5 Power-Ups for Employee Engagement

Employee engagement influences everything from annual growth to operational efficiency. Engaged employees consistently outperform their disengaged peers across the board, from client satisfaction to productivity.

What Drives Employee Engagement?

As an HR specialist, you might contemplate the extent to which you can significantly influence employee engagement rates. These might seem tied to factors beyond your control, like business performance, market fluctuations, or even employees' personal lives.

Defining Employee Engagement

Employee engagement measures employees' level of involvement and enthusiasm toward their work. Engaged employees demonstrate:

• Pride in their workplace.
• A strong desire for a long-term commitment.
• Willingness to recommend their workplace to others.
• Dedication to their daily tasks.
• Satisfaction with their work, workplace culture, and management.
• A supportive attitude toward colleagues.

The Benefits of Employee Engagement for Companies

The benefits of engagement extend beyond employees to the company as a whole. Gallup research has shown that businesses with engaged employees experience:

• An 81% reduction in absenteeism.
• A 43% decrease in employee turnover.
• A 64% reduction in workplace accidents.
• A 41% decrease in product defects.
• A 10% increase in customer loyalty.
• A 23% rise in company profits.

In essence, investing in your HR team's time, effort, and resources and boosting employee engagement should be at the top of your list.

Boosting Employee Engagement in Your Company

Here are five elements to spike employee engagement:

• A genuinely caring and supportive employer.
• A trustworthy organisation leadership.
• Prioritising employee wellbeing and safety.
• Open and honest communication between staff and management.
• A sense of belonging within the organisation.

Surprisingly, salary isn’t on the list. Salaries are often the major concern but are not the sole driver of engagement. A competitive salary is essential—without it, employees will be dissatisfied. However, the above intangible factors truly motivate employees. Of course, a low salary can make you unhappy, but a high salary doesn’t necessarily inspire motivation.

A good salary and a clean and enjoyable environment are a baseline expectation. On the other hand, the five elements above are the real drivers of engagement. You might not immediately quit your job if you don’t feel a strong sense of belonging, but you’re unlikely to engage either fully.

You may feel somewhat disconnected, frustrated, or even start job hunting. However, if you’re working in a company that excels in these five areas, you’re much more likely to engage truly, making these elements the key motivators for full engagement. Focus on improving them, and you’ll see the difference.

As mentioned earlier, five key elements drive full employee engagement at work. Let’s break each one down in detail:

1. A Genuinely Caring and Supportive Employer

Employees are more likely to engage when they feel valued and appreciated. Reciprocity is key here—we all understand the importance of equity in the workplace.  Caring for your employees requires consistent recognition, feedback, and opportunities for growth. HR teams should ensure that employees feel valued by:

• Offering more opportunities for job enrichment.
• Providing flexible working hours or remote access options.
• Creating recognition programmes for outstanding performance.
• Developing training programmes to help employees reach their full potential.

2. A Trustworthy Organisation Leadership

Employees are more likely to engage in a well-managed company that’s aligned with their values and on track. A solid reputation and strong employer branding can facilitate this process. But how can you increase employees' faith and trust in the company?

One of the most effective ways to build employee trust in leadership is to ensure that words align with actions. For example, leaders might publicly stress the importance of a healthy and supportive culture, yet around 45% of employees perceive minimal or no commitment to cultural improvement.

This could contribute to low genuine commitment or a breakdown in internal communication. HRs bridge this gap by sharing new cultural initiatives through a monthly newsletter. A leader can enhance employee engagement by setting high ethical standards and living up to the values they promote. Trust is built when leaders clearly articulate their vision, set high but realistic expectations, act with integrity, and appreciate the efforts of their employees.

3. Prioritising Employee Wellbeing and Safety

Most organisations today talk about employee well-being, but employees want these words to be put into action. Effective well-being programs must be tailored to meet employees’ specific needs, going beyond generic benefits. Employees feel valued and appreciated when companies invest in their well-being, perhaps by offering mindfulness practices at work, longer lunch breaks, or organising outdoor activities.

4. Open and Honest Communication Between Staff and Management

Employees must feel heard and valued by their managers and company leaders to engage fully. Building a culture of communication and feedback requires a multi-channel approach, including the following elements:

• Employee surveys.
• One-on-one manager-employee meetings.
• Reward and recognition programmes.
• Performance management systems.

However, establishing communication channels isn’t the end of the game; you also have to know how to use them. For instance, employee surveys should be well-designed to have a real impact on engagement levels. They need to follow a specific and structured cycle to ensure they’re actionable, relevant, and high-quality.

Avoid long gaps between surveys to ensure you're capturing the most important insights. When time stretches between surveys, you won’t be aware of issues or concerns as they arise. This means that timely feedback is critical for addressing issues promptly. Likewise, ensure your questions are thorough and precise—avoid overly general questions, as they often obscure key information and lead to vague answers.

5. A Sense of Belonging and Loyalty to the Organisation

Fostering a sense of belonging stems from a combination of factors, such as a culture that nurtures psychological safety, leadership with a clear commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and well-trained, trusted, supportive managers. HR teams should take an informed approach to DEI to foster a sense of belonging.

Being an HR professional doesn’t necessarily make you an expert in DEI, but the good news is that fostering belonging isn’t about launching brand-new initiatives. It’s about adjusting existing cultural initiatives and training programmes to make them more engaging and inclusive.

Steps to Enhance the Sense of Belonging and Loyalty

To foster a sense of belonging, HR teams can take the following actions:

• Collaborate with an external expert in DEI to identify ways to improve your current culture.
• Provide manager training to help them promote psychological safety within their teams.
• Offer autonomy and flexibility, allowing employees to decide how, when, and where they work.
• Improve mentoring programmes by enhancing the matching process between mentors and mentees.

Do Reward and Recognition Programmes Help Boost Employee Engagement?

A well-designed reward and recognition programme can significantly boost employee engagement. After all, such programmes are the most effective in showing your care for your employees, prioritising their wellbeing, and appreciating their efforts—all key drivers of engagement. However, they’re only effective if they are:

1. Fair

Reward and recognition programmes can positively impact employee engagement when employees feel genuinely appreciated. However, make sure rewards are distributed fairly to avoid favouritism or unhealthy competition among employees.

2. Frequent

Organisations should seize every opportunity to acknowledge employee performance and foster a culture of appreciation and positive feedback. Find ways to appreciate your employees in every meeting, send weekly thank-you emails, and conduct multiple performance reviews—quarterly reviews alone aren’t enough.

3. Personal

Rewards are most effective when they feel personal to the recipient. Employees’ morale can plummet if a leader mispronounces their name while trying to acknowledge them. Companies should align their organisational values with the reward system instead of offering generic rewards. This is a great way to reinforce positive behavioural changes and give employees a sense of purpose directly tied to the company’s values and outcomes.

4. Clear and Expressive

It’s important to have a meticulous communication plan in place before launching any new reward and recognition programme.

People naturally view changes irrationally at first—they often worry about a reward system’s fairness or influence on their roles and relationships instead of focusing on its business benefits. Therefore, before implementing any plan, consider how each person will perceive it and carefully plan its rollout.

It can also be helpful to designate one or two internal champions (who aren’t direct managers) to promote the scheme informally within the team. A clear explanation is vital, so be transparent and honest about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and the business outcomes you expect.

Final Words

Enhancing employee engagement within your company requires focusing on the five key engagement drivers: appreciation, trust, well-being, communication, and belonging.

A well-crafted employee reward and recognition programme can greatly influence engagement levels, ultimately leading to better organisational performance.