Employee retention is a major need in today’s market. This is why I wrote about 4 ideas to increase employee engagement, to help companies do it better. There is a clear correlation between employee engagement and the bottom line – both for the business and for the individual. While there are numerous activities that organisations can engage in to enhance employee engagement, much of what works should be simple, fun, and easy to implement. 

Employee engagement is such a critical component in achieving and maintaining organizational success that companies are now developing formal programs to enhance workplace satisfaction or they are bringing in expert consultants to help create an internal system. This is exciting to note because for far too long, companies were solely focused on the bottom line while placing little emphasis on nurturing and developing their employees.

The Truth About Employee Engagement

For most businesses it seems like a never ending battle. Employees are hired and then disengaged due to the unrealistic expectations a boss may have. Or, they leave because even though they love the work there’s something missing from their lives because no one really cares about them as employees. They turn into drones going from the 9-5 countdown to a forgettable home life that dreads the next work day.

But what if you reversed that cycle? What if your employees felt like they were working for a company who wanted to invest in them as people and not just as workers? And what if they felt like those investments were paying off in their careers?

Here are 4 easy to implement ideas that will help to show your employees that you care but also do it in a fun way that is engaging, inviting, and competitive to keep their juices flowing. The best team member is one who takes ownership as if the task or vision is theirs. These ideas will help to cultivate that type of team member avatar. 

Ideas To Increase Employee Engagement

Recognition Goes A Long Way

Whether you are a fan or not, there is no denying that recognition is an essential part of any employee engagement strategy. Staff members who feel recognized for their achievements are incredibly happy, perform better and then are seen by clients, customers and the public as being happy too. Everyone appreciates a nod or two here and there, the same goes for employees. However, there is a fine balance between recognition and putting someone on the spot, so be mindful of how you roll out a recognition initiative.

An easy and non-invasive way to do this is to create a “team member(s) of the month” award or badge of honor on your website. The beauty of this approach is that you can include multiple team members in one month. Clients, prospective customers, and the public love to travel to this part of the website because it gives them a sneak peak into the company culture. 

Here’s an idea of how to implement this:

• Create a standardized form or survey that can be sent to the recipients to fill out
• Once completed, have an assistant or someone in the communications department put the responses into the website as a single page or post
• If you’re all in office, snap a photo of everyone together…if you’re a remote workforce, have the recipients submit a selfie photo of themselves to include on the page
• Create a short email announcement and put together a captivating social media post that can be shared with your audience
• Go live with the page on your website and share that link to your email list and social media
• Recognize the recipients at your team meeting to shine the light on their job well done
• (optional) sliding the recipients a “rewards” card (more on this later in the post) is always a nice gesture too

Reimagining Perks

Wrapping your head around this point is critical if you want to keep your employees and not lose them to better offers elsewhere: standard perks and benefits aren’t cutting it anymore. If you want to attract competitive talent or keep your best employees from jumping ship, you’ll need to give them something more: They want purpose-filled jobs, exciting things to experience, a meaningful existence and advancement opportunities. Wearing casual slacks on Fridays and stocking extra flavored sparkling water in the fridge won’t keep your folks around for long.  

Related: The Importance Of Leadership Qualities

A company called Zestful is leading the charge for reimagining how companies engage their team while providing a unique “rewards” card that modernizes the gift card concept of old. Zestful makes employee recognition easy. With the ability to personalize allowances like recurring rewards and one-time bonuses, Zestful makes it simple to value each employee for who they are.

Zestful is like a benefits card connected to multiple brands, from entertainment to food, to ride shares and theme parks, amazon, door dash, etc. Employees love it because it’s like a debit card paid by the company that they can access for whatever favorite brands they enjoy. Not only do you help your team members save on everyday cost of living, you give them the option to choose even the more premiere brands if they don’t usually shop or engage there. The litany of options are the allure to Zestful.

Random Team-wide Surprises

While planned activities can be beneficial, some of the best team building happens unplanned. Employees who come up with creative ways to solve problems or create company savings are more engaged workers. Encourage this process by doing random things like an ice cream party or getting everyone an order of starbucks during the middle of the day. If you can shake things up and break the monotony of the day to day, your team will appreciate those smaller gestures and be revived by them.

Making Space For Mental Health

Having a healthy company culture means recognizing the importance of supporting employee mental health and providing employees with the resources they need to thrive at work. Whether it’s including mental health in employee engagement programs or offering access to local professionals, making efforts to positively affect employee mental health can benefit the company as a whole. These days, employers need to evaluate and improve all aspects of their business to remain competitive.

Take a look at how companies, like Target, are beginning to make efforts to make their work environment healthier. From ensuring that employees have time to de-stress to facilitating mental-health resources, employers are realizing that participating in the conversation about employee mental health is a major step towards creating an effective and productive work environment.

Employee Motivation Is A Powerful New Model For Retention

Employee motivation is a powerful new model for retention. It assures employees of a high level of satisfaction through effective communication, regular feedback, and appreciation. People aren’t motivated by money alone. They want to be appreciated and feel important. They want to have a sense of purpose, contribute something meaningful and achieve growth. When people feel valued, engaged and connected, performance improves, morale is high and employees stay longer in your organization. 

Gauge your team to find out where they stand in relation to their vision of their career in your company, then determine how effective your retention culture is. When you understand what motivates people you can tailor your best practices to meet them where they’re at. What will you do to make your company culture more conducive employee satisfaction and retention?