EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: Its Significance and How to make Employees more

Engaged

Employee engagement is the emotional commitment of the employee to the

organization and to the organization’s goals. Sometimes, it gets confused from
employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction is the state of a worker enjoying their job
but not necessarily being engaged with it. But, employee engagement is  the dedication
towards their employers and role that makes them passionate about their work, which is
often reflected in their individual outcomes. It means, that an engaged worker is giving
discretionary effort. Example, a salesperson is going to sell just as hard on a Friday
afternoon as she does on a Monday afternoon. An engaged customer service
professional, she is going to be just as patient with that irate customer at the end of her
shift as she would be at the beginning.
HRs play a pivotal role in reinforcing and boosting engagement in the workplace. There
are several ways in making employees engaged and some of those are;
Model your company core values and emphasize mission

Core values and emphasizing your company’s mission light the way to your
team. If your employees do not know who you are and what you are about – well,
they're not going to be able to effectively represent your company. It is so easy
working in an organization knowing without a doubt that you really mattered. To
inspire your workforce, be a role model. If your organization exercise excellence,
innovative, transparency, honesty and the like, act as one. You must lay out clear
expectations and recognize the people who epitomize your values.

Recognize top performers and reward achievements

Why is it important?

1. Increase employee motivation

Offering recognition and rewards for employee performance will boost

motivation, so workers stay on track and maintain a positive attitude. These
programs encourage collaboration and give employees something to work
toward.
When they receive a reward for doing something right, they’ll be more
motivated to do it again and again.
2. Appreciated
Employee satisfaction just isn’t possible without showing teams how much
you appreciate what they do. By recognizing wins, you’re sending a direct
message that they matter to you and to the company as a whole. This helps
employees feel seen, heard, and valued, which are all required for
satisfaction at work.

Appreciated employees are happy employees who want to work hard to help
the company grow and succeed.

3. Encourage friendly competition

Rewards programs support feelings of friendly rivalry among workers.
Workers will start to compare their performance to each other and strive to do
better next time. When they’re finally at the top of the list, they’ll feel
accomplished and everyone on the team will want to get there.
 Communicating with the entire company about one person’s or team’s
success increases awareness and encourages employees to give it their all.

4. Improve productivity
Employees are more engaged at work when their successes are recognized,
either verbally or with a reward. Teams of workers who are trying to reach
goals are more productive, as they become more efficient with their time and
energy to reach those goals and see actual results.

5. Boost employee retention

Satisfied, engaged employees are more likely to stick around.

Recognition programs positively impact employee retention. Employees work
harder if they were better appreciated and are less likely to quit.
NOTE!!! The common reason why employees leave in the organization because
of lack of recognition.
Encourage and provide training opportunities

Well- trained employees who are competent and capable are more likely to
stick around and add value to your company. Work can become boring without
development opportunities to help your team grow, doing the same motivation
especially if you lead people who have aspiration to the great things. Employers with
higher levels of employee engagement realize that investing in education and training
is well worth it. Resulting outcomes include higher productivity, increased efficiency,
and more innovation. Even if this investment begins with something as simple as
expense reimbursement for an employee’s partial degree, employees will take note
that you care about their development, and begin to build loyalty to you and the
organization.

Plan company outings

Team outings serve as an ice breaker between new and old members and also
between members from different teams, who have never met. They learn about
their own strengths and weaknesses, and also of their team mate’s, which can be
beneficial in improving their performance. Giving equal opportunities for each
member to participate in the activities in a non-work-related tension free
environment, helps to boost their confidence, which reflects in their work as well.
It helps to establish a strong company culture, where the employees connect with
one another and where their happiness is valued. Thus, corporate team outings
are a great way to pamper your employees, which will in turn help the company
to reach great heights.

Coordinate volunteer opportunities

Providing volunteer opportunities can allow workers to feel that the work they do
is not only contributing to the overall success of the company, but that it is also
helping out a charitable cause that is important to them. Creating a culture of
volunteerism within your company doesn't just help others; it also improves your
organization. This sense of purpose can lead to increased productivity and higher
workplace morale.

Offer professional development opportunities and carve out career paths

Career development opportunities are those that follow individuals to reach new
levels of professionalism, continued educational or skills advancement. This
often results in obtaining jobs with more seniority or leaderships responsibilities
and, in doing so, increasing annual income. An employee’s perception of
 internal growth and development opportunities is one of the more important
predictors of employee engagement. Career advancement and promotions are
what employees see as giving them growth and development opportunities.
Training and skill development alone appear to be ineffective for increasing
perceived opportunities for growth and development. Employees see career
advancement and promotion as most representative of the company’s
development possibilities. Focus on small promotions, payment increases, and
advancements. Keep talking about career advancement. As the perceived
growth and development opportunities increase, so will your employee
engagement.
Employee engagement is so important to all organizations because having effective
strategies in-place helps create a better work culture, reduce staff turnover, increase
productivity, build better work and customer relationships, and impact company profits.
Yet, it makes employees happier and turns them into your best advocates.
“Employees who believes that management is concerned about them as a whole
person- not just an employee- are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled.
Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability”.