One of the most important factors that guarantees the success of any company is the level of engagement of its employees. Beyond business strategies, available tools, investments and staff commitment is indispensable to drive the growth of any business.
If your employees do not feel engaged and motivated to give their best, it will severely affect your company’s performance in many areas. From decreased productivity, lack of organization, unwillingness to cooperate as a team, financial losses and much more.
To think about it, imagine this scenario. If you have a company with 50 employees working 40 hours a week, and only 20 of them are committed to their tasks; this implies that you only get 40% (160 hours) really productive of the total performance of all your employees.
The lack of initiative at work is an urgent problem that needs to be corrected quickly. However, it is not enough just to raise wages or increase benefits. Sometimes the core of this issue lies in better attention and connection to the job, but of course, every company is different.
A workforce full of engaged employees will not only benefit your company’s revenue, it will also increase profitability and the work environment will be much improved. And as in any company, it is vital that employees feel enthusiastic in order for them to perform efficiently.
Many studies and surveys have shown that work engagement is a critical component if you want to get real results in the short and long term. So, if you are interested in learning more about this important topic, then you are in the right place!
As Cimedecor, a leading interior design company for business and workspaces with more than 20 years of experience in Montreal, we will provide you here with 5 great ideas so you can encourage employee engagement.
With these amazing tips, you will be able to foster a more positive business culture and environment. Plus, you’ll get your employees to perform at their best! Let’s get started!
How to increase employee engagement at work?
Promoting engagement in your employees will certainly not be an easy task. You will have to manage many changes, modify workspaces and adapt your team according to your company’s vision and objectives. However, the results will be worth it in terms of profitability and value.
The key is to make your employees enthusiastic about their work. Therefore, you need to provide them with the tools and means to take the initiative. In this way, your staff will be more involved in their tasks and will have a more active participation that will guarantee the success of your company.
However, achieving this will take time and some sacrifice. All companies are susceptible to a drop in employee productivity, which affects their level of commitment and capacity to invest. Moreover, this varies according to the social, cultural and individual circumstances of each employee.
But don’t be alarmed, as this can be solved!
With the right strategies, a touch of inspiration and some incentives, you will be able to revive your employees’ motivation to give their best. Their performance will increase. And this will not only be beneficial for you, but for them as well (because the more engaged they are, the higher their income).
But before we review these strategies, let’s take a look at some other important things to keep in mind if you want to encourage greater employee engagement.
Factors that prevent genuine work engagement
Many times, your employees’ work engagement can be affected or hindered by certain circumstances (both internal and external) that demotivate them. Depending on the context of each company, there will always be certain factors that will sap their enthusiasm, such as:
- Organizational upheaval.
- Mistrust among co-workers and towards managers.
- Unrest in the labor market.
- Lack of cohesion, transparency and communication between individual employees or between different teams.
- Competitiveness, tension and hostility.
- A work environment with inadequate physical conditions (poor lighting, ventilation, etc.).
- Lack of flexibility and work empathy.
- Unfair and unequal economic remuneration.
- The employee’s personal and social situation.
These are some of the variables that interfere with your employees’ work engagement. As you can see, some situations can be controlled and others cannot. In any case, if you have identified any of these problems (there may be more), you should consider and correct them before proceeding.
Does more money equal more work commitment?
The answer is no. Many companies and executives make this mistake when trying to solve this motivation problem. There is a tendency to believe that a simple salary increase will encourage greater employee engagement, but this is not the right way to go about it.
The only thing that is generated is satisfaction and general contentment, which is a good thing. However, it does not stimulate true commitment or promote genuine enthusiasm for improving productivity. As a leader and employer, you must act thoughtfully based on the context of your business.
Money and benefits do not always work in the long run. You must pay attention to your employees, connect with them, learn about their difficulties and strengths, share common goals, make them feel valued, and make them feel emotionally attached to their jobs.
Only in this way will you be able to promote a genuine commitment so that your employees make their best effort, demonstrate their talents and deliver a better performance. Of course, this must be in line with your own organizational and business culture for it to work.
5 ideas to promote employee engagement
Now that we have reviewed some important points, it is time to learn some tips for you to promote greater employee engagement. Remember that these 5 ideas are general, so you will have to evaluate them and adapt them to your business context.
Do not expect immediate results either, because these strategies do not work by magic. It takes time and a lot of dedication within the company to generate significant changes. In any case, this guide will help you come up with more ideas to help your employees perform more efficiently.
Let’s see what they are!
Improve communication and organization within the company
The first step in driving greater employee engagement is to improve communication with your employees at all organizational levels. This will allow you to create more meaningful relationships so that your staff can find better ways to interact on your company’s issues.
