Create a Work Environment That Encourages Employee Engagement

Your managers are key when you want engaged employees

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Does your workplace encourage employee engagement? If not it should. Employee engagement can be a powerful factor in your business success. Engaged employees are more productive, customer-focused, and profit-generating and employers are more likely to retain them.

Employee engagement is not a Human Resources initiative that managers are reminded to do once a year. It's a key strategic initiative that drives employee performance, accomplishment, and continuous improvement all year long.

Just like organizations can't create employee empowerment, employee motivation, or employee satisfaction, engagement is up to the employees who make decisions and choices about how involved they want to be at work. Employees make choices relative to their empowerment, motivation, and satisfaction. These choices are not up to you, the employer.

What is the employer's responsibility, however, is to create a culture and an environment that is conducive to employees making the choices that are good for your business. And, engaged employees are good for your business.

What Produces an Environment Conducive to Engagement?

Consider the following if you need your employees to become more engaged and involved in their work

  • Employee engagement must be a business strategy that focuses on finding engaged employees and then, keeping the employee engaged throughout the whole employment relationship.
  • Employee engagement must focus on business results. Employees are most engaged when they are accountable and can see and measure the outcomes of their performance.
  • Employee engagement occurs when the goals of the business are aligned with the employee’s goals and how the employee spends his or her time. The glue that holds the strategic objectives of the employee and the business together is frequent, effective communication that reaches and informs the employee at the level and practice of his or her job.

What Makes Organizations Fail at Employee Engagement?

If employee engagement is so crucial to an organization’s success, why do organizations pursue it so ineffectively? The answer is that incorporating a business strategy such as employee engagement is hard work—work that many employers don't see as affecting their bottom line immediately.

Most organizations implement engagement as a program that's ancillary to the actual business. But, by thinking about employee engagement as a planned business strategy—with expected and measured business results—employee engagement becomes possible.

With this in mind, employee engagement as a successful business strategy needs effective managers who are committed to:

  • Measuring employee performance and holding employees accountable.
  • Providing the communication necessary to align each employee’s actions with the organization’s overall business goals.
  • Pursuing the employee development required to ensure success.
  • Making a commitment (in time, tools, attention, reinforcement, training, etc.) to keeping employees engaged over the long haul because they fundamentally believe no other strategy will produce as much success—for both the business and the employees.

Additional Critical Factors

The following factors also influence the willingness of employees to stay engaged and contributing

  • Effective recognition and reward system. There's value in a recognition system that lets employees know they are truly worthy. Effective recognition always involves verbal or written acknowledgment from the employee's manager in addition to any physical reward.
  • Frequent feedback. The downside of the standard employee performance appraisal is that it is a one-time deal. Effective performance feedback takes place every day (minimally, weekly) and there should be interaction with the employee's manager. Effective feedback focuses on what the employee is doing well and what needs improvement. It is clear and specific and reinforces the actions that the manager wants to see the employee regularly perform.
  • Shared values and guiding principles. Engaged employees thrive in an environment that reinforces their most deeply held values and beliefs. Employees are most successful in an organization in which their personal values are in sync with the organization's stated values and guiding principles.
  • Demonstrated respect, trust, and emotional intelligence. Employee's direct supervisors need to demonstrate that they are personally interested in and care about their employees.
  • Positive relationships with coworkers. Engaged employees need to work, not just with nice people, but with coworkers who are equivalently engaged. Coworkers who demonstrate integrity, teamwork, a passion for quality and serving customers, and are passionate about what they do, make for ideal coworkers who help foster employee engagement.