In the work world, employee engagement continues to be the hot topic. Tough to measure and even harder to predict, employee engagement is something everyone desires in their workplace but few successfully cultivate over the long term. Why do so many continue to search for the elusive engagement element? It’s dual purpose. Engaged employees bring a level of dedication and commitment to the job an unengaged employee cannot. This collective lack of employee engagement translates into an $11 billion employment loss in employee turnover.
Battling the Busy Factor
Creating an environment of good employee engagement sounds relative easy on the surface. Businesses engage employees for work and those employees gain hire by displaying specific skills in exchange for wages and other benefits. What this on-the-surface observation often leaves out is the human factor. People by nature are individuals and as a result look for more than just an exchange of skills/work for a financial transaction. What truly drives the employee engagement equation is consistent communication, internally and externally. Again, this probably sounds reasonable. People deserve good communication, so what’s getting in the way of that happening? Factors such as “I’m busy” and in-box overload are making sloppy or non-existent communication the norm, rather than the exception.
Other Elements of Employee Engagement
- Satisfaction with immediate supervisor
- Satisfaction with senior management
- Pride in association with the organization
Start with Small Steps
If improving employee engagement feels like a big mandate with no clear starting point, begin with something that will benefit everyone. Simply increasing the sharing of relevant and engaging information or news can bring people into the loop. This internal communication improvement has the ability to affect many areas, including the elements of employee engagement listed above. Start by making the communication two-way. One-way messaging may or may not hit the intended source, making it wasteful and ineffective. When this happens on a regular basis, it becomes easier to tune out the source. Still not convinced about improving employee engagement? The Workplace Research Foundation found raising employee engagement investments by 10 percent could increase profits by $2,400 per employee, per year.
Employing Vertical and Horizontal Communication
Many times, workplaces wait for a change initiative coming from the top. While a top-down approach always is important for providing an example, improved communication is also critical vertically within departments. When exploring this concept, take time to find out how people want to receive communication. When considering this think, is it more beneficial to walk over and have a face-to-face meeting, call on the phone or send an email?
Cultivating Better Employee Engagement
- Start internally co-worker to co-worker and manager to co-worker
- Establish how to give and receive information through 2-way communication
- Learn what works for others and vice versa
- Reward and recognize where communication improves the work environment
As a top Kansas City recruiting firm since 1988, Austin Nichols Technical Search has served clients in the engineering, construction and manufacturing fields. Austin Nichols specializes in direct hire and contract recruiting for manufacturing, construction, engineering, and technical positions.
