Employees sitting around a desk having a conversation

3 Things that Drive Bottom-line Results and Employee Engagement

Business Employee engagement

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. ? Vince Lombardi

We love that quote because it applies to any size company – whether you’re a 10 person office or have 1,000 employees. Let us also revise it by saying “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will and/or opportunity.”

When you end up placing the right employee in the right position it’s a match made in heaven. We’ve all been there at least once, right?

So after you’ve taken great care in hiring the candidate who stood tall above the others. The hard work is done right? Wrong. Employee Engagement is on-going work, and as their manager, it is your responsibility to keep your treasured employee engaged to drive bottom-line results for the business. No matter how big or small your team is, you MUST be to keep your employees engaged = excitedly wanting to come to work, every day.

 

Here are 3 simple ways to keep your employees engaged:

OPPORTUNITY
This is a pretty basic point, but a lot of managers miss the mark on this. You’ve hired your employees because they’re intelligent, and because you saw them as a good fit for a position. And yet the reality is, many employees want MORE ? meaning they want to keep learning and growing in their position. WHAT YOU CAN DO: For each one of your employees look at the entire scope of their development and allow/empower them to continue performing at their highest level. Here’s employee engagement advice from UC Berkeley’s HR department:

  • Learn their strengths and ambitions; in this way you can help them develop their talents naturally
  • Provide mentorship and coaching sessions for them where you provide valuable feedback
  • Offer opportunities for continuing education, cross-train, have position rotations and allow them to learn other areas of the business.

MOBILIZE
A recent MUZELife blog cites some pretty interesting facts on employee demographics in 2015. As Baby Boomers continue to exit the workforce companies are feeling the pressure. Gen-Y continue their takeover, pushing Millennialscompanies to evolve faster. And companies have to stop trying to fight it.

1 in every 3 employees in the U.S. will be a Millennial by next year.

And to top the fact that Millennials are taking over, did you know that only 13% of the global workforce are “psychologically committed to their jobs and likely to be making positive contributions to their organizations?” according to a Gallup poll. Ok so not very encouraging, right?

MUZE suggests becoming more mobile-friendly. By 2025 75% of the workforce will be Millennials, you know the people who prefer digital literacy because they grew up in a digital environment and have never known a world without computers. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Create or find a mobile app that houses everything your employees would need ? from benefits, to open-enrollment, any information your company provides. Your staff works for you, so make things easily accessible for them.

COMMUNICATION
This third point may be the most simplistic of them all, but again, many overlook this one. If you’re not communicating effectively and often, it becomes too easy for your employees to disengage from their job and eventually they WILL leave for another opportunity. 15Five says to communicate early and often. Through effective communication, you convey the purpose of your business, and just as important, you build a relationship with your employees.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Hold your employees accountable and challenge them with new responsibilities (ask them what they learn and do more of). Recognize and praise them not only in your mind, but to them (for ideas on this, checkout article “Become A Leader of the Best“). Help them connect and understand how their individual contributions are helping the company achieve its goals.

Making three simple improvements in the areas of opportunity, technology and communication will help drive bottom-line results and keep your employees engaged.

For more on the topic of employee engagement, checkout two popular articles “Why Employee Engagement Matters and Employee Satisfaction Might Not” and “Is Work Life Balance a Reality in Today’s Workforce?”

 

What are the things you do to help your company drive bottom-line results and engage your employees? Please comment and share your thoughts below.

 

References

How to Encourage Incredible Feats of Employee Performance; http://blog.15five.com/encourage-incredible-feats-employee-performance/

Creating Non Traditional Employee Engagement; http://muzelife.com/2015/01/05/creating-non-traditional-employee-engagement/

Motivate Staff to Continue Developing Their Skills; http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/performance-management/cycle/motivate