Employee engagement is one of the most important leadership responsibilities; an engaged employee is a productive employee.
Employee engagement drivers are the driving forces that cause employees to be engaged at work; some may call them engagement accelerators.
These drivers must be in the workplace, and they can make the difference between a happy, productive employee and one who isn’t active or productive.
Engaged employees are crucial to happy customers, competitive advantage, and a better bottom line.
If you are looking for information on how to engage your key employees and drive employee engagement, here are the drivers to consider.
1. Employee Recognition Incentives
Learn how employee praise, bonuses, and awards can help drive better results in your organization.
The foundation of employee engagement is employee recognition. By recognizing employees for their hard work, employers are demonstrating to their best assets that they care about them.
Employee recognition is one of the best drivers of employee engagement, and it is important to define what kinds of awards best fit your business needs.
Celebrate your employees through recognition incentives. The heart of employee recognition is acknowledgment and praise.
Giving a reward that signifies your appreciation of their efforts in your organization sends a powerful message to other team members. At the same time, you are setting an example that others can follow.
2. Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance is one of the most important key drivers of employee engagement. Engagement impacts employee retention, performance, and happiness.
Work-life balance is on the rise, with employees placing more importance on a healthy work-life balance.
When employees are engaged in their jobs, they are more productive. So how do you measure employee engagement? One of the most important indicators to pay attention to is an employee’s perception of work-life balance in the workplace.
Employees want a balance between their personal and professional lives. As a business owner, this means that you can foster a work environment where your employees can take time away from the office. In turn, they will be happier, more productive, and, ultimately, more loyal.
If your employees feel they have a healthy balance between their job and their personal lives, they will be more motivated and engaged. And those employees who are happy at work make the best ambassadors for your business.
3. Training And Development
Employee engagement drivers are some of the most important factors in organizational success. They help employees see the value in their job and their place within their community, encouraging them to go above and beyond.
This provides better work not only for you but for your customers.
An employee who has received effective training will be more productive and have confidence in themselves to create a better working atmosphere within your office. However, just like a happy marriage, engaged employees are going to have some ups and downs.
The one thing that will always remain consistent is that they want training and development opportunities.
According to Lorman statistics, 59% of employees say they haven’t received any workplace training, and they’ve learned most of the skills on their own. There is also a lack of compliance training in 23% of organizations.
4. Teamwork And Collaboration
Employee engagement drivers are the reasons employees are excited about and committed to their work.
Teamwork and collaboration increase employee job satisfaction and performance. Great teamwork allows for focus on goal achievement, making it one of the most critical drivers of employee engagement.
At the most basic level, teamwork and collaboration among employees are critical to getting things done.
Teamwork and collaboration are essential to the success of any business, but they often fall by the wayside in today’s highly competitive world.
Maximizing employee engagement means focusing on teamwork and what makes employees collaborate well.
When you instill a level of engagement within your team it will develop a culture of loyalty and a true teamwork ethic.
Besides, anyone at any level can create this environment by simply asking around, “What can I do to support you?” or “How can we help each other?”
5. Employee Wellness Programs
Engaged employees are more likely to stay with their company and feel proud to work for it because they really identify with the organization’s goals.
That’s why employers want to cultivate a spirit of employee engagement in their organizations. One way they can do it is with world-class employee wellness programs.
Employee wellness programs are one of the most powerful employer engagement drivers. They are especially popular because participation is free and yet they have a big impact on morale, loyalty, and productivity.
Employee wellness programs are a great way to help employees lead healthier, more active lives. They also drive employee engagement by helping employees feel part of a caring and committed workplace.
An employee wellness program can be part of a holistic approach to communication in the workplace and may also complement efforts to drive productivity and increase profits. Lastly, strive to be the company that supports your employees in staying healthy.
6. Mentoring Programs
A mentoring program is a planned and organized activity, usually in small groups, to provide career guidance and advice by a more experienced person.
The purpose of mentoring is to pass knowledge, experience, or skills of new or emerging theories and technologies on to students or novices.
Mentorship programs are useful to improve engagement. Mentors can be very effective in helping a new employee transition into a new role and learn from a more experienced peer who has been on the job for some time.
Additionally, mentors can help build the employee engagement drivers you’re searching for and create an efficient, performance-driven workplace.
Some new hires might not feel comfortable asking questions of their supervisor or other peers about what’s important and how they should perform the work.
For that reason, having a supportive mentor to help with the necessary socialization aspect of entering the organization can be invaluable.
7. Learning Communities
Learning communities are a great way to increase engagement and retention. By putting employees together based on their interests or skills, they can develop in their roles and also support one another.
