Globally, fewer than a quarter of employees are actively engaged. And I can’t help but feel that number could get worse as employees worry about their jobs due to the rise of AI and automation. Workplace engagement activities offer a way to counter the forces of disengagement.
Almost two-thirds of employees today opt to quiet quit and do the bare minimum. Businesses need to consider how to reengage these employees before they lose them and spend thousands per role replacing valuable internal knowledge.
In a recent interview, James Timpson, CEO of British company Timpson Group, explained the importance of valuing and supporting employees.
In his first role, he found that “bosses were the sales prevention team,” and that “so many people work really really hard and no one ever says thank you to them.”
How do you ensure you’re not the type of boss who’s on the sales prevention team? And show some gratitude to your hard-working employees so that they want to show up to work?
These simple things improve employee engagement and make people more likely to perform at their best. Helping you make more money through better customer service and higher retention.
So, let’s explore some tactics to ensure your workplace engagement activities make a real difference for your team.
Be Values-Driven
All too often, employees believe that the higher-ups don’t care about them.
There can also be the belief from leaders that employees at the bottom of the ladder are the most easily replaceable.
But even employees who get paid the least have valuable skills and company knowledge that’s expensive—and time-consuming—to replace.
Every role requires different skills. Supporting all employees, regardless of their rank, speaks volumes about your company values and how you operate your business.
For example, Timpson has a budget of £1 million per year to spend on things that improve employees’ quality of life. One of the most common things that money gets spent on? New teeth.
It sounds like a small thing, but it’s a huge expense that many employees can’t afford. Even though it can make a huge difference to their confidence.
This kind of support builds loyalty to a business and shows that you notice—and care about—the little things for everyone. Adhering strongly to your values will ensure your workplace engagement activities can drive maximum results.
Send a survey
Surveys are a great way to get insights into your workforce and what they need from you.
When you send them regularly, using a tool like Workrowd that can automate the process, it shows your employees that you’re serious about listening to, and implementing, their feedback.
You can get real-time insights into how your workplace engagement activities are impacting your workforce. That way, you always know what’s working, and where you can improve.
Celebrate
How often do you celebrate employee achievements and milestones?
It doesn’t have to be a massive celebration. Sometimes a simple “thank you” can go a long way.
Other times, you may want to treat everyone to lunch (virtually or in person), give them an extra day off for their birthday, or reward them for having worked for you for so long.
Whatever you do, just remember that there’s no downside to showing gratitude and recognizing employees. Workplace engagement activities that focus on celebrating achievements can help reinforce your company culture.
Create ERGs
Employee groups are a great way for team members to meet like-minded colleagues.
They can reduce the isolation that comes from remote work and connect a global workforce. What’s more, they can be key drivers of workplace engagement activities for your organization.
Meeting people with similar interests or goals helps employees feel like they belong in the workplace, something which is increasingly important in our digitally-focused world.
Want more from your ERGs? Get in touch to find out how we can help you supercharge your employee groups.
Be inclusive
Inclusion is one of those words that always seems trendy but is so rarely understood, a bit like “authenticity.”
You can give the illusion of these things—particularly in job descriptions—but that doesn’t mean that when someone joins your business they actually feel included.
Being truly inclusive means holding ongoing DEI training and ensuring everyone actively works to support others in being their authentic selves.
They can only be authentic when they feel psychologically safe in the workplace, and that starts with management.
Managers must set examples by being open—and maybe even vulnerable—so that employees know it’s okay to be that way, too.
When your organization is truly inclusive, you’ll find that your workplace engagement activities can deliver real impact.
Be transparent
When someone is transparent with us, we’re more likely to trust them.
If we know they’ve lied in the past, that trust may never recover. Ask any politician.
Transparent businesses have employees who are more open and honest, too. Employees know where they’re at and what they’re working toward.
This trust builds loyalty and means employees will want to stick around because they’ll feel invested in the business, and like the business is invested in them.
It can make your workplace engagement activities feel more genuine and less forced, and ensure people want to participate in them.
Offer training
93% of millennials and Gen Z employees expect businesses to offer training opportunities. Almost half of employees would change jobs because of the training opportunities provided.
As technology changes, reskilling will become imperative for millions of people to stay in work.
Just because someone’s job becomes obsolete, that doesn’t mean their internal knowledge isn’t still valuable.
If you have a particularly complicated product or service, retaining that internal knowledge is more important than ever because training new hires costs so much and takes so long.
Training doesn’t just have to be about adapting to the changing workplace, though.
Some people just love to learn (I’m one of them), so having regular lunch and learns or scheduled study time helps stimulate new connections in their brains and can make them more creative.
Did you know some of the most successful scientists also write poetry?
Ada Lovelace, widely thought of as the world’s first computer programmer, was the daughter of poet Lord Byron—and a poet in her own right. (She and her father are also buried in my hometown!)
As Ada put it, “There is no great invention without a great imagination.” She was right 200 years ago, and she’s still right now.
Most people assume arts and science are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but the most powerful creative and scientific work stems from an understanding of both.
So why not encourage those connections in your workplace? Leveraging your workplace engagement activities to help employees build new skills is key to attracting and retaining top talent.
Conclusion
Creating more engaged employees starts by making them feel supported in the workplace. And that starts by listening to them.
What do they need from you?
And what can you do better?
Once you know, you can then design workplace engagement activities that cater directly to your team’s wants and needs.
Want to maximize your ROI when it comes to workplace engagement activities? Workrowd’s platform is your all-in-one solution.
With tools to help you market, manage, and measure your workplace engagement activities, you can delight every employee without the stress.
Ready to learn more? Visit us online or reach out directly at hello@workrowd.com.
