Engaged employees tend to be up to 17% more productive than the ones who aren’t. They are also less prone to frequent absences and are, in general, more enthusiastic about their jobs.
In today’s world of talent race, companies should be proactively investing time and resources to level up their connection to staff and boost employee engagement.
Are you doing everything you can to foster a positive work environment and encourage your employees to communicate, think, and take action? Well, you should! After all, if you do nothing about those unengaged employees, you will lose billions of dollars every year.
To help you retain top-notch personnel, we collected a list of 5 unique hacks that can boost employee engagement and keep them motivated and satisfied.
1. Offer Top-Tier Benefit Packages
Employees pay a lot of attention to the non-monetary benefits of working in a company or an organization. Moreover, 48% take employee perks into account when deciding whether or not to start working for a company. These considerations also extend to temporary work.
If you want to boost employee engagement and simultaneously retain top talent, prioritize providing top-tier benefit packages. Some perks employees value most include:
- Paid sick days, vacations, and time off,
- Paid maternity and paternity leave,
- Performance bonuses,
- Flexible schedule,
- Childcare assistance,
- Free food and drinks,
- Employee discounts and rewards,
- Professional development programs,
- Casual dress code.
Additionally, you may want to consider more unconventional employee perks::
- Being paid to walk or electric bike to work,
- Fertility assistance,
- 4-hour work days or 4-day work weeks.
2. Foster Creative Thinking
Google implemented a concept called the 20-Percent Rule, also known as the Side-project Time, more than 17 years ago. The idea behind this is to allow employees to spend 20% of their time at work actually working on and managing various side projects.
When employees are encouraged to think outside of the box and experiment with their own ideas, they are empowered to discover creative solutions they may not otherwise have encountered.
According to a recent survey, more than 94% of employees said that they would be more engaged with work if their employers invested more in them. They are looking for companies to provide them with more opportunities to grow and contribute in meaningful ways.
The 20-Percent Rule is a great way to show that you as a company believe in your team and are willing to invest in them in the long run.
In addition, giving employees from different departments a chance to cross-collaborate on projects encourages them to create stronger workplace bonds. This is crucial to give them a sense of belonging within the company and find a higher purpose in what they do at work.
Most employees don’t mind putting in extra time and effort to pursue their passion. The side-project model is a refreshing take that provides opportunities to escape the tedious day-to-day routine. You can help them be more productive by harnessing a personal connection between an employee and their work.
3. Encourage Employees to Build Genuine Relationships
The importance of establishing sincere relationships in the workplace cannot be stressed enough. Meaningful peer friendships can boost employee engagement, and commitment to the company, and increase talent retention.
One way to boost employee engagement is to help employees find areas of common interest with their coworkers. To foster these bonds and create a more open and friendly office environment, consider hosting some team-building activities.
Some popular team-building exercises include:
- Trivia night,
- Team and board games,
- Scavenger hunt,
- Basketball tournament, group bike ride, or team movie night.
More remote employee engagement ideas include weekly virtual meetings, virtual game shows, and virtual happy hours. These remote ideas make it possible for your staff to interact with their teammates and solidify bonds even though they are miles away.
4. Create a Job Swapping Program
Another creative approach you can take is to implement job-swapping programs to boost employee engagement. A job-swapping program is a chance for your employees to try a different role in the company.
For instance, marketing team members can serve as designers for a day, and vice versa. This strategy gives everyone a clear idea of the importance of each role in the company, builds team synergy, and creates a stronger desire to accomplish company goals.
These exercises help bring employees perspective on the challenges their coworkers face daily. That way they can see a bigger picture of what the company is doing, all that while having fun and spending quality time with other colleagues.
Although it may sound a bit intimidating, job swapping provides employees with an opportunity to get to know members of the team they might not otherwise encounter.
This improves communication between employees and encourages them to help each other out with tasks. Miscommunication is one of the biggest problems in large companies and job swapping can help build more effective communication in your workplace.
Employees’ benefits of job-swapping programs:
- Gaining a broader organizational perspective,
- Networking with other professionals,
- Increasing their knowledge and experience,
- Developing new skills through job-swapping programs.
Company leaders should strive to foster healthy communication in their teams to build trust and improve engagement, and job swapping can be a first step in that process.
5. Cultivate a Positive Work Environment
Employees may struggle to achieve their fullest potential if the space they work in is messy, cluttered, or unorganized. Negative signals such as workplace clutter, noise and other kinds of distractions, and poor lighting can hinder performance and engagement. Your employees may then feel grumpy, unmotivated, and unhappy.
Build a work environment that will bring out the best in your cogs. A fresh-looking workplace, natural light, airy ceilings, and air-purifying plants are examples of minor tweaks. This way you can help employees enjoy the workspace and contribute to achieving maximum flow and productivity.
Taking well-being initiatives, including providing support like counseling or access to anxiety medication, can be an invaluable resource for those who need it. These efforts not only help your employees but will surely score better results for the company. Moreover, it will also positively affect their mental health to prevent stress and burnout.
Pro tip
An easy way to increase employee engagement is to appeal to their value system. Investing in social projects through your CSR program, for example, can inspire your team and make them feel more at home in your company.
If your coworkers value the environment and are interested in environmental causes, small things such as enabling eco-friendly packaging of your products can result in further in-house commitment.
Summary
Following these 5 hacks can help your company grow by creating a warm work environment that prioritizes employees’ health, well-being, and personal interests.
The above tips target and increase employee loyalty, who in turn remain more engaged and productive in the workplace, boosting profitability and revenue.
While there is no secret formula for employee engagement, prioritizing employee well-being is the perfect place to start.
Authors Bio:
Nina Petrov is a content marketing specialist, passionate about graphic design, content marketing, and the new generation of green and social businesses. She starts the day scrolling her digest on new digital trends while sipping a cup of coffee with milk and sugar. Her white little bunny tends to reply to your emails when she is on vacation.
Check also: Employee Engagement in the Age of Remote Work