Starting the year with an employee engagement strategy is a must. Engage for Success defines employee engagement strategy for employers as being “about positive attitudes and behaviors leading to improved business outcomes, in a way that they trigger and reinforce one another.”
The conventions of the workplace are rapidly changing. New operational norms are being introduced to the workplace, such as flexible time, work-from-home schemes, and employee benefits. Change can be great for employees.
But from a managerial perspective, a whole new set of operational and logistical variables are to be considered.
So how do we embrace modern workplace culture while leading a successful team?
An employee engagement strategy will be the key to ensuring both employers and employees are in their best mindset to accomplish tasks and meet goals to their utmost potential. Employees with the opportunity to approach work in a way they like to work will be bound to strive to their full potential.
Sometimes work from home policies can create detachment within teams due to the lack of actual workplace relationships being formed.
So how should we boost employee engagement?
Engaging the Team Together
If a workforce or team is underperforming due to disengagement, it’s important that the workplace offers opportunities for people to re-ignite engagement before it’s too late.
Team building days are fantastic opportunities to get people working, cooperating, and challenging one another.
Team events can draw people together from all areas of the workforce.
After a holiday break, employees will often need to ease back into the workplace. This reinforces the importance of running social activities for excellent employee engagement.
So, where should we take the team?
The First Team Building Day Out
The first team-building day of the year will have to be one to remember. Making sure it’s on the topic while also creating a positive social impact among the team will be key to success.
Taking a hands-on approach to team building will be a really great way of differentiating away from the conventional idea of having workplace hierarchies where no job status is further endorsed or valuable.
The team as a whole has to work together in order to successfully complete the team-building task.
Mark Watts, a Managing Director, said, “Happy employees make great employees! Getting people to work coherently as a team will install the right level of determination to succeed. Every few months, we make sure we’re taking the team out to the airsoft fields for a fantastic team get-together. Plus, what’s a better way to get our staff to have a hands-on experience with our products?”
Taking a similar approach to team building can really challenge employees in a team-building environment that completely contrasts that of everyday office life.
Challenging people to do something outside of their workplace comfort zone will really reinforce the team ethic when working on new tasks.
Workplace Benefits
Introducing social activities in workplace culture creates positive energy for creativity, team bonding, and work performance to flourish. This will enhance a community atmosphere which is a great environment to be working in when collectively working towards goals.
What can we do to sustain engagement?
Rebecca Bull, a leading UK HR specialist shares, “sustaining employee engagement takes time and persistence. When looking to improve such engagement, it’s very much a nurturing process as opposed to being a one-off task. Therefore, sustainably addressing employee engagement with a range of different initiatives throughout the year will ensure there is always something to look forward to at the workplace. Rewarding employees with lifestyle perk schemes such as Perkbox for discounted living, entertainment, and material goods will help employees feel recognized for their work efforts.”
By embracing modern workplace culture with hard work and social participation, people can really start to feel as if they’re working towards something rewarding.
Ingraining a social lifestyle within a corporate environment can help to create a comfortable and productive work environment.
Creating a workplace where colleagues and senior management are approachable with no sense of status hierarchy will provide the opportunity for workers to comfortably engage and contribute to the environment in which they work.
The Second Team Building Day Out
The second team-building outing of the year should be inclusive and enjoyable. Making sure every member of the team can equally will boost the overall effectiveness the day out has among the workforce. But we’re going to want to mix things up a bit from the last day out.
So, why not ask the team what they’d like to do?
Getting opinions from your team as to what sort of day out you would like to pursue will give employees a great sense of contribution and inclusion into the decision process of the team building day out.
But remember, you want these outings to be productive and help towards the long-term goal of improving and sustaining employee engagement. So, it’s probably worth keeping that in mind.
So, How Can I Do it?
Before implementing your strategy to improve your employees’ workplace engagement, you’re going to want to consider what resources you have available to put behind your strategy and what efforts would positively improve your employees’ well-being within the context of your working environment.
Not all workplaces are going to respond to a textbook strategy, so it’s important to evaluate and ask what your team would like to experience as a member of your workforce.
From there, it’s up to you to understand what’s best for your team for them to be engaged toward their full potential.
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What is Your Employee Engagement Strategy?
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