Each month, members of the learning community can meet at their locations or on the Internet to share knowledge. Furthermore, they can participate in activities that encourage learning, such as 360-degree feedback.
Learning communities are also a great way for your employees to connect and build their skill sets. Learning communities offer employees the opportunity to learn from each other, as well as participate in conversations.
8. Safe Work Environment
For any of the employee engagement drivers to exist, there must be a safe work environment. It is vital to the overall success of the company. It not only enhances their productivity but also helps them enjoy their role within the organization.
There are very few companies that succeed in leveraging a safe work environment as one of the drivers of employee engagement.
Furthermore, a safe work environment is an important part of employee engagement. When employees feel comfortable and secure, they are more engaged with their jobs.
At times, workplace safety can be overlooked. For example, are your employees being treated fairly and with respect?
Another factor is whether decisions are handled effectively by the management team. The employees will feel more engaged if the decisions are made following a consistent process.
Employees who feel valued and empowered to focus on their responsibilities have the best chance of operating a safe work environment.
Moreover, employees who are engaged in their jobs tend to be more productive and less likely to engage in behaviors that lead to accidents.
9. Open, Clear, And Honest Communication/Feedback
Good communication is key to building employee engagement. Engaging your employees is easier if you’re open, communicate clearly, and provide honest feedback.
Communication has a direct impact on how engaged employees are in their work.
Research shows that strong two-way communication helps maintain retention and positive feelings about the organization in employees. How are you communicating with your employees?
What programs have you established to encourage honest feedback and insight into their work ethic, talent, and challenges? Did they perform well or poorly?
Good communication should be the cornerstone of an employer-employee relationship. It also enables employees to feel involved in decision-making and helps employers understand their concerns and motivation.
In short, communication can make or break an organization.
10. Work Ethics And Diversity
Employee engagement drivers are one of the most important factors when it comes to employee engagement, and they can vary greatly from company to company.
Work ethics and diversity are two more key components for optimum employee engagement.
New workplaces are expected to aim at creating an environment where all employees feel encouraged to reach their full potential. This includes developing work ethics that align with the company brand and encouraging employees to learn from each other’s expertise and backgrounds.
Diversity among the workforce not only promotes collaboration but also serves as an indicator of where a company is headed in the future. Workplace diversity is often emphasized in corporate agendas, yet the numbers show that it’s still pretty lopsided.
How can companies level the playing field and truly make diversity a value we all embrace? The first step is by expanding our definitions of diversity and understand that diversity can come from respect for work ethics as well.
11. Competent Managers
Competent managers are one of the key employee engagement drivers. So employers need to make sure that their managers can manage people well. Without competent managers, employee engagement levels are unlikely to reach their full potential.
There are a variety of factors at play, including spending time with their staff, hitting weekly goals, and many more.
Competent management is an important factor in driving engagement levels, but there are many others. If a manager is credible and competent, then employees are more likely to trust what the manager is saying.
If employees trust what the manager says, they’re more likely to implement suggestions and ideas that the manager has for improving business or work processes. This idea of “trust leads to better and more productive employees” is why competency is one of the key drivers of employee engagement.
FAQs
How can employers be more aware of employee engagement drivers?
Employers can be more aware of employee engagement drivers by listening to employees and how they feel at work (rather than how they think employees feel).
They can also sit down for talks with employees, or have them fill out surveys so that they are aware of the feelings of their employees.
How do you know if your employees are engaged?
Employee engagement a feeling of commitment and meaningfulness toward work is critical to the success of any organization.
Employee engagement improves not only employee performance but results in a host of other positive behaviors. These behaviors lead to greater productivity, higher customer satisfaction, and lower turnover rates.
How can managers promote employee involvement?
Managers can communicate organizational goals, vision, and mission to help employees understand how their own work contributes to the organization’s overall success.
Additionally, managers should encourage discussion of participant-generated goals and feedback for improvement. They should also encourage sharing of results with each other.
Final Thoughts
Creating a great employee experience is ultimately about providing recognition, value, and growth to your employees. This can be done through learning as a team, open communication, coaching, and training.
Start with these strategies to put your best foot forward early on in your employee’s time at the company, and you will grow a loyal and engaged workforce who will deliver for your business.
At the end of the day, employee engagement is a two-way street. It’s tied directly to how well the employer meets their employee’s needs, and how well the employee meets their work responsibilities.
Some employers indeed do worse than others at meeting the needs of their employees, but it’s also true that there are ways employees can meet their part of the bargain too. If nothing else, a great place to start might be with these drivers of employee engagement.
If you’re still not sure about why you should take employee engagement seriously, there’s an article you should read.
For more information, read about the reasons why employee engagement is important.
Thanks for reading.
