It’s well documented that job satisfaction drives productivity in the workplace, leading to a happier workforce, higher rates of employee retention, greater workload completion and wider profit margins as a result. However, employee engagement goes far beyond merely being happy with your job.
Instead, it encompasses an individual’s investment in the ethos and objectives of the company, aligning their own goals with that of their employer. In order to stimulate this kind of unparalleled staff motivation, it takes a dedicated performance management and employee engagement strategy, executed consistently and continually across all aspects of your business.
At 3radical, we understand the impact that engaging an employee can have upon their work ethic and their workplace behaviour – and how cumulatively, that impact can transform a company’s fortunes for the better.
Where does employee engagement management take place?
Many organisations make the mistake of believing that employee engagement can be distilled into a single team-building session or a monthly check-in with your staff to see how they’re getting on. In truth, fostering this kind of mutually beneficial and respectful relationship with your staff is a holistic process which should form an ever-present undercurrent to all of your business operations.
Here are a few areas in which you should introduce workforce engagement management as a means of establishing a rapport between you and your employees and ensuring the whole team is pulling in the same direction:
Recruitment
That’s right – employee engagement should begin before the individual in question is even on the payroll! Businesses which display a strong corporate brand with clearly defined goals will inevitably attract like-minded individuals whose own vision for success dovetails with that of the company. Therefore, creating a brand whose identity and objectives are immediately discernible is key to attracting higher quality candidates for the vacant positions within your company.
Not only that, but you can implement robust recruitment processes, information sharing schemes and friend or family referral initiatives to drive engagement with your prospective employees right off the bat. In this way, you’ll help to build a circular ecosystem of trust and talent recruitment based upon an ever-expanding network of business connections.
Productivity and performance
Once you’ve got fresh talent in the door, it’s essential you ensure they understand where they fit into your plans for the company. Comprehensive onboarding and induction programmes will help them get to grips with how things are done in their new workplace and allow them to envision what role they can adopt to take things forward. Equipping them with the knowledge about relevant processes, resources and regulations is also key to making them feel at home.
However, it’s important not to rest on your laurels after a new member has been assimilated into the team. Keep on top of employee engagement management by continually checking in with them, which can take place in both formal and informal formats. Understanding how well they’re coping with their workflow is important, but taking the time to get to know them as an individual (and not just an employee) will show you’re willing to go the extra mile to ensure everyone on your ship is happy to be there.
Training and education
You can’t expect your workforce to be confident in their abilities if they’re not equipped with the tools to succeed – and apprehensive employees are set up to fail. After all, team members who don’t understand what is expected of them or how to achieve it are only going to stall progress, create tensions and undermine the harmony that you’ve worked so hard to foster.
That’s why it’s essential you ensure every member of your team has the expertise they need to achieve their goals through the provision of bespoke training modules, educational seminars and e-learning sessions. What’s more, you can use gamification techniques to deliver the requisite intelligence in a way that is entertaining as well as informative, ensuring your staff remain engaged even as they learn.
Connected workforce
In the same way a sports team strives to overcome their opponents, you must engender a similar sense of camaraderie and togetherness among your workforce in achieving its objectives. This can be done via team-building events and extra-curricular activities, but also through instilling your company’s values and culture across the staff via mentoring, seminars and good team management.
If the workforce is all working as one, you’ll be able to see vastly improved results when it comes to achieving your business aims and outperforming your rivals. That’s especially true if your staff take on those aims as their own. In achieving the ideals they aspire to, they’ll bring the success your business deserves.
Employee valuation
When a staff member feels like their opinions are respected and their own welfare is looked out for, they’ll respond to any challenges the business might face with far more gusto. You can assure your workforce that they’re more than mere cogs in a machine by holding regular discussions to encourage them to air concerns, suggest improvements and take a stake in the business.
Indeed, if you’re transparent in how the business is performing by sharing occasions on which it has excelled but also on which it has disappointed, you can alert staff to areas which require improvement. This will encourage them to brainstorm new solutions and continually look to optimise the formula, especially if they can see the fruits of their labour laid out in front of them. While extrinsic perks of the job like benefit plans and support services are always appreciated by employees, you shouldn’t neglect the intrinsic value you wish them to place in their work.
How can we help?
One thing should be clear by now – engaging your employees is not just a desirable subplot in the ultimate success of your business. It’s absolutely crucial to all of your main objectives.
Thankfully, help is at hand. At 3radical, we understand that performance management and employee engagement go hand in hand. That’s why we leverage the most forward-thinking methods and the most advanced digital solutions to ensure your workforce buys into your ethos wholesale. Our sophisticated Voco platform uses the latest gamification techniques to gather earned data, offer tangible insights and bring real value to you and your workforce.
Eager to learn more? Our informative video below will give you a brief introduction into what we do and why we do it. Alternatively, you can discuss your own unique business needs further by dropping us an email at info@3radical.com. Take the first step towards engaging your employees and optimising your operations today.