When you hear the term "employee engagement," many things come to mind. But what exactly is it, and how can you boost it in your own company?
Employee engagement is much more than just the emotional bond between an employee and their employer. It is a measure of how committed your employees are to the company and, as a result, how much they contribute to the company’s success. More and more companies are seeing the benefits of investing in their employees—from reduced absenteeism and lower turnover to simply improved job performance. In this blog post, we’d like to show you which areas are worth focusing on and how to improve your HR and employee management:
1. Defining the Candidate Persona
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- Employee engagement begins very early in the hiring process—specifically in defining the candidate persona, in the job posting, and subsequently in the candidate selection process. Senior HR professionals should thoroughly vet candidates at this stage. It’s not just the candidate’s skills that matter; it’s far more important to examine what motivated them in the past. Or, to put it another way: what actually drives the employee? And then ask yourself: will this person contribute to an upswing or a downswing within the team?
That is why it is essential to present your company’s values as transparently and honestly as possible right from the job posting. Conversely, this helps ensure that the “right” candidates—those who share similar values to your company—will apply. If this proves to be the case, you will often find that these employees not only remain loyal to the company for longer but also make a greater contribution to its success.
- Employee engagement begins very early in the hiring process—specifically in defining the candidate persona, in the job posting, and subsequently in the candidate selection process. Senior HR professionals should thoroughly vet candidates at this stage. It’s not just the candidate’s skills that matter; it’s far more important to examine what motivated them in the past. Or, to put it another way: what actually drives the employee? And then ask yourself: will this person contribute to an upswing or a downswing within the team?
2. Clear division of responsibilities and the big picture #OKR
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- Assign clear responsibilities to your employees. Once your employees know and understand the big picture, it helps them immensely to know what they’re working toward. Be prepared to give employees ownership of their work. This not only builds trust with employees on one hand, but also fosters a sense of responsibility on the other.
Objectives and Key Results, orOKRsfor short, can help break down the big picture into manageable tasks for teams and the individual employees within them. With such a detailed breakdown of tasks, employees are more aware of the corporate goal being pursued. Not only are their own goals clear to them, but they can also see their colleagues’ goals. This is precisely what opens up immense opportunities! When cross-functional teams can exchange ideas on specific objectives and even offer each other suggestions for improvement, they can ultimately work toward the corporate goal even more efficiently!
- Assign clear responsibilities to your employees. Once your employees know and understand the big picture, it helps them immensely to know what they’re working toward. Be prepared to give employees ownership of their work. This not only builds trust with employees on one hand, but also fosters a sense of responsibility on the other.
3. Recognition of performance by supervisors
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- We’ve all been there. You’ve spent weeks working as a team on one—or even several—major client projects, and just when the Solution has finally been implemented Solution client’s Solution , the next client project is already knocking at the door. Depending on the client and the employee, motivation can sometimes waver, which is perfectly fine.
But what can managers do to ensure these fluctuations don’t get out of hand? As a manager, you have a responsibility to provide employees with feedback commensurate with the work they’ve done. If the work is more than satisfactory, be sure to praise the employee. Don’t just thank them for the work they’ve completed; specifically highlight their skills. Because let’s be honest, who isn’t proud of their work when their manager also praises them for it? How the praise is ultimately expressed—whether in a one-on-one meeting, a phone call in the evening, or at the annual Christmas party—doesn’t matter at all—the main thing is that the praise is genuine and directed at the employee!
- We’ve all been there. You’ve spent weeks working as a team on one—or even several—major client projects, and just when the Solution has finally been implemented Solution client’s Solution , the next client project is already knocking at the door. Depending on the client and the employee, motivation can sometimes waver, which is perfectly fine.
One thing is certain: to achieve higher employee engagement in the long term, it is advisable to focus on intrinsic motivational factors.
The examples listed above are just a small selection of the factors that influence employee engagement. As you can see, there are quite a few levers worth adjusting. After all, only satisfied and engaged employees can maximize your company’s long-term success!
