How to improve employee engagement

Your people are always the key to your success, all good leaders know that. So it goes without saying that good employee engagement is also essential to the success of your business.

Research has shown that happy and engaged team members are much more productive and drive 21% higher profitability compared with teams that feel disengaged. So, investing in staff engagement isn’t just good for a happier workplace, it’s great for business too.

Employee engagement will be different for every company and can take many forms including great inductions for new starters, an open feedback culture, regular training opportunities, bespoke benefits packages, or fun team socials – there are a lot of ways to keep people engaged.

Team engagement is all about making your workforce believe in your business, its values and overall mission. When you engage your employees, they’re much more invested and excited about what they’re doing and will care more about doing a good job for themselves, their team and your company. Engaged employees are your biggest business advocates and spread positive energy in the workplace.

Because your people are the core of your company. When you recognise and treat your employees as your biggest business assets and advocates, you’ll have a hardworking, enthusiastic, loyal and productive team.

They perform operational tasks, back-office functions, and marketing activities and are the all-important customer face of your business. When your employees are engaged in your business, it makes a huge difference to how well all of these areas function and how successful your business will be.

As a forward-thinking business, you’ll want to attract and keep the best talent. Not only is it expensive to replace a staff member but it can mean you lose key company knowledge, skills, and productivity — causing team morale to dip, too.

Happy and engaged employees are loyal employees. They’re invested in the company, they believe in the work they’re doing, and they’re happy in their roles — so, why would they want to leave? Engaged employees are much more likely to stick around and invest their time and skills in making your business a success.

Your team should feel:

• Fairly paid for their work through competitive salaries and employee benefits
• Valued through recognition and rewards for the work they do
• Clear on your company's mission and how they contribute
• They have opportunities for career growth
• You care about them, inspire them and they can trust you

A recent Gallup report outlined that highly engaged teams are 17% more productive than their less engaged counterparts. Productive employees are more focused, more efficient and less wasteful and have 18% less turnover of staff. Engaging your workforce isn’t just about creating a positive culture, it’s very important to your bottom line, too.

So, how does employee engagement link to increased productivity? Let’s look at some numbers. According to Gallup, highly engaged employees are 41% less likely to not turn up for work and have 59% less employee turnover. Engaged teams are healthier and happier, show up to work with energy and purpose, and are committed to staying with your company for the long haul.

But how can you help your team be more engaged? Let’s look at a few things you can add to your employee engagement strategy:

When employees understand what your business stands for, they’ll understand how they can contribute and feel like what they’re doing matters. For example, are you committed to sustainability? Do you want to provide the best customer experience? Are you big on inclusion? Defining these and communicating them clearly will set the tone for your company culture.

If your team members feel that you care about them, they’re more likely to stay engaged. Investing in your employees and supporting their growth can look like:

• Upskilling and offering training programmes, mentoring, and opportunities for career growth
• Continuously reviewing salaries and making sure you’re offering competitive and fair pay
• Offering employee benefits that reflect your company culture and staff values

Nowadays, employees value more than just a good salary. Offering a great employee benefits package that speaks to your company values and staff interests is a great way to keep teams feeling engaged.

Benefits should include a good mix of different work perks to appeal to a broad range of interests. This could include health and wellbeing perks, like a gym membership, and mental health support like access to counselling services.

Staff value green benefits with a focus on the environment and sustainability. This could include volunteering days with environmental charities or cleaner commute incentives like our EV salary sacrifice scheme. This is a great way to showcase yourself as a forward-thinking and eco-friendly company. Read more on why companies choose our electric car scheme. You won’t be disappointed.

And don’t be afraid to ask your employees what benefits they want, the best way to target your efforts is to understand what your team really values. Use regular staff surveys to measure employee engagement and how your staff feel about work perks and then adjust and refine your benefits depending on the results.

Employee engagement isn’t just a "nice to have" it’s a must if you want to keep your staff feeling happy, productive and loyal to your company. By communicating your company values and culture, offering opportunities for career growth, keeping salaries competitive, and offering the best employee benefits package, you won’t just be investing in employee engagement, you’ll be investing in your company.