Now I am sure there are some of you rolling your eyes as you hear the phrase ‘Employee Engagement’ but research suggests that engagement is linked to performance. Reports show that employees who say they work for high performing organisations are five times more engaged. Highest performing employees are three times more engaged than the lowest performers. But let’s face it these are just statistics what does it really mean in reality?
Recently, I attended the Employee Engagement summit. I thought it would be great to take this opportunity to share what I learnt from the various speakers and sessions. What I found of particular interest was how the event opened with words on the screen ‘How tech is changing the face of employee engagement.’ Currently, this is a hot topic as we are finding Communication and HR specialists now taking an interest in how technology can assist rather than be of a hindrance. The days of IT taking charge are changing as other key business decision makers are now providing their input to ensure the technology solutions meet their requirements.
With the rise of millennials in the workplace, businesses highlighting the importance of employee wellbeing and flexible working is becoming the norm. Here are five ways you can increase employee engagement.
1. Don’t be afraid to invest in new technology solutions
Speaker Jo Swinson, Former Employment Relations Minister was first to speak at the event. As time goes on and many businesses are encouraging flexible working hours and hot desking, therefore companies will need to become more reliant upon technology. Technology is innovating the way we work; information can be stored on the cloud providing access to HR documents and training materials. Intranets are a great way of simplifying the user experience and can be accessed on any device, anywhere. It’s important that users are comfortable with the technology that’s provided to them. As we continue to move forward and the ‘normal’ working practises fade away, it’s vital that businesses adopt innovative technologies that are user friendly to ensure employees are given the right tools to complete their job successfully. Technology is so far embedded into our lives that it’s no longer a benefit but expectation.
2. Communicate daily with mobile technology
Delivering internal communications that excite, educate and engage with employees. 40% of UK employees don’t think the communications they receive from their employer excite or inspire them. Having spoken to many Comms and HR specialists, I realised many of them rely heavily upon their comms to employees, especially large organisations that are not able to offer face to face communications. Promoting their brand and company culture was high on their list of priorities as many felt that this was in decline. The 2013 Harvard Business Review study revealed that, 70% of the surveyed employees felt most engaged at work when they felt that their employers made the effort to communicate and update the company consistently. Most till this point have relied on emails but with little success. We all use our phones regularly, more often that what we should, make it easy for your employees to notice your comms, there are many mobile apps such as Yammer that can promote your communications effectively. Allowing employees to give real time feedback and communication with each other.
3. Encourage collaboration
Going beyond the word ‘collaboration’ what does it actually mean? Collaborative working, offering employees the right tools to be able to do their job successful. Educating employees is an important requirement to increase employee engagement. It’s a basic requirement that staff need to be able to complete their job successfully but can be overlooked. As flexible working practices become increasingly popular, companies need to rethink how they can develop talent.
4. Recognition
Recognition was by far the most popular topic at the Employee Engagement Summit, and something that businesses are keen to promote. Ross Parker, Communication Manager at LV spoke about ‘Rethinking Recognition.’ His discussed how effective recognition is an essential tool to embed an organisations goal and values whilst making your employees feel valued and appreciated. It’s important to understand why people go to work, what drives their motivation and how can you reward employees without hurting your bottom line? Here at Content and Code we take recognition very seriously. We use tools such as Yammer and Fresh Intranet to highlight staff achievements and successes, that are then recognised by everyone in the business, simply by commentating or liking the post.
5. Promote innovation
Victoria Silverman, Director of Innovation at Thomson Reuters spoke about her company’s re-invigoration of innovation as an activity, value and catalyst for change. Keeping employees motivated and driven isn’t always the easiest of tasks. How do you engage with employees in the future success of your organisation and its employees? Victoria discussed how they used technology (intranet) to promote innovation across the company on a global scale and how to engage with millennials. Allowing employees to suggest new ways of innovation is a brilliant way for staff to get involved, feel empowered and learn from each other. It’s important to give employees the confidence to develop.
Communication, collaboration, flexible working can be enhanced with the use of effective technology. Find out what is it that motivates your employees, what are your business challenges? Ask yourself this why do your employees show up to work? Include them all in your strategy, develop a trust and use technology to help overcome these challenges.
If you would like to book a demo, or require more information like an eBook or webinar download. Please get in contact by filling out the form or visit the contact us page and we will be in touch shortly.[vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”How to Deliver Effective Communications in your Organisation” style=”3d”]The challenge for businesses in the modern age is keeping a consistent tempo to work; a reliability to workplace environments; leadership in operations and universal touchpoints that reach across the entire organisation. This whitepaper takes a closer look at the importance of internal communications in a changing business landscape and the role a company’s intranet plays in improving business fluidity and function.
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