According to a study, only 13 percent of
employees reported as being engaged at work. The employees who don’t feel
engaged reported a loss of alignment with organisational goals. Disengagement
is also a prime reason for employee attrition.
Right now, there’s a marked lack in the way
organisations are engaging their employees and if managers don’t brainstorm to
figure out solutions soon, this crisis will only get worse.
Engaging employees is no rocket science.
It’s a very attainable goal and we are going to help you figure out employee
engagement with some tips:
Unclear Goals for Employees
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| Source: Servicefutures |
An organisation cannot expect its employees
to function optimally if they are unclear of what’s expected of them. When
goals aren’t specified or they are unclear, the resulting confusion causes
employees to feel drained and consequently, less motivated to perform at work.
Tip 1: Giving employees a clear picture of
what their goals are, their KRA’s and what is expected of them from the get go,
will enable them to perform with clarity. This in turn will help increase
productivity and make employees more engaged and involved in their tasks. As an
add-on, giving employees ownership of their work will instil a sense of purpose
and responsibility in them, which would inspire them to perform accordingly at
work.
Hesitancy
in Sharing Difficulties at Work
Employees are often hesitant in sharing
difficulties they face at work, mostly because of fear of repercussion and the
fear of ruffling the wrong feathers. This lack of sharing causes a divide
between the employee and the organisation, leading to disengagement. There is
also a lack of effort in the part of the managers who don’t see the signs
and/or refuse to acknowledge the problems.
Tip 2: Managers should ensure that they
create a safe space where employees can share their difficulties and woes. To
do so, there should be periodic feedback sessions, on a team and individual
level. Managers should also make it a point to acknowledge a job well done and
praise it openly, to instil pride in employees.
Employees
Don’t Know the Big Picture
If your employees don’t know the purpose of
the project/task that they are working on, it is difficult for them to perform
because they don’t know what their task today will help accomplish. For
employees, it would be difficult to visualise the route to take if they don’t
know the end destination. Such disconnect causes a lack of ownership and
performance on the employee’s part.
Tip 3: Before handing projects, managers
should ensure that they share the purpose of it and what they hope to accomplish
through the project.
Employees
Hired with the Wrong Skills for a Job
When HR hires an employee, it is based on
certain skills and qualities that the candidate brings to the table. But, every
once in a while, HR could end up hiring the wrong person for the job. Such an
employee could lack the right skills required for the job or he/she could have
overstated their expertise of a particular skill. When such employees start
working, their lack of skill could not only lead to delay in work but in case
they can’t pick up the needed skill, it leads to a lack of interest at work.
Tip 4: Ensure that new employees get vetted
and trained before they reach their work station. As for the rest, organise
training and skill learning sessions for interested employees to help them
improve at work. Acquiring new skills is beneficial, both in an organisational
and individual level, and it builds appreciation for the organisation in the
mind of an employee.
Employees Who Have Stopped Trying At Work
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| Source: Bernd Geropp |
Sometimes there are employees who simply
refuse to put in their 100% at work and perform. In such instances, there is no
“one solution to fix all” as the problems could be majorly attributed to the
workplace culture. Is your organisation making too many changes in quick
succession? Are employees being shuffled around faster than they can adjust? A
myriad of reasons like this surrounding your workplace could lead to employees
feeling disturbed at work and affecting their performance.
Tip 5: It’s an organisations responsibility
to ensure that employees can transition smoothly between projects and teams,
without getting spooked out. For employees, transitioning to new processes can
be stressful and managers need to make this transition as smooth as possible.
This would lead to employees being less stressed by having to move around or by
changes in the workplace, leading to better accountability and performance.
Ensuring that your workplace culture is a
positive and happy zone, is of utmost importance in the quest to have engaged
employees. Too many organisations make the mistake of assuming that auxiliary things
like hosting parties, foosball tables at work, cool interiors etc are factors that
makes employees interested, when the truth is that these are irrelevant. What
matters to employees is that the organisation they work for is taking care of
their basic work needs- hiring good managers, work that is fulfilling and maintaining
a positive workplace culture. Making sure that these are taken care of, will go
a long way in building employee engagement.
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