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Discover 11 innovative ways to improve employee engagement that helps improve your organisation's success and culture.
One of the reasons why some companies are successful and have long-term working employees is because of the rewards offered on successful completion of the project or constantly motivating their employees with perks. In this article we discover the innovative ways to improve employee engagement in your organization.
of the Outperformers from an IBM C-suite study claim that employee morale affects the customer satisfaction.
A salary hike, a team outing or an in-house party were a few of the traditional employee engagement methods followed. However, as times change, innovation becomes important. A company has to put importance on the different ways they engage their employees, and this is only possible when innovation is adopted. Innovation in employee engagement is a part of an organization's success mantra which cannot be denied.
MacLeod and Clarke in 2009 conducted a case study named McLeod Report representing a clear indication of how high-levels of employee engagement are correlated with innovation.
In fact, it also provided a clear report of how service companies boosted innovation and cultural-shifts by emphasizing more on employee engagement. The report concluded how the performance of employees increases with innovation.
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Before we delve into innovative employee engagement ideas, it is important that we learn what exactly employee engagement is all about:
David Macleod, author of The Extra Mile: How to Engage your People to win” defines employee engagement as
"This is about how we create the conditions in which employees offer more of their capability and potential”.
It is completely based on trust, two way communication, and commitment between leaders and employees. This approach certainly helps companies to engage in business success.
As times are changing, there is a shift in HR mindset and are adopting a more holistic approach with innovations. Innovation can be small or big, but this mindset shift is essential. Welcoming ideas from employees, giving them a chance to implement the process and allowing their voice to reach higher-authority are some partly used ways by companies. This helps employees to engage more for the growth of the company.
According to one study presented by Krueger & Killham, it was found that more than 59% of employees engaged with the company are happy with their employer's strategies to bring out creativity from them.
Apart from receiving a timely salary, employees need recognition that will satisfy them, leading to better work. Work environment matters a lot for employees. In addition to this, too much work pressure, long hours of work and less appreciation certainly create a negative impression among employees towards the company. This is when innovation in employee engagement ideas comes into the role.
The study on Quality of Work Life states that workplaces that have innovative management have low sickness and absence rate.
Innovation in an organization plays a major role to bring more business and stage ahead in the crowd.
Innovative organizations like Nike offer employees the freedom to perform or tray and fail. This gives them the challenge while working on the assignments. The fact that only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged, isn't a good sign for companies with a large employee ratio. One of the reasons for gaining more engagement in employees is the enthusiasm to work. This enthusiasm comes when innovation is adopted.
If you are looking forward to accomplishing company goals and want to keep your employees happy then here are some innovative employee engagement ideas that can help in developing a progressive organization:
This is the very first and an effective way of getting innovative in employee engagement. Earlier, the HR department was solely responsible for the engagement, but time has changed and so is the process.
Today, senior leaders and managers take up the responsibility to improve engagement and culture of the company. However, the question still remains. How will you make sure that employees contribute towards the engagement purpose?
One way is by adopting the Collective Engagement Approach. With this, leaders can hold every employee accountable for the engagement purpose.
Rewarding an employee with recognition is a part of the acknowledgment the company can offer. This, in fact, is the best way of increasing engagement and motivating employees for better performance. There are ways to reward employees, and one way is by using online programs.
Xoxoday's Empuls is designed to bring together diverse cultures, thoughts, and departments.
Employers can also choose from point-based engagement and reward. With Xoxoday rewards and recognition, you have complete control over your account; choose from the extensive choice of gift vouchers and special perks for employees.
Feedback from employees is as important as seeking feedback from a customer regarding service and product. This isn't only limited to employers, but employees' perspectives too.
Employees need timely feedback about their work progress and where they stand. Organizations today move at a fast pace and employees need continued feedback. It is the duty of employers and top company leaders to provide real-time feedback to their employees. There are three ways of working towards Feedback Routine:
Creativity and innovation are always applauded, and allowing employees to share their knowledge towards the workplace will certainly bring change. Create an open sharing space, where employees can come together to share their ideas and updates on the learning points. To make these meetings fun and actively open, you can add themes for sharing sessions. For instance, add Mafia Movies theme, where the team will decide to share updates like a mafia gang. This will encourage more and more people to be creative and provide updates in an interesting way.
This innovative employee engagement idea is to not only promote wellbeing among employees but also promote a healthy lifestyle during work life. Employees work in different stressful environments which can literally turn them into robots.
Health & wellness are definitely not new concepts when it comes to employee engagement. However, that no longer means just focusing on physical health via offering a gym discount, or bringing in a yoga instructor every month. Mental health should be a top priority for your company as well. Establish an HR mentality that emphasizes both mind & body awareness.
As the workforce becomes increasingly digital, the traditional nine-to-five, clock-in/clock-out model becomes more and more outdated. Promoting work-life balance is key to employee engagement and work schedule is the foundation of that balance. Depending on your industry, there are a few ways to create flexible schedules that will not only show employees you care about their personal balance but make them more productive when they are in the office.
So they need a change, and by following the right wellness in the workplace, will certainly help to be innovative and increase engagement with leaders.
For a new joiner, it can be quite a stressful situation to work in a new environment and among new people.
So why not welcome them with the innovative method by adding introduction games or meet. This actually boosts their confidence and has a better engagement with people around. Different companies have different methods of on-boarding new joinee which is quite a change for existing employees.
Using collaborative innovation with engagement platforms like Empuls can help in harnessing the hidden talents of employees. To establish the right connection with innovation, below three steps can be helpful:
An easy way to create a work environment that boosts employee engagement is to first focus on the environment itself. This can be done by giving employees a say in their individual workspace. Not only will this empower each employee with the ability to choose their surroundings, but also allow them to select the space in which they feel most effective.
A Gensler research shows how today’s work spaces are complex. All these aspects of the work environment needs to be considered while deciding on the employee work station.
Harvard Business Review found that when employees are able to select their workspace, they score higher on tests for innovation, overall performance, as well as both job and workplace satisfaction. For instance, when onboarding a new employee, allow them to choose between; a traditional desk or a sit-stand option; a yoga ball or a desk chair.
All engagement principles begin with your corporate culture - it is the foundation of your brand, and your management team and HR representatives need to be your best brand ambassadors. Starting from the top down, your organization should know your culture, embrace it, and hire for it.
It isn’t just enough to establish your cultural principles, you also need to make sure that it is evangelized through your staff. Keep this in mind with recruiting and hiring; be open and honest about the environment you have and make sure potential new staff can embody and advance your culture and beliefs.
How can your organization implement these strategies to keep your current and future employees engaged? Here’s a 10 C checklist for employee engagement:
