‘Did you know that the average person spends more than 90,000 hours at work in their lifetime?’
So how do you make sure that those 90,000 hours engage, motivate and challenge your employees and ultimately contribute to their overall happiness at work?
But first, let’s ask ourselves, what is ‘employee engagement’? According to Forbes magazine, employee engagement: ‘Is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organisation and its goals’. So it’s not the same as employee satisfaction or employee happiness. Making employees happy is different from making them engaged. Engaged employees love their jobs, believe in their employer, work towards company goals and enjoy the manner in which they conduct their business.
As you read this survey related article from Gallup you will learn that, worldwide, only 30% of employees are engaged in their work. More than 50% of employees said they weren’t engaged, and almost 20% of the employees stated that they were ‘actively disengaged’. So we can conclude that employee engagement is a serious topic. By knowing those facts it’s time to know how engaged your employees are and how you can improve on it.
Let’s discuss 5 simple ways to increase your employee engagement.
1. Employee engagement surveys
Do you really know how your team members experience the work environment? The primary focus of employee engagement is no longer on the employee to simply be happy, but rather, on the manager to ensure each employee feels fulfilled in their role, supported by their manager and leaders, and connected to the company’s purpose. The INPROVE employee engagement surveys have proven to boost motivation, engagement and understanding as they provide clear insight in the current situation in your company which will allow you to generate more data about your team members and make a positive impact on how they feel working for you, turning them into fans of your brand
2. Gamification
Gamification does not imply creating a game. It means making HR initiatives more fun and engaging for employees, without undermining its credibility. Gamification helps employees gain motivation towards their role and because of the positive feedback provided to them, they get pushed forwards and become more interested and stimulated to learn. Engagement is the most important metric for success in gamification. Earlier gamified projects of INPROVE showed that the engagement of teams goes up by about 80% after playing The Hunt (an alternate reality game). An Alternate Reality Game (ARG) is a highly engaging project (it’s not a game), weaving the real world through a compelling backstory, using different media, subtle gameplay, and influence through interaction from the community that plays it.
With The Hunt we create a mystery shopping game were all your team members can excel by showing the best employee behaviour to create a memorable customer experience. Gamification helps to boost your employee engagement in a very short time frame and generates a high impact, but most importantly – it’s fun!
‘Millennials are more focused on the diverse use of their knowledge, skills, creativity and are looking for freedom and independence at work which makes gamification as relevant as ever’
3. Encourage remote working
Due to COVID-19, we are forced to work more flexibly, remote and agile. We can conclude that flexible and virtual work is the BIG thing at the moment. According to Globalwork 68% of employees globally say, they are very succesful in teleworking. 77% of the employees are satisfied with the flexibility they have and they feel they are more productive from home, then when working in the office. With those results in mind we strongly advise to embrace the new way of working and continue with working remote. Your employees will feel appreciated, it will boost the engagement by allowing more at the end, a virtual workfoce also cuts overhead costs and shows that you trust your employees.
4. 360 degree feedback
What has employee engagement to do with your managers, you ask? A lot. A Gallup 2017 report concluded that employees, working for a highly engaged manager, are 59% more engaged then employees working for disengaged managers. This makes sense, correct? Managers make or break the experience for their teams. How can you tell whether your managers are truly engaged or if they are just doing their work without motivation?
The 360 degree feedback surveys from INPROVE can be a solution. With those surveys you not only measure your employee engagement, but you also get clear insights in your leadership’s behavior. The outcome gives you feedback on your employee’s personal development. You can raise the any engagement of your entire team as it will not only help you to bring feedback from employee to manager but also from peer to peer. Perfect to discover the talents in your organisation and to start working on the personal development of your managers and employees.
5. BYOD (bring your own device)
Earlier, we already spoke about the Milennials – or Generation Y– (born between 1986 -2000). At the moment this is the largest group that is active in the workfield and they are glued to their devices. For that reason, why should you not let them use it? BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) increases employee engagement by giving autonomy to let your employees work the way they want, when they want. In the long run, these minor gains lead to big achievements. Give employees your trust and let them use their own devices.