July 6, 2020
Training and Development 31 July 2019
Improve Employee Engagement by Following These Trends
Duncan Kingori

Work has always been, and always will be, a crucial part of our identities. As kids, we were often asked the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up”, and we have all sorts of responses.

Whether you followed the career path your childhood memory was fascinated by, or you delved into something else, one important thing stands out: how engaged are you at work? (Same question can be asked reflectively if you have employees- how engaged are they?)

Sadly, one in three U.S employees scoffs at the concept of employee engagement because it is so far from their reality. While some totally cannot connect with the company’s mission, and others feel like fishes out of water because they’d rather be elsewhere. Employees are less productive because they lack the motivation to be at work, leaving their minds unengaged!

What is Employee/Workplace Engagement?

In a work environment, imagine that this is lunchtime, and a young man sits behind his monitor, a grin of satisfaction plastered on his face as he types away in response to a client’s inquiries, so much so that he forgets to leave the office for lunch. But that’s not a problem, because he knows he can totally get lunch as soon as he’s done with this time-pressed client. 

Clearly, you can see that this young man is an engaged employee (enabled by a flexible work environment!) Employee engagement has to do with an employee showing up to work each day as the best version of him/herself. By doing so, this employee proactively seeks to accomplish some vital part of the company’s mission. 

An engaged employee shows all these traits via their exuberant interaction with coworkers and superiors, a never-give-up attitude and team-spiritedness. It isn’t hard to identify an engaged employee. The question is, why are there so few of them, and what trends can help a company recruit and keep more employees engaged?

These Trends Will Improve Employee Engagement in Your Organization in 2019:

1. Given the Right Working Conditions, Millennials are Ready to Stay Engaged in the Workplace

In the most recent Gallup poll study, about 34% of employees were noted to be committed to their workplaces and happy about the work they do, and while this might not seem significant, it is one of the highest figures recorded in the recent past. Still, more can be done.

What can we do to bring in the over 50% of disengaged workers into the fold of engaged and happy workers?

One way to do this is to actively pursue the new group of individuals in our marketplace: the millennials. For the millennials, an active share in the workforce has seen a significant upsurge and giving them the right tools to work with is a sure way of increasing workplace engagement.

Tailoring employee engagement strategies to this group of individuals who are estimated to make up about 75% of the active workforce by 2030 is a wise approach. What do millennials require?

They ask for sincere and open communication routes, a fascinating laid-back work culture, a sense of fulfillment in their roles- not just working for the sake of being paid. Collaboration and psychological wellness are also key requirements of millennials if they’d enjoy the workplace and stay engaged.

2. Amiable Leadership: “People Don’t Quit Jobs, they quit their bosses.”

It doesn’t take the mental capacity of a genius to realize that amiable leaders would breed better-connected employees. If a team has a manager who inspires the lot, it becomes a lot easier to work together. authenticity, a calm presence, dignity, accountability, integrity, and empathy are key qualities to look out for in leaders to increase workplace engagement.

3. Feedback has become a “Must-Have” Component of Management

Employees who do not receive ample feedback take little or no time before becoming disengaged. However, when employees receive healthy doses of constructive criticism, they have been noted to buckle up (when feedback is about how they can do better), and work a lot harder/smarter (when feedback is positive). There’s no longer any room for holding back feedback; as 2019 employees would have none of it! Feedback has become a ‘must-have’ component of management.

4. Flexibility/Work-Life Blend

Gone are the days when employees had to absolutely show up at work. Working from home on some days has become the new trend, and progressive organizations are taking up the challenge, as the legendary 9-5 is being crushed more and more out of existence.

And the amazing part? Results are rolling in, with this trend that helps employees engage more parts of their lives even as they work.

5. People Analytics: Helping Employers Choose the Right Employees to Grow their Brands

With the new trends favoring employees, it might seem like employers are now at the mercy of even slovenly workers. Not quite! With people analytics joining the emerging trends in 2019, employers are able to make better-informed decisions about their workforce, and in the process, gaining deeper and more educated insights into recruitment, performance and employee functionality. 

As an employer of labor, you can, with people analytics, locate what is missing from your employee experience and find the right tweaks to reduce employee turnover rate. How about the ability to discover what can go wrong before it does, and to fix it? Priceless!

6. The Crucial Role of Technology in Employee Engagement

More than ever before, workplaces are embracing models that encourage the use of performance management software in tracking the unique drivers and challenges of employees; enabling them to have better opportunities, and by so doing, encouraging their engagement and commitment to the company and industry’s progress. Technological advances are being used to increase employee engagement when utilized constructively in this manner.


Wrapping it Up

In 2019, there are trends which if taken seriously, can result in the positive change we seek for regarding employee engagement. How are you utilizing them?
