7 strategies to increase employee engagement

An undeniable truth that organizations already know is:  employee engagement is a crucial factor for employee performance and the company's success!

Committed workers have greater well-being, performance, creativity and innovation, and lower absenteeism and turnover.

For this reason, all organizations want to increase employee engagement.

The big question is: How to do this in practice?

In this article, we will explore what employee engagement is. highlighting its role in monitoring market trends, as well as its importance in companies. Finally, we will present some practical strategies to increase employee engagement.

MARKET TRENDS: THE GREAT RESIGNATION, QUIET QUITTING, THE GREAT GLOOM, AMONG OTHERS

In recent years, we have seen the emergence of several trends in the job market, most related to employees leaving companies, reducing their performance or satisfaction.

One of the biggest trends in the job market was the Great Resignation caused, in part, by employees' new perspectives on their role in companies. During this labor movement, employees did not hesitate to leave their companies when the new values ​​were not met.

This reality was pointed out by Staya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, who stated that employee expectations are changing and, therefore, it is necessary to define productivity in a broader way – including other factors such as collaboration, learning and well-being – in order to boost the development of employees’ careers. The Microsoft CEO also warns of the need to manage these changes with flexibility regarding when, where and how people work

Then Quiet Quitting emerged, a practice that does not necessarily involve abandoning the company. In this approach, employees do only the minimum necessary to fulfill their job responsibilities, without going further or committing to additional activities that are not explicitly mandatory.

Recently, a new trend has begun to emerge, “The Great Gloom”, caused by the decrease in employee satisfaction in recent years. This is described in the study carried out by Bamboo RH which reveals that from 2020 to today, employee happiness has suffered a constant decrease of 6%. But in 2023 there was a sharper decline, with a 9% reduction in the NPS (instrument for evaluating employee satisfaction) since January, marking a decrease 10 times faster than in the previous three years.

Companies ask themselves: How to prevent these trends?

The answer to the difficulties of retaining and attracting talent lies in promoting  employee engagement practices in your company and communicating to the market that your company carries out these practices.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN COMPANIES

The strategies applied to strengthen employee engagement have evolved significantly over the years, especially as companies face new challenges and opportunities caused by the BANI context and changes in the labor market.

The study carried out by Gallup (data from 2020 to 2022) reveals the levels of employee engagement in Portugal, in which the vast majority of employees are “not engaged” (71%) and “actively not engaged” (10%). Only 19% of Portuguese employees are “Engaged”.

Similar values ​​are identified in Europe (data from 2022), in which 72% of employees are “not engaged”, 15% are “actively not engaged” (10%) and in turn, only 13% of European employees are “actively not engaged” (10%) “Engaged”.

Today, employee engagement is not just about job satisfaction, but a deep connection to the company's purpose, mission, vision and values.

In this way, employee engagement can be summarized as:

Create commitment. Promote Engagement. Energize culture.

To achieve success, leaders must review their management approaches to effectively support the current needs of their employees.

We suggest 7 employee engagement strategies to respond to current organizational challenges.

STRATEGIES TO INCREASE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

1. PROMOTE FLEXIBLE WORK POLICIES

Flexible working has emerged as one of the most effective strategies for increasing employee engagement.

With the growing demand for a healthy work-life balance, companies that adopt flexible working policies are not only meeting the needs of their employees, but also strengthening their commitment to well-being and productivity.

The implementation of flexible working is essential to increase employee engagement. Companies can adopt several practices, including:

• Flexible Schedules: Allow employees to choose their own working hours, within agreed limits, to best suit their personal and family needs.
• Hybrid work: The remote regime provides several benefits to employees, such as a healthy balance between personal and professional life and greater autonomy. But, at the same time, this regime could also increase the lack of connection, difficulty in collaboration or a bad onboarding experience. Offer hybrid work options, where your employees select the days they are in the office.
• Compact Work Weeks: Implement a compact work week, where employees work more hours on fewer days, giving them additional days off. For example, four ten-hour workdays instead of five eight-hour days.
• “Extra” days off: Establish policies that allow employees to take extra days off, leave or vacation. This may include paid leave for personal reasons, additional vacation and family care leave.

2. Recognize and value talent

It is essential for managers to recognize and value talents in order to promote their engagement. Around 66% of employees consider leaving their company if they do not feel valued, with this figure increasing to 76% in younger generations (Millennials).

