5 Steps to Improve Employee Engagement

High levels of employee engagement can translate to many competitive advantages, including increased customer satisfaction.

We looked at that correlation last month in How Employee Happiness Increases Client Retention. David Dourgarian, CEO of TempWorks Software, made the argument that business owners and top executives need to realize that customer retention doesn’t occur in executive offices, but with the employees that communicate with the company’s clients on a daily basis. Employees who are engaged and have an emotional commitment to the organization are its biggest brand advocates, he said.

During the past year, we’ve talked about many different ways you can achieve that engagement in your organization. Here are a few highlights:

1. Implement stay interviews. You can improvement engagement—and get out in front of turnover—by adopting stay interviews instead of traditional exit interviews. More and more companies are realizing the usefulness of conducting stay interviews to influence employee retention and reduce turnover. For more, see How to Increase Employee Engagement and Retention with ‘Stay’ Interviews.
2. Offer mentoring. Mentoring is one of the most effective ways to ensure employee expectations fit in with the wider company culture and vision. Mentors can offer practical workplace advice and can help to steer a younger employee’s career path, giving it shape and direction above and beyond what they may have considered themselves. See How to Ensure Mentoring Improves Engagement and Talent Retention.
3. Consider gamification. Increasingly, employers are turning to gamification to close the engagement gap. Gartner Research estimated that gamification will soon become the operational improvement strategy of choice for 40% of global 1000 companies. With the right gamification solution, HR teams can generate the data they need to measure progress, refine strategies, and drive improvements. See Build Your Team and Increase Engagement with Gamification.
4. Hold managers accountable. Managers account for up to 70% variance in employee engagement in the U.S. workforce. Employee-focused meetings and open-door policies can go a long way. See Improve Employee Engagement by Holding Managers More Accountable.
5. Create a culture of wellness. To reach the highest level of employee engagement, employers need to cultivate a culture of wellness. Such a culture must be embedded in the strategic vision of the organization, stemming from the top. See Cultivating a Culture of Wellness Is Integral to Employee Engagement.

For more action items, check out Deciphering Employee Disengagement at BLR’s upcoming THRIVE conference, being held May 11-12 in Las Vegas. Lynda Silsbee, CPT, SPHR, of Performance Dimensions Group and Alliance for Leadership Acceleration will discuss why disengagement happens; the downward spiral of disengagement and reduced productivity and morale; how to develop your leadership skills to encourage an engaged culture change; and 4 steps to take right away to re-engage a languishing workforce.

THRIVE’s 2017 conference brings HR professionals together with the most influential thought leaders in the country to have productive, progressive conversations around how to drive organizational growth and talent transformation through human capital management. Learn more at thrivelive.blr.com.