Your employees are your company’s most valuable assets, and it is crucial for your company’s success that you create successful employee engagement. Companies that have been successful have realized that investing in employee engagement is the key to improving their business. The question is: Why not follow the example and achieve success?
Motivation, productivity, creativity, innovation, courage, and efficiency are things that are all relevant to employee engagement. Engagement is not just a surface-level expression for well-being, as the effects go a lot deeper than that.
The most important factor when talking about employee commitment is the company’s ability to provide engagement on an individual basis. This should also be researched and monitored actively, so that the company can incorporate the necessary strategy changes.
Let us find out what employee engagement is.
1. Meaningfulness
Only a few people are lucky to work with what they are truly passionate about, and the sense of relevancy therefore needs to be found in other ways. When an employee feels that they have achieved something or gains something from their job that is more valuable than covering their basic needs, it can create a sufficient feeling of meaningfulness and strengthen the employee engagement. It is important to remember that meaningfulness is perceived differently depending on the individual, and it is affected by a lot of different factors.
The meaningful character of the work gives the employee a clear sense of purpose and context. It plays an important role in building success in the job, well-being, and the employee engagement itself.
Below we will list three reasons why job relevancy is worth considering:
- Development. Employees who think of their job as meaningful are eager to learn and develop as well as share their knowledge with others. This increases the company’s valuable immaterial capital.
- Happiness. The meaningfulness of the work also has the effect that there is a feeling of happiness outside of work. When employees are content, it also affects the overall quality of the work as well as the work environment, and what is more important, it also affects the employee engagement in a positive way.
- Cost efficiency. The levels of motivation, job satisfaction, the quality of the work, and the efficiency are increased when employees feel that their work has meaning. And it also has a positive effect on the company’s bottom line and general business.
TIP: Focus on streamlined processes but be open to changes. Don’t make compromises when it comes to the work environment or the workplace ergonomics. Make sure that your employees get enough challenging tasks that support their interests and are conducive to their development. Tell your employees what their job really means. Monitor your employees’ emotions actively and develop activities that are focused on your employees.
2. Developmental opportunities
The personal employee development is a deciding factor. A lack of skill development and knowledge at the workplace can lead to boredom and, in the worse-case scenario, lead to a change of jobs. Furthermore, a lack of developmental opportunities has a negative effect on well-being, motivation, work effort, and productivity.
When realistic goals and job requirements have been set, it is possible to get professional as well as personal development. Diversity regarding work tasks and an increased level of cooperation are also ways to strengthen the development and improve the work environment.
Important to remember: A skilled workforce is your company’s strongest competitive advantage, and it also strengthens your employer brand. So, invest in developmental opportunities and create an organization that focuses on learning and development.
3. Predictability
Predictability is simply about avoiding a sense of insecurity among employees. Having the right pieces of information at the right time plays an important role regarding developing a sense of security, and the collective stream of information is one of the most important tasks for the management. The most important topics that the management needs to communicate to their employees are pieces of information that affect their work and which affect changes at the workplace or regarding the work tasks.
When the employees are confident and know how they are to handle various assignments and situations, they can do quality work and help one another. Predictability is an important factor in regards to building up employee engagement, and this applies to both the personal level and the company as a whole.
4. Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction is an important part of the collective level of well-being at the workplace, and it is also the most important factor regarding employee engagement. In its simplest form, job satisfaction is an individual’s feeling of how satisfied they are with their job.
Job satisfaction is affected by other aspects of the corporate culture, obligation, and management, and it is therefore a good idea to look at job satisfaction as a whole instead of looking at it as separate factors. On the other hand, when you find a problem in your company, addressing it in time can change the collective job satisfaction in a positive way. Modern technology and surveys such as anonymous job satisfaction surveys, a gauging of the current state of the company via its employees, and quarterly interviews can be used to help identify pain points.
5. Clarity regarding roles and responsibility
Understanding one’s own role and colleagues’ roles, expectations, and responsibilities are important parts of building up responsibility among employees. Ownership gives an employee the opportunity to learn about the work environment and other people’s roles, and it also paves the way for developing the employees’ personal and professional skills.
Awareness of roles greatly improves the level of job satisfaction as well as the sense of community and trust, and it is therefore conducive to a sense of obligation toward the company and well-being at the workplace. On the other hand, it is important to remember that if the roles aren’t clear, it will have a direct effect on the stress level, passivity, efficiency, and even productivity.
How you achieve success: Job descriptions can change, but setting up boundaries for all employees and each employee on an individual level strengthens the employee engagement. Flexibility, awareness of the distribution of tasks within the organization, and open communication are also keys to success.
