Employee Engagement for Higher Productivity

employee engagementA business performance is greatly affected by the productivity of its employees. Skills and experience are no longer enough but also the efficiency on how workers accomplish their tasks plays a vital role.  With the various challenges employees face daily within their workand with their personal lives, employee engagement has become a challenge not just by small business organisations but also by medium to large-scale business corporations.

Based on HayGroup’s 2013 Global Employee Engagement and Enablement Trends, an average of 66% of global employees are engaged but it is still below the engagement levels you can find in high performing companies.  In addition to these, the study also revealed that 43% of workers lack the motivation to create an impact to their organisations except than what is required for them from their jobs.  With the numbers given, one can say that if employee engagement is given enough attention by business leaders, a significant change can happen within the business.

There are a lot of factors that can improve employee engagement in a company but here are the ones that can create an immediate effect with higher impact:

Strong Support System

Employees look up to their leaders and supervisors not just for guidance but also for support when it comes to their team’s role in the business.  Developing open communication, discussing and clarifying the company’s plans and boosting the morale will not only support the employees but will also give them a feeling of belongingness and responsibility.

Work conditions

Findings in the Global Employee Trends show that 38% of the workers have complaints about the working conditions and how these conditions affect their productivity.  The place where workers perform their jobs should be safe and comfortable and must also provide them the tools and resources they need to accomplish their tasks.  We cannot expect employees to be in their 100% when they are working in unfavorable surroundings.

Clear definition of responsibilities

One can focus more on the task at hand if that person understands what he or she needs to do and why.  Businesses face so many changes when it comes to demands, work routines and other processes to keep up with their competitors.  Most of the time management will assign new responsibilities or tasks and fail to explain to employees why there is a need for those new responsibilities and how they can contribute to properly execute them.

Workforce Empowerment

Trusting your employees and not limiting them on how to accomplish their tasks can foster enthusiasm, encourage resourcefulness and provide a sense of ownership.  Empowerment can also create an emotional bridge for the employees toward their companies and this connection can drive them to go beyond than what is expected of them and slowly build loyalty.

Create strategies for rewards and recognitions

Creating an incentive or rewards system to recognize employee contribution motivates them and increases their engagement.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be a financial reward.  A tap on the back or a personal email for tasks delivered on time, a bigger say on the team’s decision-making or compliment in front of other co-workers re some recognitions that will not cost any company a single cent but can boost positive motivation.

(Photo Credits: Creative Commons)

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About R Neal

Ronita Neal is a Leadership Developer who works with leaders, emerging leaders and managers to develop their capacity to achieve extraordinary outcomes for themselves, their teams and their organisations.