The 8 Most Actionable Employee Engagement Strategies

8 Employee Engagement Strategies that Make a Difference

These eight strategies address the most impactful employee engagement factors. Start practicing them, and you’ll be on your way to a more motivated, committed workforce.

1. Give Employees a Voice

Employees want to know that their opinions and thoughts matter. As a result of listening to employee feedback and addressing it, organizations will see more work done by employees and they will be more engaged. Employees who believe their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to perform at their best.

There’s no better way to encourage employee voice than through regular employee engagement surveys. Use a combination of pulse surveys — short questionnaires designed to track responses about a certain topic over time — and an always-on feedback channel to keep track of employee engagement in real time. Find a platform that makes diving into the data easy with features like heat maps, which show areas of weakness and strength at a glance.

Using a solution that helps managers take action quickly is the best way to apply this engagement strategy. HR plays a key role in training managers on how to respond to feedback effectively, but it’s up to the managers themselves to act. Each manager should have access to everything they need to create a collaborative action plan that everyone buys into on your platform.

2. Recognize and Reward all Team Members

Employee engagement and employee recognition go hand in hand. And employees who feel appreciated stick around — 63% of employees who are recognized at work often are unlikely to look for a new job.

When delivered correctly, social recognition can be even more impactful than monetary recognition – from a simple “thank you” in the hall to kudos at a company-wide meeting. Thanking employees after the event is not engaging for them. Instead, encourage every member of the team, from the executive level down, to give frequent, real-time recognition. Rewarding employees promptly after they exhibit the desired behavior, and connecting the recognition to the behavior, will greatly increase the likelihood of those actions being repeated.

Your recognition solution should also support point-based rewards, so monetary recognition is just as easy to provide. Each team member receives points that can be awarded. These can then be redeemed by others for rewards they want. Engagement requires personalization, and there is no reward that is more meaningful and personal than one you choose yourself.

Getting everyone at your organization involved with recognition is much simpler when you have a platform that lets team members provide both social and points-based recognition from anywhere, anytime. The right tool can also make the recognition experience more engaging by letting employees like and comment on specific recognitions, as well as by “boosting” recognitions they find especially meaningful with additional points.

3. Establish Great Values — and Live by them

The core values of your company are its guiding principles and beliefs. Employees desire to work for an organization whose values speak to them – the culture and values of an organization are two of the most important factors contributing to employee satisfaction. It is therefore essential to define and implement exceptional company values to engage employees.

The values of your company should be short, specific, and closely connected to the goals your company aims to achieve. When company values are understandable and relate both to the culture of the company as well as to its effects on society, employees will be more likely to connect.

4. Prioritize Diversity and Inclusion

Your employees will feel engaged and supported when you promote a diverse and inclusive environment, no matter who they are or what they do. Your company will be more creative and innovative with a variety of viewpoints and perspectives.

Diversity can be encouraged in many ways, from leveraging tools to measure the success of your D&I initiatives to prioritizing diversity during the hiring process. Your organization should do everything it can to establish an environment of psychological safety where employees know that they’re valued for themselves, not just what they do.

5. Provide Great Incentives

Some employees will seem less interested or passionate about their work than others, even when they are highly engaged. Their energy may be running low. Perhaps they need a little boost.

Great incentives are helpful no matter what the situation is. Incentive programs are rewards that encourage hard work and positivity. It is important to select incentives that align with your company’s unique values as well as the desires and interests of your employees. There are many things you can offer your staff as rewards, such as referral programs, professional development opportunities , on-site health screenings, bonuses, wonderful experiences, etc. Learn what your employees want in an incentive program, and then customize your efforts to fit.

6. Support Employee Wellness

Employee wellness has tremendous benefits. This can lead to fewer absences, lower healthcare costs, and higher productivity. Healthier employees are more dedicated to their jobs and outperform employees whose physical and mental health is neglected. Over 80% of employers say that their organization’s wellness program has a positive impact on the health of their workers and leads to improved productivity.

To implement this employee engagement strategy, start with the basics, such as preventing burnout and promoting mindfulness. Utilize a recognition platform that integrates with a wellness solution to educate your employees about healthy habits and reward them for practicing them. If employees achieve their wellness goals, they receive reward points automatically, providing even more motivation to make healthy choices at work and outside of it.