Smart managers do what it takes to keep employees happy as this reduces attrition, increases productivity and creates greater satisfaction. To this end, regular employee engagement is the best bet, which is why many companies have made it their crucial priority. The importance of this continues to be reinforced, whenever we come across situations of how NOT to perform employee engagement.
Recently, we came across this situation at a mid-sized company. An HR person sent out an email exhorting employees to participate in an inter-office contest. The following day, another email arrived, this time informing employees that participation was compulsory. The contest day came and yet another message arrived, informing everyone that only 5 out of 50 employees had responded. The message sternly reminded that 45 employees were still left and there was no space for excuses.
Does this seem like fun? A majority of employees did not agree with the HR person’s idea of fun! Irrespective of their intentions of involving more people, the HR department had clearly got it wrong !, .
Most companies look for dedicated, enthusiastic workforce and this means achieving superior employee morale. So how do companies go about engaging employees and building morale? Here are 5 tips that any company can use:
1. Fair compensation: Companies should offer competitive wages or salaries comparable to similar enterprises. If salaries are deficient, companies will not have the capability to retain skilled people and productivity will inevitably drop. HR can use its knowledge of standard industry compensation to arrive at a fair salary that employees deserve.
2. Defined goals: Outline expectations and goals clearly as employee engagement can suffer when people don’t understand what is expected or why. HR helps senior management clearly communicate objectives and helps translate these into individual goals.
3. Professional behaviour: Both management and employees should be able to treat each other with respect and understanding. This is the most important part of creating an engaged workforce. Without a professional environment, productivity can quickly decrease with infighting and unnecessary workplace politics. HR can provide training on how to maintain respect for each other and communicate in a more timely fashion.
4. Recognition: Recognize good performance in your employees. It makes people believe that the company values their contribution and rewards their efforts accordingly. HR can set up companies with a modest reward program that will ultimately enhance employee engagement in the long term.
5. Work-life balance: Employees are inevitably more stressed out when they are unable to balance personal pressures with company demands. This is a crucial issues in today’s busy world and employees end up losing focus and getting burnt out. HR can advocate flexibility and increase engagement by offering work from home, time-off, tele-work opportunities, and other options.
While these are important points to consider, companies can use technology to more effectively engage with employees. For instance, many of the tips described above can be further enhanced through technology – performance management, training and compensation reviews would proceed more smoothly and afford greater transparency.
