Employee engagement is a number one priority for HR departments as we get further into 2016. Based on a 2014 SHRM survey, employees rated
engagement levels at work a 3.6 out of 5. So how do you boost employee engagement rates? Here are four tips from PC Magazine on how to perfect your program, and boost employee engagement this year:
- Measure your program: Do not make assumptions based on employee chatter or what you hear from managers. According to SHRM, surveys are used by 49% of employers to “take the temperature” of their employee engagement program. This is important to keep your program on track and to elicit a constant stream of feedback from employees. This not only maintains a successful program but helps to constantly improve it.
- Make engagement a big deal: It's important, so treat it as such. Make it an executive and managerial priority and weave it into other full company initiatives. Make employee engagement a top concern, keep it constant in your employees and managers every day lives, and it becomes less of an initiative and more the culture of your organization.
- Replace cash: Despite what employee engagement programs may have looked like 10-15 years ago, cash is no longer king in employee engagement. Cash bonuses that lack long-term trophy value are now being replaced with experiences, gift cards and extra vacation time. Give your employees something memorable that will stick in their minds and have a lasting impact in how engaged they are on a regular Tuesday.
- Audit your program: We mentioned a bit about feedback in number one, but its importance cannot be emphasized enough. There should be a constant (not annual or biannual) review of your program through employee feedback. Set up an email alias, or an always-on survey, or even an old-fashioned suggestion box. Just make sure your employees’ voices are heard and heard often.
Have another tip for our employee engagement initiative? Want to help your peers find innovative ways to engage their staff this year? Leave us a comment.