This means listening carefully to what your employees have to say, taking action on their behalf, having more conversations and performance meetings, and generating spaces where they feel valued. Everyone’s opinions are important and you must take them into account.
Provide constant feedback, coaching and training courses
Another great strategy to increase the commitment of your employees is to generate spaces for feedback and opinion on work performance. You can hold weekly meetings for your employees to give their evaluations about their work styles, environments, assigned tasks, etc.
In this way, you will be able to provide feedback and review with them the company’s issues that need to be corrected. By feeling included and valued, your employees will be more willing to collaborate and commit to their activities. In addition, this initiative will allow you to identify productive failures.
You can also encourage training and continuing education courses for your employees to acquire more skills and work competencies that will allow them to perform better. Feedback and commitment go hand in hand for your company’s performance to grow.
And the more your employees feel that you invest in them and their futures, the more they will want to work harder. This will generate, more than just a connected organizational culture, the promotion of each employee because you have involved them in all processes.
Recognize merit, reward effort and announce achievements
Make positive recognition a regular occurrence in your company. Incentives are one of the best catalysts for increased employee engagement. So, don’t shy away from recognizing the efforts and achievements of your staff in any area.
This way, they will feel praised because you appreciate their dedication, which will motivate them to get more involved in their assignments. You can even allow moments among colleagues to announce their accomplishments. In addition, you can promote them yourself with gifts or even simple congratulations.
It is vital that you convey appreciation to your employees for their efforts, which will help them connect more with their jobs. However, beware of overdoing it. Constant reinforcement can lead to codependency in your staff to do their job in exchange for rewards.
Promote socializing and outings to forge bonds between colleagues
A good way to increase employee engagement is to involve them socially and emotionally with others. That is to say, you should encourage spaces where more intimate bonds are formed between colleagues. In this way, they will care more about their environment and the people inside.
You can achieve this by planning weekly meetings, group lunches, company outings, convivial moments and opportunities for your employees to get to know each other in a more personal way. This doesn’t just mean breaking the routine and taking a simple break where everyone is on their cell phone.
You must promote creativity and collaboration through participative and entertaining activities. You don’t have to go far or spend a lot of money. You can even hold meetings within the office itself. The point is to include and foster closer relationships.
In this way, your employees will feel more engaged, not only because of their daily assignments, but also because of how their colleagues are doing, how they feel. Therefore, healthy interpersonal relationships between colleagues are a key ingredient to ensure better coexistence and work performance.
Provide a pleasant and comfortable workspace
A fundamental factor to foster work engagement in your employees is the layout of the physical space. An office with old furniture, unkempt walls, depressing colors, lack of plants, outdated decoration and poor lighting will certainly demotivate anyone.
Therefore, it is imperative that you renovate the workspace to make your employees feel comfortable and at ease. You should make your company a comforting and motivating place so that the staff feels willing to give their best.
In addition, a pleasant work area positively influences the mood of your staff. You should place strategic furniture, attractive decoration and motivational messages that reinforce the level of commitment of your employees. A well-appointed office is a powerful way to influence.
The way you use the space goes a long way in encouraging your staff to perform efficiently based on the perception of comfort and well-being they feel in their workspaces.
Renovate your workspaces with Cimedecor!
Now that you know 5 great ideas to encourage employee engagement, what are you waiting for to apply these useful strategies! This way, you will not only guarantee an increase in your company’s income, but you will also improve the level of commitment and dedication of your staff.
Remember to take care of your employee’s work and personal situation, as well as the business organization and the benefits obtained. Also, take into account that the physical space is vital to improve the work environment of your company, a renovation in your office would be ideal!
Therefore, if you want to increase productivity and reinvent your company’s infrastructure, we are your best option! As Cimedecor, we design and create inspiring workspaces. We are specialists in innovation of studios, offices and architectural projects for companies.
We provide you with a variety of services and interior design solutions for visionary workspaces according to your business needs. When you hire us, our team of experts will provide you with the best construction plans, schedules and work plans.
We are backed by 20 years of experience and satisfied clients with our unique renovations. Discover our catalog of aesthetic and ergonomic projects. Our architects and designers will make your dreams come true, from furniture to architectural customization.
In addition, we have a certified installation team to provide you with a complete service. And for your office setting, we provide you with the most incredible products to modify your workspaces, from furniture and decorative accessories.
We are known for our impeccable, efficient and innovative approach. We also offer you interior design solutions adapted to the new work landscape due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can find us at 420 Rue Mcgill, Bureau 100, Montréal.
And if you would like to get in touch with our work consultants or make an appointment to visit our atelier, feel free to contact us by clicking on the image below!
Dare to live the Cime experience!
