Creating a Culture of Employee Engagement: Strategies for 2023
Aren’t you tired of listening to terms like employee engagement, employee motivation, employee centricity? Well for what it’s worth – listening to your employee is more important than you can think. Today’s modern workforce wants to be heard, and hearing what they have to say can help your organisation to progress, innovate and thrive. However, cookie cutter approaches in today’s workplace landscape won’t work for improving employee engagement.
Organisations would have to listen to their employees carefully and create strategies tailored for their people. For some, flexibility is the key. For others it’s the well-being and mental health support that may seem like the missing piece. So, as an organisation who wishes to thrive in 2023 will have to weigh up their own priorities, take time to ask questions and find out what they need to imbibe to ensure employees feel engaged and motivated at work.
Amidst these continuous rapid changes, resignation challenges, rising costs, it’s time for action. It’s time for organisations to understand the evolving need to proactively create effective employee engagement strategies. Wondering how? We recently interacted with a few thought leaders from across diverse fields to know what according to them is one strategy that can ensure employee engagement in 2023.
1. Clearly Outline Development Opportunities
Wendy Makinson, HR manager from Joloda Hydraroll mentioned that senior leadership needs to ensure that they clearly outline development opportunities for employees to grow within their roles from the outset.
She further added, “There needs to be a clear growth trajectory and a goal for your employees. If they feel they’ve “reached the ceiling” in terms of their growth either within their team or as an employee, they won’t have a strong incentive to invest their time and efforts in further developing themselves”.
2. Create a Bespoke Training Budget for Employees
“One of the best ways to encourage and actively prompt not just engagement but genuine growth in your teams is to offer a customised training budget for employees based on what they want to learn within their role, not what the organisation tells them to learn”. says, Tracey Beveridge, HR Director, Personnel Checks
She also mentioned that even a small budget for online courses can show you care about their personal development outside of traditional training they may be used to receiving (and may not respond positively to).
3. Encourage Collaboration
Tiffany Homan, COO, Texas Divorce Laws believes that one of the most important strategies for ensuring employee engagement in 2023 is collaboration. It is essential to foster a collaborative work environment so that we encourage employees to work together and share ideas. This can help create a strong sense of camaraderie and motivate employees to be more engaged with their work.
She further adds,” To be successful in collaborative projects, employees need the right resources and support. Organisations can empower and motivate employees by providing training and resources. Collaboration is key to creating a successful workplace, and I think it is an essential strategy for ensuring employee engagement in the coming years”.
4. Ask Employees What They Need
Julia Toothacre who works as a career coach, Ride The Tide Collective with ambitious professionals, mentions that she often sees them leave organisations for lack of growth opportunities. Employees want to grow as professionals regardless of title or pay, which is usually a long-term preference.
Providing training, skills growth, outside coaching, or professional association funds are just a few ideas to show your employees you’re invested in their professional growth. Asking your employees what they want or need, and aligning that with organisational goals, will be a win for everyone.
5. Let Data Drive Your Engagement Strategy
Chirayu Akotiya, Global Head of Marketing, Leena AI emphasises on data and states, “Employee engagement is no longer nearly impossible to track. Organisations today invest in smart technologies that provide comprehensive data about their employees’ engagement”.
“The most effective engagement strategies are based on data collected from the right technology, customised according to desired objectives, and then implemented based on those insights. HR departments can leverage ML and NLP powered AI engagement platforms to gain real-time insight into employee sentiments and moods”.
6. Use Gamification for Rewards
Grace He, People & Culture Director at teambuilding.com mentions gamification as the one strategy organisations can use to ensure employee engagement in 2023. It involves creating tasks and challenges for employees, which motivates them to stay engaged by providing rewards. The rewards could range from a company-branded t-shirt or something more significant, such as extra vacation days.
She further adds, “A deeper transformation can be achieved by offering employees unusual experiences like escape rooms or zoo tours. Collaboration of this type not only encourages team collaboration but also helps in keeping employees engaged and motivated in the long run”.
7. Gather Information via Surveys
Jason Moss, President & Co-Founder, Moss Technologies states, “We encourage employee participation in engagement surveys every two months. Employee Engagement Surveys can help organisations determine how highly appreciated employees feel by management and the organisation”.
8. Balancing Between Autonomy and Ownership
Samir Parikh, Founder, Naman Integrated Management Services Pvt. Ltd, conveys how important it is to focus on striking a balance between autonomy and ownership to ensure employee engagement.
He further states, “Employees should be provided autonomy while meeting efficiency requirements. Focus should be shifted from attendance to contributions, reprimands to respectful corrections, and assumptions to clarified expectations. As a result, employees will take more ownership of their actions and get invested in the organisation. At the same time, they show pride in their work and would go an extra-mile”.
The last few years have taught business leaders that the loudest employee engagement lessons have always been centred towards listening, knowing, and supporting your employees. Going forward, they will have to build strategies by recognising what’s great and by finding issues quickly to address them. Again, they would need to act as the glue to add these missing pieces in the cultural mix and reinforce them. By doing these, leaders can drive the cultural change in the organisation to keep the employee morale high. Keeping your employee fed is the new normal to survive and thrive in 2023 while re-building employee engagement in your organisation.
The time for knee-jerk reactions is over as today’s workforce wants organisations that make decisions and strategies keeping their interests in mind. The above mentioned strategies cannot act as quick fixes but it’s time to build relationships. It is imperative for leaders to work towards creating a people-centric organisational culture that can ensure high-performing, empowering and engaged workforce. Be realistic about the resources you need and recognise the power of your people. But that’s no simple task either and it can be hard to know where to start. Talk to us today to begin your journey towards ensuring motivated and engaged employees.
