Employee engagement within your business is a key part in maintaining your skilled workforce is as productive, happy and comfortable as they can be. Business leaders are always quick to improve their companies use of this with a number of methods, many may think they have a good system without closely analysing how included their employees feel in company processes. Please read on to find out the biggest mistakes made and how you can avoid them.
Not including enough employee input in decisions
Executives can be surprised at how unenthusiastic their employees can react to certain new initiatives or activities they introduce into the office; the truth is that if you don’t ask for their input or opinions you can’t expect people to be on board with your decisions. Being a manager is also down to making connections with your staff on a personal level, treat them as a friend and ask for their responses, do not simply tell them what will happen.
If you try and start an initiative or make changes to any type, without enthusiasm of your team behind it and a belief it is best for everyone then the idea will fall flat or risk having to be stopped altogether because it’s not working. Managers have an issue of drafting things from the point of view of a manager, but the decision effects everyone from the ground up. If the staff lower down than you have a say in it then they will be more likely to believe in its purpose and values, it has more of a chance of being successful. It can also see things from different peoples point of view as it means they can spot things you might have missed.
Business lacks a clear direction
It is clear and statistically proven that your business needs a focus in order for employees to work at their best. Company culture is a relatively new phrase that expresses the shared understanding of the company’s values, direction and importance of each cog in the machine working towards a greater cause. This might seem like a grandiose way of looking at your company, particularly if it is relatively small, but it is a proven way of being a more successful organisation. It links categorically to investment and revenue of your business going up, every large organisation has a superb company culture.
Company culture is also a big aspect of motivation and loyalty, if your brand gets these qualities from employees then you are doing your job right in encouraging a company culture. Workers who feel this strongly about their company will work more productively and you can retain the more skilled ones. It is important that everything you do within the company has purpose, work towards goals and this drives you forward. If someone were to ask ‘Why does this company exist?’, the answer should be straight forward and everyone should know the core purpose of it.
Not being systematic
All companies should have clear systems; by that I mean everyone in your business should know the schedule they are following throughout their week. For example, meetings should always be at the same time every week, not scattered or perhaps not even organised at all. Issues like this mean that important things can be missed and employees aren’t really clear on what is going on in their company. You run the risk of staff not even taking things like meetings seriously because of the lack of professionalism.
Another way to build this systematic nature in your company is behaviour based activities such as letting your staff have some down time at a certain time of the day. This can be any number of activities that could be fun or just a way to chill out. It helps them relax momentarily which is something to look forward to during a busy day and then after it has been enjoyed they return to work re-energised.
Measuring indicators
If you’re not making note of what’s going on then you won’t be able to chart any improvements you are making, see if aspects need improving or if you are failing to hit targets. But what about things like ‘company culture’ that aren’t a tangible thing that can be measured? Well it is closely connected to productivity and higher profits so it can be linked in to a number of more scientific elements’. Measuring aspects analytically also help you provide evidence to your hierarchy of improvements and the positive ideas you are bringing to the office.
Collaborating
The key word here is transparency, this builds a trust between you and your staff. If something is going well then it improves morale to let everyone know about it and can inspire everyone to beat past achievements. Combining thinking with all employees improves your overall creativity, ideas and innovation as business, it also helps brings all departments together rather than each existing in their own little world.
Spreading inspiration gives people something to aim at, particularly if it is their co-worker it makes it attainable and they want those compliments aimed at themselves next time! Again the personal aspect of management also comes into this, building emotional bridges and friendships can only be good for managers and staff.
Conclusion
It is key that you can bring all these basic elements together when engaging with your staff, many are common sense but can be easily missed in the busy environment of the office. As a manager you can’t seem like you have absolute power, it is good to have as democratic an atmosphere as possible. It is about communicating effectively and personally, know your employees and learn from them about their opinions. These people skills will take you as far as any qualification or your experience in ‘the business’.
For advice and assistance from a UK leading specialist in Employment law, HR and Health and Safety Services, please contact HPC.