For any business to succeed, it will need to have a team of employees engaged with the company and committed to helping the business thrive. When a business has apathetic staff, motivation levels will be low, people will not communicate, and it will create a negative environment in the workplace, which can be toxic – this can lead to all kinds of other issues. So, how can you avoid this and encourage employees to “buy-in”? There are dozens of effective strategies to increase employee engagement, which could help the company succeed, make the atmosphere much better, and ensure that everyone is happy and content.
Be Transparent
One of the main reasons businesses suffer from a workforce that is not engaged and apathetic is that they do not feel like a key part of the business. Divisions between management and employees creates distrust, so instead, you need to have transparency and keep them updated on all aspects of the business.
Involve Them in Decision Making
Following this, an employee is much more likely to engage when they are involved in strategic decision making. It is also smart to ask employees for their thoughts, ideas, and feedback because it can bring a fresh set of eyes to the table. Plus, they often see aspects that managers miss because they are the ones that are actively involved in the daily processes.
Give Individual Attention & Development Opportunities
Managers also need to take the time to get to know each team member and to make themselves available for support. Employees are unlikely to engage if they do not feel valued or noticed at work, so you need to provide individual attention and strike up friendly yet professional relationships. On top of this, you should get to know team members’ career goals and then find ways to help them achieve this within the company (otherwise, you could lose them).
Offer Flexibility & Autonomy
The days of 9-5 in the office are long gone, and businesses need to offer some flexibility for their staff in terms of remote working and their schedule. Not only will this improve morale and demonstrate trust, but often you will find that this can increase productivity too. In addition to flexibility, you should also encourage autonomy and allow staff to find their best way of working. While autonomy helps improve performance and engagement, it is also important that you make yourself available for support and provide regular feedback to team members.
Use Communication Platforms
Communication is incredibly important for employee engagement and productivity, but it can also be challenging, particularly when staff is working remotely. Open-source communication platforms can make it much easier for staff to engage and stay in touch with each other no matter where they are working from, and there are some excellent Slack alternatives that are worth considering. With these platforms, messaging, video calls, file sharing, and collaborating can be much easier and help staff to work to their potential each day.
Make Team-Building A Priority
Leading on from this, you also need to make sure that you are doing all you can to create a team-based mentality in the workplace and encourage strong relationships between co-workers. People will become much more attached and involved with the business when they enjoy spending time with the people that they work with. This is not something that you have complete control over, but you will find those team-building events, collaborative projects and allow people to communicate freely in the office to be effective. It would be best if you also tried to arrange informal events as it is often at these that the strongest connections are made.
Make Sure That They Have A Sense of Purpose
Finally, it is helpful if you can ensure that your team members have a sense of purpose. People become disillusioned when they feel that they have no real purpose or are not making a difference at work, so you will want to avoid this at all costs. Many businesses find that community engagement can be a great way to give employees a sense of purpose and help to make a difference to the local community.
These are all highly effective strategies for increasing employee engagement and should encourage your staff to be “buy-in” to the business.
