Employee Engagement is a big deal at any company and everybody is trying to figure out the secret sauce to what makes it work so that employees are practically prancing around at work, humming happy tunes while being busy bees. Picture Sheldon & Penny making Penny Blossoms.
Achieving this state of employee engagement nirvana is not always easy; in part because of horrible bosses, toxic culture, confusion around responsibilities, and the list goes on.
The scary reality is that if your employees aren?t engaged, they are more likely to be ?stealing from your company, negatively influencing their co-workers, missing workdays and driving away your customers.??(Gallup, 2013) .That?s some scary shit, my friend.
But, all hope is not lost. Wagepoint, has reached this state of high employee engagement by following these six simple tips, and today, I?m going to share these tips with you.
1.???? Be Clear of What?s Expected
At Wagepoint, each and every team member works with the end goal of keeping the customer happy. Our creative designer creates fun illustrations to make our readers smile, our developers create easy-to-use apps that are friendly and user intuitive, our payroll specialists? help customers transition in as painless a manner as possible.
The roles and responsibilities in any role needs to be crystal clear if you want your employees to be engaged. There should be no confusion about who does what and why on a team. When there?s clarity in a role, people can work with a single minded focus to achieving the goal as opposed to getting stuck in the weeds with office politics, unmet expectations and such.
2.???? Give your Employees the Right Resources
I am not referring to the office basics that any employee needs to have to get the job done. In my previous jobs, I have had the misfortune of working with people who aren?t committed to the team and their work. As a result, I would end up having to do double the work and it would leave me feeling drained and irritated.
At Wagepoint, we hire each person keeping in mind how they might impact the existing culture and how they can contribute to help everyone succeed. Today, I have the pleasure of working with some of the smartest, most amazing people I know and we help each other out by playing to our strengths.
3.???? Let your Employees do what they do best
Our CEO excels at recognizing the strengths of his employees; and as such, he lets each of us do what we do best. For instance, our creative designer loves drawing fun, cartoon illustrations, so in order to maximize his creativity, we always get him to do a custom illustration for each of our blog posts. It takes him a couple of hours to get it done, but he loves it.
This might sound like a straightforward pointer, but trust me, I?ve seen firsthand how people who are competent at doing one thing are forced into another role / task that they aren?t happy about. It stresses them out and the end result is them feeling overworked and undervalued.
4.???? Praise your Employees Often
This one?s a no-brainer.
If your employees are doing a good job, make it a point to tell them that, at least once a week. Employees who feel like their efforts are recognized and valued are likely to work harder.
As a manager, you should also foster peer-to-peer recognition. It?s nice to feel appreciated by your co-workers and teammates. It creates a sense of camaraderie and your employees will feel like they are a part of a supportive team.
5.???? Remember, Employees are also Human
Our lead developer on Play ? our employee engagement app – is a Ruby on Rails genius who loves chocolate and Yerba Mate. Our creative designer loves Lost and The Cosby Show and does not like chocolate. His favorite Skype emoticon is a star, which he likes to see if he?s done a good job. Our Ukrainian developer on Pay ? our payroll software has a quirky sense of humor, loves internet memes and is planning a trip to India.
Take the time to get to know your employees ? their likes, dislikes, interests and hobbies. Over time, it creates a bond that makes your company one big happy family. Who doesn?t want that?!
6.???? Care about your Employees? Personal & Professional Development
It?s not all about you.
If your employee wants to do his MBA and his role doesn?t really require it, support him anyway because it?s important to him.
If your employee is telling you outright that he/she needs to be challenged at work and wants to move up, it is your responsibility to work with them and figure out what they would consider a challenge.
If your employee is making it obvious to you that he/she is looking for more training / mentorship, it is your duty to make that happen.
When you make the time and take the effort to care about your employees? development, they will do the same for your company.
There you go! Six simple tips you can put into practice today to engage your workforce. At the end of the day, if your employees are spending 7 hours a day working for you, they deserve to be happy and engaged. It?s in your power to make that happen.
This article is a guest post by Leena Thampan for Humanresourcesblog.in ?. Leena is the?Chief Marketing Officer of?Wagepoint Payment Services Inc. ?
Jappreet Sethi
This blog post has been Digiproved © 2019 HumanResourcesBlog.in © 2013-2014 Jappreet Sethi
