20 tips to improve employee engagement and performance

No Comments Posted in: Performance Management | Tags: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Performance Management | By: Torben Rick | June 14, 2011

High levels of employee engagement in an organization are linked to superior business performance, including increased profitability, productivity, employee retention, customer metrics and safety levels.

That’s way we all want employees to be engaged at work, right? But how can we actually get there?

Here are 20 simple tips:

Communicate clear goals and expectations to your employees – The majority of employees want to be a part of a compelling future, want to know what is most important at work and what excellence looks like. For targets to be meaningful and effective in motivating employees, they must be tied to larger organizational ambitions
Share information and numbers - Let them in on what is going on within the company as well as how their jobs contribute to the big picture. When you keep you employees informed they tend to feel a greater sense of worth. Keep communication hopeful and truthful – do not be afraid to share bad news, instead be more strategic about how you deliver it. Improve performance through transparency – By sharing numbers with employees, you can increase employees’ sense of ownership
Encourage open communication - You can get insight into what things are important to the employee by using surveys, suggestion boxes and team meetings. Be open-minded and encourage them to express their ideas and perspectives without criticism. This means putting into practice everything you have learned about effective listening. Address their concerns in the best way you can
Not communicating or communicating late can damage engagement - Hearing about an important update from media, colleagues or family and friends can have a negative impact on employee engagement. Ensure employees hear these messages from the business as soon as possible
Actively promote organizational effectiveness, reputation, values and ethics – Employees want to feel good about their leaders, where they work, the products they sell and the reputation of their company
Culture and values – Encourage employees to find a personal fit with the company culture.
Let staff tell their own stories – Encourage them to tell their own stories about what they are doing to support company strategies or embody organizational values
Trust - Employees need to trust each other as well as their leadership. Employees are constantly watching leadership to see how their decisions affect the strategic direction of the organization and if their behaviors reflect what they say
Build engagement – Show that you’re genuinely concerned about employees’ opinions and use social media as a communications tool to build engagement
Encourage innovation - Engaged employees are innovative. They’re always looking for a better way
Create a strong team environment - Strong employee engagement is dependent on how well employees get along, interact with each other and participate in a team environment
Sense of belonging – Non-work activities that foster relationships increase employee engagement
Provide constant feedback on the positives - When people know what they’re doing well, they’ll keep doing it – or, even better, do more of it. Providing someone with a little recognition on what they’re doing well can go a long way toward boosting morale. This is not to say “ignore the weaknesses” – just don’t make the weaknesses the only focus area of feedback. This doesn’t mean you should not create accountability, it actually means the opposite - but, if all you do is criticize, people will learn how to hide their mistakes or shift blame
Give immediate feedback – Feedback is two way communication. It is the opportunity to share opinions and find solutions. Too many managers think should be the province of the annual personnel revue. It’s not. It should be a daily occurrence.
Show how feedback is being used – Demonstrate to staff how their feedback is being used
Support employees in their work and growth – How many of you have responded to a subordinate’s idea as brilliant or even good. Success begets success. You can support employee growth by providing education and learning opportunities, cross training, coaching, and any other interactions that support employees’ personal development
Collaborate and share on problem-solving - When employees get the idea that their manager or leader is the one who has to solve all the problems, it takes away from their sense of empowerment, and ultimately is likely to decrease engagement over time. Encourage team members to take responsibility, and work through problems or issues on their own, or collaboratively. It’s not the manager’s job to fix everyone else’s problems
Delegation – Delegation is good for you because it expands your managerial span of control. It’s good for your employees because it is a growth opportunity for them. It demonstrates your trust in them to do the job correctly and increases their ownership of the task
Incentives – Incentives that are matched to accountability and results. Managers who want their employees to be engaged recognize that incentives must be allocated based on objective criteria and that different employees are motivated by different things
Celebrate both financial and non financial achievements – Employees need to feel validated and that they are a valued part of the organization. Leadership needs to show how much they care for their employees and show recognition for efforts: “If you want something to grow, pour champagne on it“

Employees don’t leave a company, they leave their manager. If you want to reduce turnover, improve the number and quality of your managers. The lack of employee engagement is a real problem, but effective managers can make a difference.