Understanding how to maintain employee engagement depends on assessing current engagement levels and implementing strategies to enhance team engagement.
The level of how employees feel invested in the company's success is a good measurement of employee engagement. Depending on their personal and professional goals, as well as their alignment with the organization's objectives, employee engagement and motivation can vary. It is important to foster a sense of mutual accomplishment when these goals are met.
Regularly surveying employees and providing opportunities for feedback is the best way to determine their level of happiness. Implementing surveys as a feedback-gathering tool has the added benefit of allowing remote and hybrid-working employees to share their sentiments. Surveys on employee engagement are invaluable for measuring areas where employees feel engaged and identifying areas where a company has room to grow.
Employers must recognize the importance of measuring employee engagement. They can decide which questions to include in your employee engagement survey. If you prefer not to create your own, you can use pre-made surveys like Gallup's employee engagement survey.
Consider including these topics in any employee engagement survey:
Work-life balance. Do your employees feel they have a good balance between their work and personal life? How can this balance be made better, and what can your organization do to give employees more flexibility?
Communication. Do your employees think that communication at work could be better? How could this be improved at every level of the organization (e.g., between colleagues, from employees to managers, from employees to the executive team)? Do employees know who to contact if they have questions? Are the current communication tools (email, video meetings, Slack, etc.) effective?
Respect. Have your employees experienced discrimination from other employees? Have they ever felt discriminated against by company policies? Do they feel they are being treated differently than their colleagues based on gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or any other personal characteristic?
Teamwork. How well does your organization work as a team? Do employees feel connected to each other and their managers? Do remote employees feel isolated? How often does your organization provide team-building opportunities?
Feedback. Do employees receive regular feedback? How often do they feel their direct supervisor acknowledges their work? Can employees set, achieve, and receive feedback on personal goals? Do they receive annual reviews with merit increases? How could the delivery and frequency of feedback be improved?
Growth opportunities. Is your company helping employees grow internally? Can you set, achieve, and get rewarded for meeting performance goals? Can employees hold multiple positions within your business? Are there chances to learn new skills and pursue further education? Do employees have opportunities for significant financial growth?
Value. How does your company show appreciation for its employees? What does your organization do to demonstrate that it values the unique contributions of each employee? Do employees feel like they are easily replaceable, or do they believe that their skills and strengths are recognized and appreciated?
After measuring employee engagement, use the results to create a work environment that focuses on increasing engagement and improving areas identified by employees.
Is your office environment equipped to keep employees engaged?
Learning how to engage employees takes time and effort. Employers who invest in employee engagement see positive results in their employees' performance, turnover, and morale. Consider working with Organizational Development experts like ATS+Partners to learn what your company can do to attract and retain talent.