Engagement is more than just a buzzword. It’s an important part of a healthy work culture and a business that’s truly making the best use of their human resources. It’s about how much employees care about their work, their impact on the company, and their place in it.

When you have them firing on full cylinders, it’s much easier to unlock the motivation and creativity that help you company excel.

So, how do you get it?

Get them on side with your goals

If you want them to care about where the company is headed and how they’re contributing to that direction, you have to make it clear to them.

Communicating the company’s strategy clearly is essential. When you’re giving new work goals or projects to a team, stress how it plays into those strategies. It creates a feeling of attachment to success that allows them to take some of the ownership they deserve in shared successes.

Invest in them and expect returns

If there’s one lesson to learn about the employer/employee relationship, it’s that compensation is never enough if you want them to be fully onboard.

Their future career and work life is just as important and, for that reason, employee development plans should be a part of what you offer them. Not only does it keep them engaged, it can help improve team retention rates.

Let them have more say in how they work

Ownership is a crucial ingredient in engagement. If you want your team to care about their work, they should have some say and investment in it.

One of the benefits of flexible offices that makes them worth the effort is that it allows the team some sense of that ownership over their day.

Not only that, but it respects that they may know what work arrangements work better for them and allows them the freedom to unlock their own productivity.

Offer real protection from the risks of the workplace

Discriminatory behaviors, harassment, bullying, and health risks are serious risks to the motivation and engagement of your team. Helping them feel a sense of belonging and respect by their employer is what keeps them engaged. Take the risks to their health, safety, and comfort seriously by implementing the HR and health & safety policies that you need to.

Value feedback in both directions

Feedback is a gift. You should treasure it when it’s given to you and give it mindfully. Employer feedback should not consist solely of a laundry list of rights and wrongs, but solutions to problems in how their time is being used without blame.

Similarly, setting up an employee feedback system can help them feel that their opinion is valued and that they are playing a role in shaping the culture of where they work.

Simply put, to get your employees engaged in the business, you have to be engaged in them, as well. The above tips only scratch the surface, there are plenty of other ways to create an engaging workplace culture worth taking a closer look at.

© New To HR