When you have engaged employees they are willing to invest the extra time, effort and dedication that is needed to contribute to the success of your business. Engaged employees bring enthusiasm, energy and passion to the work they do and they have a definite sense of purpose towards their role within your organisation. Besides being committed and loyal, engaged employees usually produce better results for both your company as well as your customers. Engaged employees are exactly what you want! But a study from Gallup show only 23% of employees globally feel actively engaged. So, how do you boost your employee engagement? Here are four suggestions for how you can easily increase employee engagement for your company:

Inspiring leadership

• Competent, inspiring and hands-on leadership: this is crucial for employee engagement. Check-in with your staff on a regular basis to see how they are doing and what influence work has on their mental health. Find out what motivates them, what they believe needs improvement and take action when improvement or changes are required. Events such as team building activities can also be beneficial for the overall relations in the team and with the management suite.

Career development and learning opportunities

• Give your employees the chance to grow and develop. Discuss training and development opportunities with your employees and put together a career plan so that they can take their career in the desired direction. Make sure you provide your employees with clear and consistent feedback so that they know what they need to do to take their performances to the next level.

Recognition of contribution

• Reinforce the importance of your employees’ roles. Highlight the connection between their work and the company’s success. When your employees see that they are contributing to something meaningful, they will take even more pride in their efforts. Talk about a great boost! It also empowers employees to take on new responsibilities in their work hours.

Validation and acknowledging

• Make sure that you regularly thank and acknowledge your employees for their hard work! Celebrate accomplishments, reward and recognise employees in ways that they appreciate and are meaningful to them. In a report highlighted in this Forbes article, only third of employees said they received some recognition when they went above and beyond. When you provide incentives for higher performances, employees have something extra to strive for and thus put in extra effort. It’s a sure way to boost the engagement of most employees!

Communication is at the heart of employee engagement and overall employee experience in the long term. Every good leader should find out what motivates their staff and what their career ambitions are. Use this knowledge to create development opportunities for your employees and reinforce the importance of each and every team member’s work. Reward your employees when they have gone the extra mile and add a bit of socialising and fun every now and then. Loyal customers and good sales figures are important but remember, having employees who feel engaged at work is a company’s best asset!

For survey options to improve employee engagement, see here. And if you are curious to get started with your general employee experience, check out Netigate EX – our dedicated employee platform.