If employee engagement is a two-way street, then as an employer you had better work on your side of the street of employee engagement.
For an employer, employee engagement is employees being advocates, going the extra mile, positive attitudes and behaviours, committed employees, actions consistent with organisational values and lower absenteeism, accidents or incidents, conflicts, grievances and increased productivity.
For an employee, employee engagement is being positive and energetic about going to work and the work to be done. It’s about them understanding how they contribute to the company purpose and vision and the opportunity to contribute to it and offer ideas. It’s about being trusted and empowered, receiving regular feedback, developed, thanked and recognised for achievements.
An employee’s engagement can be impacted on by not only what goes on at work but what goes on in their personal life such as; getting married, getting divorced, deaths of family or friends, challenges with children, support to elders, travelling and so on. However, if you work on your side of the street and do all you can to know them as individuals to know when there are issues which may affect engagement to support, communicate, guide, encourage them you will be in a far better position from a performance and productivity perspective than if you don’t. This will lessen the negative impact on employee engagement and assist in increasing the level of engagement they give to the organisation.
Some other things employers can do to improve employee engagement and work on their side of the two-way street are;
- Communicate at an organisational and individual level regularly
- Clearly define expectations generally and specifically
- Collaborate with them and include them in making decisions
- Show empathy and care
So, whilst we may not be able to have control over how much an employee decides they will be engaged, you can impact it by making sure you work on your side of the two-way street. High employee engagement is where the two sides of the street align and that’s gold.
Leisa Messer BBus(HRM); GradDipIR; CAHRI; IRSQ