We have previously talked about the importance of onboarding new employees and building relationships between newer and existing employees as a way of retaining talented workers. Studies have shown that workers who are engaged and feel appreciated perform better and stay in their organizations longer. Unfortunately, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report, 65% of the workforce in America is not engaged. Managers understand how challenging it can be to find, train, and retain good workers. But do they know how to engage employees for meaningful results?
The Current Labor Shortage
Several factors are currently contributing to a perfect storm for finding workers, and not just in America. Baby Boomers have made up the bulk of the workforce for decades, and that generation had different ideas and values about work and loyalty to organizations. The Boomer generation is in the midst of retiring, and the upcoming X, Millennial, and Z generations want and expect different things from their employers. Complicating this is the fallout from what COVID-19 forced on companies, including a mass shift to working from home. Several employment trends have resulted, including the Great Resignation and, perhaps even more ominous, quiet quitting. Statistics on workforce engagement are trending in the wrong direction year after year.
What Is Employee Engagement?
What does good engagement look like? Essentially, it’s when your workers feel committed to and identify with their organization, are satisfied with their jobs, and feel energized at work. The goal would be to create a workplace environment full of employees who want to come to work, enjoy being there, and feel that the work is in and of itself a kind of reward.
How To Engage Your Employees
Fully engaging your employees may sound challenging, but there are a number of ways that managers can accomplish it. These center around:
- Matching employees with work they care about
- Making the work itself less stressful and more enjoyable
- Ensuring the employees get enough breaks from the work to stay committed and involved with it
Corporations have discovered that Millennials in particular want to work for organizations that share their values and promote social and environmental responsibility. If workers feel that they are in some way living their values and beliefs through the work they do, they will be more likely to feel they fit in and give their loyalty to the organization. Job crafting is one way of doing this.
Essentially, job crafting is reframing what people do to fit a higher purpose or more desired goal. Many customer care jobs are challenging because the public can be difficult to work with. However, if an employee is able to view their work as helping people meet their needs rather than just answering endless questions or satisfying demands, they may feel more valuable and value their jobs more in turn.
Managers can encourage this by rewriting job descriptions to connect them directly to the company’s mission or a larger goal. Town-hall meetings and employee resource groups can also make employees feel included, heard, and valued.
Another strategy is rotating workers through different jobs or encouraging them to try out different tasks to see if they can find a better work fit within the company. Giving employees agency to meet their own needs will improve their motivation and performance on the job.
Creating a mentoring program within the company can help engagement. Mentoring naturally builds relationships and also helps individuals to learn new skills and improve the ones they already have – making the work less stressful and time spent at work more enjoyable.
It’s also crucial that employees have enough time off. It’s very difficult to rehabilitate a burned out worker into an engaged one, so it’s better to allow them enough time off to avoid burnout. The percentage of American workers who reported that they “never had enough time” rose from 70% in 2011 to 80% in 2018. This is likely because people are working longer hours without serious breaks.
Too many companies value busyness or the appearance of busyness over true productivity. Overloaded, micromanaged employees are much more likely to leave or put in the bare minimum in their jobs. Giving employees time off in the form of vacation days, sick leave, family leave, and other days off lets them recharge and come back to work ready for new challenges.
It’s also important for management to enforce the idea that time off is time off. This means that employers do not expect employees to check in after hours, answer their emails at home or on the weekends, or be on call for emergencies during vacation. People are working longer hours under more stressful conditions. The last few years have been very challenging for everyone, and mental health has suffered. Taking time off from work helps to heal that damage, and it should absolutely be encouraged.
It may seem like offering greater autonomy, encouraging employees to build real relationships with their coworkers on company time, and extending more generous leave are cost prohibitive propositions, but the reality of today’s job market is that good, skilled workers are worth their weight in gold. Improving employee engagement will yield meaningful results and greater productivity over time.
If your company is currently struggling with employee engagement or retention, Prometis Partners is here to help. Get started by Get started by scheduling a meeting with Vincent Mastrovito today.
