If you have read one of our latest blogs about Why employees leave their jobs,you already know the most common reasons why employees are disengaged - but what can you do about this? How can you engage your employees, so that they are happy to work for you and you are happy with the work they do? We have a couple of great engagement tips for you.
Get to know your employees
Your employees will spend around 45 -50 hours a week working with you - but they also have a life outside of work. As an employer you should make an effort to get to know your employees and to show interest in their private life and their interests. Listen to them and try to remember a few facts about what they like to do or maybe the name of their partner etc. - building a relationship like this will show them that you care.
Create a partnership
In addition to building a personal relationship you should also try to build a partnership at work. In other words, treat them as a valuable part of your company - don’t just be the boss be a partner. Listen to their ideas and give them some autonomy in their work as long as they reach their targets. They will automatically feel empowered and more motivated.
Involve employees and let them in on the plan
Let the people on your team in on the plans you have for the company, they will be able to see how they can impact on the project and will feel like an important part of the puzzle. Let them engage in decisions for their team and give them the chance to explore other teams to learn about what others are doing in the company - this will help them to see the bigger picture.
Provide feedback
In order to keep your employees up-to-date, you should give feedback on a regular basis - let them know what they are doing well to motivate them. Also point out some areas of improvement and work out a plan together on how to improve - your employees need to feel that they are supported by you.
Provide training and coaching
Employees want to have the opportunity to grow in the company - so you need to make sure that they can improve their skills and have a chance to climb the career ladder. Provide job training to help them gain more skills and knowledge and therefore further their career. If they have the chance to grow they are more motivated and more likely to stay in your company. Also if they should have any difficulties with specific tasks you have to make sure to coach them and to clarify the tasks so that they can complete their work properly and can see real success.
Recognize and thank your employees
Recognition is one of the most important motivators, that will make your employees more engaged. This recognition can be monetary or non-monetary - sometimes a simple thank you can mean a lot to an employee so that they will feel appreciated.
Create a productive work environment
The work environment is an important factor to motivate your employees - you want them to like coming into work every day. So an open and fun environment will make it much easier for them to get up in the morning and be motivated. To create this productive work environment, you should encourage teamwork, schedule team-building exercises and make meetings fun. Come up with some activities where everyone can participate when targets are reached or when there are birthdays in the office.
These are a couple of suggestions for you - of course every company is different so you have to figure out what works best for you and your employees.
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