Human resources departments are uniquely positioned to improve employee engagement across their organization. From onboarding to implementing wellness programs, HR professionals have the power to make a big impact on employee satisfaction and productivity.
Managers are responsible for helping employees understand their roles and how their work contributes to organizational success, but they need the right tools and training to do so.
1. Employee Recognition
The right recognition program can help employees feel valued and rewarded for their hard work. Whether it’s a handwritten note from a manager or a company-wide email, employee recognition shows that your organization values its employees and is invested in their success. It can also boost morale and encourage employees to continue performing at a high level.
Creating a culture of employee recognition is an important part of improving employee engagement and creating a company that people want to work for. A lack of recognition can lead to employees feeling burnt out, which will negatively impact their performance. Employees who feel recognized for their efforts are more likely to remain engaged in their job and have a greater interest in the success of the company.
One of the most powerful ways to recognize employees is through a formalized company awards program. These programs can be designed to include rewards that match the core values of your business and help employees connect their personal goals with those of the company. This type of employee recognition can help to strengthen the bond between managers and employees as well as promote a positive company image among the public.
Another way to improve employee recognition is by introducing informal forms of praise and encouragement. For example, recognizing an employee’s birthday or work anniversary can show that the company is interested in them as real people outside of their role at the organization. These simple and inexpensive ways of showing appreciation can have a significant impact on the way an employee feels about their job.
Finally, providing opportunities for employees to dream about their future with the company is a great way to improve employee engagement. When employees feel that the leadership of the company notices their good work, they are more likely to assume that they will be offered a promotion or a new position in the future.
2. Employee Feedback
Employee feedback is vital to the success of your business. Not only does it help employees understand how they can improve their work, but it also helps to increase morale and company culture. When employees feel that their opinions are valued, they are more likely to invest in the company and remain satisfied with their job.
However, it is important to note that not all feedback is positive. When an employee is receiving negative feedback, it is important to have a face-to-face discussion and focus on how their behavior impacts the team and the business. It is also helpful to focus on solutions rather than just telling the employee what they need to change.
The HR department can help to create open channels of communication through one-on-one sessions with employees, employee surveys, and online tools such as pulse polls and team chats. By ensuring that employees have the resources and support they need to provide feedback, you can ensure that their opinions are heard and addressed.
Another way that the HR department can contribute to employee engagement is by helping to minimize staff turnover. By conducting exit interviews and employee surveys, HR can identify any issues that may be causing employees to leave the company. This information can then be used to implement strategies that will increase employee satisfaction and decrease the likelihood of staff turnover in the future.
In addition to providing regular feedback, the HR department can also help to promote and celebrate workplace successes. By doing so, they can make employees feel like a part of the company culture and give them the recognition that they deserve. Moreover, when employees are recognized for their accomplishments, it can lead to increased motivation and productivity.
3. Employee Training
Employee training is a key part of human resource management, and the process of planning and executing employee training is one of the responsibilities of an HR manager. Getting a bachelor’s degree in HR can help prepare you to take on this role and lead the development of training programs in your organization.
Providing training opportunities can boost employee engagement and make your staff feel like their employers care about their growth. According to the Work Institute, nearly half of exiting employees say their reason for leaving was a lack of opportunity to grow and advance within their companies. By regularly offering impactful training, you can make your staff feel valued and give them a clear path to success in their current roles or future positions at your company.
Training can happen in a variety of ways, including through one-on-one coaching and mentoring, where employees learn from a more experienced colleague. You can also host group sessions, which often have a lecture and presentation format, and use simulations or other team-building activities. These types of sessions can be effective for a wide range of employee learning needs, from onboarding to refreshers on new skills to diversity and inclusion (DEI) training.
Employees want meaning and purpose in their work, and they value relationships—particularly those with a manager who can coach them to success. If an employee feels their needs aren’t being met, they may act out in negative ways, negatively impacting coworkers and the company culture. These actively disengaged employees aren’t putting in full effort, so they can undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish each day. By meeting staff’s engagement needs, you can ensure that they put in their best efforts for the company each day.
4. Employee Development
HR can help employees develop their skills and improve the quality of work they produce by providing them with the tools they need to be successful. Often, this involves training programs and ongoing mentoring or coaching from managers. When employees can develop their skills, they can become more engaged in the work they do and are more likely to stay with the organization.
Employee development is one of the most important factors in employee engagement, according to a survey from Qualtrics. It’s also a key way to minimize staff turnover and the costs that come with it, including lost productivity, recruitment and training investment, and sales revenue.
Your HR team can foster employee development by offering a variety of benefits that will appeal to employees. These can include employee recognition and reward systems, like bonuses or a simple online shoutout in the company’s team chat. They can also encourage a culture of transparency by explaining how employees’ day-to-day work relates to the company’s goals and vision.
It’s also a good idea for HR to communicate how an organization is planning for the future. Employees will feel a greater sense of stability and security in their roles when they know that management is committed to keeping the organization relevant, competitive, and financially healthy.
A great employee development program will encourage your team to stay devoted to the organization by fostering a sense of purpose and a belief that they’re helping the business achieve its goals. This will help employees feel more satisfied with their jobs and may even make them more interested in working hard, which can lead to higher levels of engagement.
5. Employee Recognition
A good employee recognition strategy shows that managers and the organization take their employees seriously. Rather than treating them like lemmings to be ordered around willy-nilly, it emphasizes that employees are real people with complex inner lives and their own goals and dreams for the future. It also helps them understand how their work contributes to company’s success.
Employees who feel that their efforts are recognized and valued are more likely to be engaged. As a result, they’re more willing to go the extra mile at work to do a good job. This is especially true if the recognition is tied to behavior that aligns with the company’s values. For example, when a worker goes above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction, he or she should be recognized for the effort. This will not only encourage the employee to continue his or her good work, but it will also inspire other workers to follow suit.
Companies that make employee recognition a priority have 31% lower turnover rates than those that don’t. Employees who leave, because they don’t feel that their contributions are valued, tend to be disengaged from the job, which can negatively impact productivity, morale, and business results.
As a result, human resources departments must pay close attention to the needs of their employees. This can be accomplished by providing a variety of benefits and opportunities to increase employee engagement, such as training and development programs, flexible working arrangements, and employee of the month competitions. However, it’s even more important to remember that employees are not just a number. They are real people with hopes and dreams, and it is the company’s responsibility to ensure that they can achieve their own goals while doing their jobs well at the same time.
