Three tips for easy workplace engagement

Chances are, you’re already involved in some kind of workplace engagement, even if it’s not a formal programme – you may not even realise you’re trying to engage your staff, as good managers will often instinctively understand how to get the best out of their workers. Research has shown that a strong culture of engagement within an organisation results in higher retention, increased production and a healthier bottom line.

Schoop has a proven track record in delivering and enhancing employee engagement programmes both for large single-site corporates and companies with disbursed staff who rarely see their main office. Listening to our clients has given us some insight into what works and what doesn’t work when trying to engage employees, so we thought we’d give our readers a helping hand by passing on that knowledge.

• Praise works!
  One of the biggest complaints from disengaged employees is, ‘I spent ages on that report/ meeting prep/ project and no-one seemed to notice’. It’s human nature to crave recognition and if one of your employees has shown initiative or gone beyond their remit to achieve results only to be met with a disinterested silence, they are likely to feel insignificant and that their achievements were not worth the effort. Remember, employee engagement is about getting the best out of your employees to their benefit as well as yours. According to a Gallup poll, employees who feel their efforts go unrecognised are three times as likely to leave within the next year. With the cost in time and effort of replacing each unhappy employee totalling around a third of their annual salary – it becomes very clear why you need to make sure your employees feel they are not toiling in vain. And recognition doesn’t even need to be an over-the-top production. A two-line note from management thanking a member of staff for their good work can make their day and provide a shot in the arm for company engagement. Schoop’s Push Notification feature is ideal for this – a note of praise delivered to a worker’s personal smartphone is authentic, specific and, importantly, can be delivered in the moment.

• Own goal or shared goals?
  There is little point in going to the effort of creating a company mission statement or identifying a corporate culture if it’s secret. It needs to be widely disseminated, acknowledged and shared within your organisation. Don’t keep it to yourself! Everyone needs to understand what they are striving for and in an ideal virtuous circle, take on the company goals and culture as their own. A shared goal creates a team atmosphere where everyone roots for each other and creates an ‘in this together’ mindset. A great way of ensuring everyone’s on the same page is via a Newsletter. It doesn’t have to be a huge yearly production, or even quarterly, it could be a handful of timely stories, announcements or even videos of employees themselves sharing achievements, to emphasise your corporate culture and highlight your shared mission. Positive messages from your own employees reinforce company goals and culture. Get creative!

• Listen up, people!
  With Gallup research indicating that companies with highly engaged workforces outperformed their peers by 147% per share, knowing how your employees feel about their jobs and work environment becomes not just nice-to-know, but company critical. Annual employee surveys have been long used in corporate environments to take a snapshot of employee morale – however, by the time unwieldy reports had been collated and analysed, the time to take action against potential problems was long gone. Luckily, technology has moved on and is much better placed to take the pulse of your organisation, delivering real-time results so action can be taken before an issue becomes a problem. Schoop’s Survey feature allows you to design your own surveys which are then presented in an easy-to-assimilate format so you can find out instantly how changes to work practices are being received, how new HR strategies are impacting your staff – whatever you need to make sure your employees feel engaged and motivated.

We’ve got a few suggestions as to how Schoop boost your employee engagement – we’re sure there are many more ways to enhance your strategy to ensure your place of work is happy, fulfilling and productive.

Talk to us now to find out what Schoop can do for you and to diarise a quick demo.