Companies must adopt practices that recognize the success of their talents, encouraging them to carry out their tasks and achievements, in order to promote a feeling of appreciation and recognition. However, the biggest challenge for companies centers on selecting the right practices for each employee. To this end, we suggest some practices:

• The attribution of monetary rewards to employees. An example is the company Airbnb whose mission is to help customers experience the benefits of traveling. This company adopted as a reward practice the awarding of coupons worth $2000 to employees to be used on the Airbnb website, also encouraging them to experience the benefits of traveling.
• Attribution of figurative prizes, such as medals, trophies or recognition of the employee as “Employee of the Week”. The company Legal Monkeys adopted a creative strategy to promote the appreciation of its employees throughout the working week, using a glass frame. Employees are invited to write appreciative comments about their colleagues on the frame, which will then be delivered personally to the recipient, who must keep the frame on their desk until they choose another colleague to receive it.
• Employee recognition on the company's social media profile

3. FOCUS ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION (DEI) POLICIES

In recent years, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies have received increasing attention from organizations, and their commitment to implementing these policies continues to increase. Organizations keep DEI as a priority in their strategies, implementing programs and policies that promote diversity at all levels of the company, where everyone feels included, valued and respected.

The Harvard Business School pointed to the implementation of DEI programs and policies at all organizational levels (full integration of DEI values ​​into its business objectives, daily operations and organizational culture) as the next big step expected for 2024.

Companies must create and implement DEI programs and policies that involve employees, such as:

Carrying out training programs for employees on topics such as unconscious bias, intercultural sensitivity and diversity and inclusion.

4. Share feedback often

Feedback continues to be identified as an essential factor in promoting talent engagement, especially in the current context of teleworking. Around 68% of employees who consistently receive feedback feel fulfilled in their companies.

Therefore, companies should not limit feedback to annual satisfaction surveys, but rather integrate themselves into a culture of constant and continuous feedback. Around 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week.

Feedback can be shared through different direct and indirect organizational mechanisms that allow employees to understand the areas they should develop. Employees from younger generations (generations Y and Z) tend to seek direct formal and informal feedback from their managers, for example in Zoom or Teams meetings, while generation X tends to value sharing feedback indirectly via email. .

Feedback should be a moment of sharing and development between employees and managers, demonstrating to them that managers value and meet their needs.

5. Create training and development opportunities

Employees are increasingly looking to their companies for opportunities to develop their careers. The study developed by Glint identified learning and development (L&D) opportunities as the first factor in ensuring a positive work environment. Furthermore, a study carried out by LinkedIn revealed that 94% of employees stated that they would stay at the company longer if it invested more in training.

Creating development opportunities for employees, through reskilling or upskilling plans, allows you to create a rich and adapted growth experience. In particular, employees from younger generations (generation Y and Z) increasingly value the evolution of their career through training and development opportunities, considering that everything can be learned, with technology being their right arm.

Therefore, companies must create development programs for employees, which may involve practices such as:

• Preparation of a formal development plan. The company Mastercard created a “role rotation” program in which employees have the opportunity to participate as soon as they join the company. This program allows employees to come into contact with other functions within Mastercard, contributing to their development.
• Creation of a mentoring program for talents

6. Promote a positive supportive culture

The adoption of the teleworking regime by companies physically removed employees from the office, which makes it difficult to share and experience the Organization's culture. TELUS International reports that 51% of employees who work remotely feel less connected to their company culture.

Therefore, companies must create an organizational culture of proximity and support for their employees, so that they continue to feel close to their company's culture and become more involved. With greater attention to teleworking, companies must frequently monitor their employees directly or indirectly. We suggest some practices:

• Share the company's achievements, via the internet or on corporate television
• Facilitating the creation of other internal communication channels. Microsoft is an example of creating a feeling of community through the use of internal communication tools that connect all company departments. The company created the “CEO connection” page, which allows employees to network with their colleagues and leaders. This initiative allows not only to promote communication between employees but also top-down communication.
• Holding company events with the participation of employees. For example: Teambuildings, results sharing meetings, among others.
• Requesting feedback on company culture from employees.

7. Evaluate employee engagement

The assessment of employee engagement allows companies to identify the profile of engaged employees, as well as identify employee engagement factors that the company needs to develop. It is not enough to carry out an annual employee engagement survey. This assessment must be carried out regularly and adapted to the specific needs and structure of the company. We suggest some employee engagement assessment tools:

• Regular employee participation in small questionnaires such as “pulse surveys”. The company Microsoft frequently uses this methodology to evaluate employee engagement, making it possible to quickly identify the engagement levels of its employees.
• Conducting individual interviews with employees.
• Analyze turnover and absenteeism rates.

Conclusion

Imagine a reality where each employee feels not only valued, but essential to the company's success. Where personal and professional development is encouraged and embraced. Where flexible working is the norm and supportive culture is the universal language.

In this reality, employees have opportunities to grow and develop and establish an emotional bond of commitment. This connection not only increases employee satisfaction and productivity, but also reinforces their desire to stay with the company.

Therefore, investing in employee engagement is a strategic necessity for the long-term success of organizations.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT PRACTICE

Discover our Employee Engagement program.

Inês Ramos | Project & MArketing Manager Junior 

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