7 STEPS FOR ACHIEVING GREATER EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

We’ve addressed the subject of employee engagement before in this blog, specifically in a post tited, “Want Engaged Employees? Then You Must Hire Them!”
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The point of that post is that hiring people who are more or less “self-engaging” greatly increases the chances that you’ll have more engaged employees. And of course, the more your employees are engaged, the less likely they will be to seek work elsewhere and the higher your retention rate will be.

However, what if, despite your best hiring efforts, you still want to increase employee engagement (and corresponding retention)?

The good news is that there’s a LOT you can do, because no matter how engaged your employees currently are, they can always be more engaged.

With that in mind, below are seven steps for achieving greater employee engagement:
#1—Create the proper culture.
This is a logical starting point. Engagement is not a “sometimes thing,” it’s an “all the time thing,” and the only way to reach this level is to infuse the philosophy throughout the entire organization and across all departments.
#2—Involve management.
In order for a culture of engagement to exist, those at the top must set the precedent and make a commitment to ensure that it happens. Without this commitment, failure is more than likely to occur.
#3—Provide challenging work.
What employees do on a day-to-day basis ultimately forms the foundation of their engagement. Companies should make sure that the work they’re given is not only productive, but also satisfying.
#4—Clearly communicate expectations.
Confusion is NOT conducive to engagement. Employees want to know exactly what’s expected of them regarding their duties and responsibilities, and they want to be given the tools necessary to meet those expectations.
#5—Provide feedback on a consistent basis.
It makes sense that once employees have expectations for performance (and a corresponding set of goals concerning them), they’ll also want feedback about their progress.
#6—Recognize good performance.
All employees want to feel as though they’re appreciated for their efforts, and recognizing their performance is the best way to do so. In fact, all it can take is a kind word or a pat on the back, although more elaborate methods of recognition will engage employees even more.
#7—Continually strive to build trust.
The ultimate in employee engagement is trust. If employees trust the company for which they work, then they’re fully engaged. How can management achieve this? By always following up and following through and by always doing exactly what they say they’re going to do.