Tips On How HR Can Help Improve Employee Engagement

Low employee engagement remains a persistent problem for organisations of all sizes around the world since 2017, a global Gallup study found that just 15% of adults in full-time employment are ‘engaged’ at work – defined by the research company as being “highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace”.(Source-https://www.ciphr.com/advice/six-hr-strategies-for-improving-employee-engagement/).  

While employee engagement can spark productive change in an organization, However Employee Engagement is a mindset that needs to be cultivated by every organization. The responsibility of cultivating and creatively representing this concept in every organization is shouldered by the human resources team as they understand best the value of an engaged workforce.  

When young and ambitious, everyone searches for the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In case of jobs/employment, this pot of gold is usually a thriving career, a seven figure salary or a lavish lifestyle. After a long and perilous struggle let’s say an individual does acquire all this, but what next? As the days pass, he/she soon starts to run low on motivation and often seeks the company of those in their immediate environment to bounce back on track. Now here is where engagement plays an important part. Should your company have an engaged workforce, it will positively impact the mindsets of those actively seeking motivation. However, if your workforce is disgruntled, it will infect the mind of those genuinely interested in working towards organizational goals and in the process disengage them as well. 

Before we look into the effective techniques for employee engagement programs, though not an unknown fact, let’s understand why it is required in the first place. Employee engagement helps improve company performance over significant key areas like profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction, innovation, health and safety, sickness and absence, turnover and well being. One must understand though that to achieve the above it’s crucial to have the employee engagement programs in alignment with the business strategy. If they are not aligned, you may be causing the employee churn that you are very much trying to avoid.  

Assuming your business and HR strategy are aligned, here are the 4 simple and useful tips on how HR can help foster employee engagement:  

1) Tapping into employee communication :  

The HR department is usually sought for respite when things go wrong or as a last resort. However, we fail to understand that a well functioning HR team plays a catalytic role on organizational success and hence their channels of communication need to be open, clear and within easy reach of any employee be it a newcomer, intern, manager or even the directors of the company.  

HR teams need to be on top of the organizational pulse in order to engage departments and take corrective measures to ensure that all teams/ departments within the organization are happy and engaged. However, this is a difficult task to accomplish manually. But with Let’s Buzzz, gaining insight into the moods of individuals and the overall health of teams and departments at large is not a challenge.  

2) Enabling internal knowledge sharing: 

Incorporating a social culture is mandatory for any organization to succeed. While the concept is not new to many businesses and when done right, it is highly effective. Organizations recognize that the wealth of experience and knowledge their employees possess is one of their most important resources and that by encouraging their employees to share that knowledge with each other, they not only function more consistently as a team, they also grow the intellectual wealth of the whole organization.  

The problem with knowledge sharing is that it usually doesn’t go beyond a statement of intent. Organizations need to make it a priority. The HR’s should try and make knowledge sharing a priority within reasonable time periods so it doesn’t hamper productivity. But just because knowledge sharing is a priority for your business, does not mean it is a priority for the employees as well. They may have other passion projects or they may worry that taking time off work, which could mean that they miss out on another opportunity for promotion.  Some employees need more than a philanthropic thought to start mentoring their co-workers. But they might be willing to work for incentives. Yes! Incentivize the knowledge sharing programs! Offer them digital rewards that are easy to redeem and are fit to their liking. Let’s Buzz allows you to do just that! Not only are you enhancing the knowledge base of your organization, but also achieving an engaged workforce. 

3) Involving employees in co-creating the work culture: 

I’m sure a lot of organizations, regardless of their strength or composition have incorporated the concept of a suggestion box. While many may think it does little to help organizations. From the point of view of the HR department, it can prove to be a very powerful tool for employee engagement. An employee suggestion box allows individuals to make an anonymous suggestion on improving operations or the physical aspects of the workplace. It also encourages employees to verbalize their ideas in a less intimidating environment.  However, if a complaint/suggestion is made by employees, they like to see it in action as well. Meaning they await it’s implementation as suggested. So if the suggestions see no action/improvement, there are high chances people may start seeing it as a futile activity and loose faith soon. To remedy this,  a redressal system needs to be put in place to follow up with the suggestions made by employees and there might be certain things that need to be addressed privately. An office intranet or platform like Let’s Buzzz can act as an excellent redressal platform and also intuitively inform the HR department when certain actions or behaviours are continuously flagged. This makes it easier to track behaviour and implement solutions. 

4) Asking employees rather than telling :  

Employees usually respond best when asked! This is a really powerful tool and usually hides in plain sight! Employees love being made to feel valued and asking them for opinions, suggestions or feedback makes them feel important and heard. We work in a dynamic work environment where employees face different challenges personally and professionally. There is never a one size fits all reward and recognition system, however, most organizations fail to see that. It is great to reward employees, but giving them a choice to choose rewards is empowerment! It makes them happy that they have the right to pick and choose. Let’s Buzzz is unique and probably one of the very few employee engagement platforms that empower employees like that! 

Once buzzed or nominated by their managers for a reward, the employee is awarded certain buzz points and they can choose to purchase a reward of their choice with those points. Let’s Buzzz offers an exhaustive list of digital rewards to choose from and who doesn’t like choices! With Let’s buzz, any organization can buzz it’s way to employee happiness.  

It’s time one must move from theory to practice and commit to taking action without waiting for engagement to happen on itself. Employee Engagement requires a long term vision and an overall effort if it is to improve productivity and retention rates.  

Every organisation needs to identify what their employees need and accordingly implement the necessary measures that shall lead to the overall success of the company. If you too want to keep track of your organization’s overall happiness and engagement and act in time, Book a demo with Let’s Buzzz today! After all, a stitch in time saves nine.