feedback.

Moreover, be ready to end the company’s contract with anyone who seems comfortable with just getting by.

Job training

Employees can slowly become disengaged when they feel like the organization can move ahead without them. Proper training integrates them with the company and makes them feel like valued members of the workforce.

Collaborate with employees to create a personalized skills development program schedule. Ensure each staff member has the time to improve their skills. You can even offer to pay for different training programs to show them you care about their career development goals.

Coaching and mentoring

Employees are more likely to stay engaged and committed to their jobs if they believe they can one day become leading experts in their respective fields.

You can create a thriving coaching and mentoring program by giving your team leeway to pick people they admire and from whom they want to learn.

Be ready to use your company’s reach to provide employees coaching from leading experts in their areas of interest.

Related: The Recruitment Process: How to Attract, Hire and Onboard Top Talent

2. Job satisfaction programs

Recognition and rewards

Not even the smallest of an employee’s achievements should go unnoticed. Fortunately, recognition and reward programs don’t have to be complicated or cost the company a lot of money to be effective.

You can recognize day-to-day work achievements by having a leaderboard showing individuals who’ve demonstrated exceptional dedication to their work. Many companies use Employee of the Month programs to recognize employees who exhibit stellar work performance.

Your company can also present frequent gifts and bonuses to outstanding employees. Annual events and galas for awarding exceptional employees have proved successful employee engagement programs.

Communication

Employees’ concerns must always be heard and addressed. An employee engagement initiative that enables ongoing communication with your staff can be effective in enhancing job satisfaction.

Your employees should never be in the dark about any aspect of the organization’s operations. Transparency helps people be more secure in their job positions, stimulating engagement.

Use technology to enhance team communication, especially if you have a remote or global workforce.

Community impact

Seeing how their work benefits the people around them and even the world at large can create a sense of purpose in your team. You should, therefore, implement programs that connect your people with the communities they serve.

Some companies capitalize on their employees’ skills and talents to champion important community courses. You can organize charity runs, blood drives or sustainability programs that help your staff find more meaning in their work.

Related: How to Retain Your Employees: Ten Strategies to Improve Employee Satisfaction

3. Employee loyalty programs

Status and responsibilities

An employee whose role feels stagnant can quickly become disengaged. Consequently, promoting employees and trusting them with more senior responsibilities is one of the most effective employee engagement initiatives.

You can even offer your employees a chance to test their skills in different markets by assigning them international management positions. Accompany each promotion with a significant salary raise and a competitive benefits package.

Continuous learning

Continuous learning also reduces the chances of boredom, stagnation and disengagement. Encourage a habit of skills development in all your employees.

If someone feels they’ve reached the top of their field, offer them the chance to venture into a different career path. Sponsor their tuition and create opportunities for them to apply the learned skills in real-world business situations.

Long-term monetary benefits

People who understand that their job performance increases their passive income may work harder to accomplish the company’s goals.

Many companies offer employees stock options that increase with their stay in the company. Such employee programs for engagement programs improve job performance and enhance loyalty.