Tips for Boosting Employee Engagement

By Keith Cawley

Everyone wants to engage and be engaged -- in networking, on social media, and especially in the workplace. A recent Gallup poll, however, reports that 7 out of 10 workers report being actively disengaged or not engaged in their work, yet many companies boast about their focus on employee engagement. What does engagement actually mean? Who is responsible for it? What are the best practices for successful engagement?

Here are a few basic guidelines for gaining perspective on your team’s engagement, and tips to improve:

1. Practice purposeful methods of analyzation.

How does one determine if an acceptable level of employee engagement has been reached? Most companies tend to default to traditional surveys to assess the matter, though they are rarely the most effective tool. Some surveys can be great for obtaining a deeper understanding of your team, but they can also result in “analytics for analytics sake” as the results are rarely acted upon. Also, employees are often nervous that they will be judged by their responses and are likely to give inconclusive answers (e.g., Option C: I neither agree nor disagree with statement). Which brings us to guideline number two . . .

2. An engaged team member always has something to add to the discussion.

The participation level on optional open-ended survey questions can tell you a lot about the level of existing employee engagement. A low participation level, whether the question was serious or quirky, is a tell-tale sign that your team isn’t interested in spending extra time, no matter how little, on matters that would improve the company as a whole.

Just as aspiring entrepreneurs are constantly tweaking ideas and soliciting feedback that will help grow their businesses, an engaged team member always has an idea or a solution to offer regarding the company where they work. On your next survey give team members the option of identifying themselves with their answers. An employee who is engaged will quite possibly relinquish their anonymity in an effort to pursue the new thoughts or suggestions they’ve offered.

3. Remember that most of your employees want to be entrepreneurs -- someday.

If you ask one-hundred Millennials to describe themselves in one word, the overwhelming majority would answer “entrepreneur.” In a recent poll, Reason-Rupe reported that the majority (55 percent) of Millenials hope to start their own companies one day. The key to getting these employees to be engaged while working for your organization is to give them that sense of ownership and let them show you what they are made of.

We’ve all seen how employees who are physically comfortable at work (i.e., they have flexible dress codes; inviting work spaces and common areas to collaborate with other team members) are better able to focus on the requirements of their jobs and are more likely to become engaged in the company as a whole, therefore contributing to organization-wide improvements. They are engaged because they are able to do their jobs without fear of failure, and they feel connected to the rest of the team.

4. User experience starts with the hiring process.

Ideally we would all like to start out with a team of foolproof go-getters who will live up to the dream team image we envision. But how do we go about hiring that perfect blend of qualified people that will love and nurture our businesses as much as we do? Establish a clear description of what you’re looking for from the very beginning.

Many companies quilt together a mission statement that will portray them as comfortably innovative and secure, but many do not actually hold themselves to the standards they post on their “About Us” page. Automattic, the web development company behind Wordpress, has started incorporating the official company creed into its offer letters, along with a request that job candidates sign their allegiance.

Written in the first person, the creed consists of specific, plainly written, everyday actions that employees are expected to strive for, and acts as a guideline for prospective team members. Signing off on the creed is not mandatory, but it’s a brilliant disclosure of what the company culture is really like after an employee is onboard.

The user experience during the interview process is improved because there is no grey area about what life will be like after the honeymoon stage of onboarding is over, and the likelihood of hiring the right candidate the first time is greatly improved.