5 employee engagement ideas from actual employees

The first rule of employee engagement is to listen. People are excited to share their thoughts if they know it won’t fall on deaf ears. These ideas come from actual employees when asked how to improve employee engagement.

1. Create an inner-circle & let your employees in

From swing-sets to backstage passes, everyone wants to be in the inner-circle – Employees are no exception. The most important employee engagement strategy is to make your employees feel like they’re insiders at your company, because they actually are. They have the potential to be your biggest fans or the heaviest weight pulling you down. Choose to make them love you by sharing insights with them and acknowledging their incredible value.

2. Invest in employee career development

Your employees will work harder and smarter if their work aligns with their career goals and ambitions. It’s as simple as that. Increase productivity, creativity, and growth by uniting individual professional development with that of your organization.

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3. Celebrate the small things

Bonuses and promotions are great, but being recognized and appreciated for your hard work on a routine basis feels amazing. Don’t get me wrong, compensation-based rewards are very important, but large companies often forget to celebrate the smaller victories with prizes and good old-fashioned public acknowledgements. Consider recognizing individuals and their accomplishments at monthly meetings or sending out a department email applauding exceptional employees.

4. Unite your company in a shared mission

Millennials have become famous for placing such a high value on finding meaning in their day jobs. No matter what your company does, find a way to unite your people behind your shared values and mission. Trust me, everything from engineering to consumer goods can be meaningful – it’s all about how you tell the story, both to your employees and the outside world. In many ways, the best employee engagement activity is actually solidifying your mission statement and refining your marketing strategy to include your staff.

5. Start off on the right foot

Employee engagement begins long before your employees start their first official work day. Your external branding matters and helps form initial opinions about your organization and just how lucky (or unlucky) your employees are to be a part of it.

Nevertheless, their first day is still huge as this is your chance to make a lasting impression of who you are and how much you value your teammates. A new employee’s onboarding plan is crucial! Training employees is tremendous for both the new teammate as well as the company – take it seriously and show your newest staff that they should be as happy to be there as you are to have them there.

As you can see from this list, it’s not just your HR team that play essential roles in employee engagement, top executives, managers, and marketers also have important functions in crafting ideal staff engagement. Listen to your employees and see what they’re looking for to feel inspired, celebrated, and in-the-know at your company.