Employee Engagement: 6 Powerful Strategies to Improve Employee Engagement Quickly

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is a crucial HR concept about how enthusiastic and dedicated an employee is while working at an organisation. Take yourself, for example. Do you wake up with a bounce in your step, excited to start an office day? Or does it feel like carrying on as a cog in the wheel?

Let’s dive deeper into this.

Why is employee engagement so important?

People who experience a sense of connection with their organisation tend to stay longer at a company, work hard and motivate others to do the same. That’s why it’s essential to create robust strategies for employee engagement, especially in this era of quiet quitting and moonlighting.

6 Evergreen strategies to improve employee engagement

Effective employee engagement results in employees coming to work with a strong sense of purpose, commitment and a dedicated attitude. Below are 6 strategies for employee engagement that you should inculcate in your company:

1. Conduct employee engagement activities

Setting up fun activities allows employees to take their minds off work and return to it with renewed vigour. Employers can conduct activities such as treasure hunts, office sports and quizzes. Asking people to dress up according to a theme or bring in food for a potluck will add colour and happiness to an office environment.

2. Reward employees for work done well 

Studies suggest more than 91% of HR professionals believe that rewarding and recognising employees for a job done well makes them more likely to stay. While direct communication of praise motivates people, public recognition motivates them to perform even better. Employers can highlight employees’ successes via team emails and company newsletters or consider setting up a rewards system.

3. Evaluate and realign communication 

An organisation that communicates with its employees often experiences a noticeable improvement in employee engagement. They need to build a system that allows employees to remain connected via personal and group chat tools like Slack. 

4. Offer learning and educational opportunities 

Career growth and professional development opportunities are important for employees. Employers can consider offering reimbursement for company-approved training and courses. 

If you don’t have enough budget for external training, go for peer-to-peer learning opportunities. It enables people to learn from their colleagues and also helps to foster good work culture. Companies can also consider hosting professional development lunches periodically where employees can learn about crucial management skills.

5. Provide perks and privileges 

Providing privileges and extra perks not only helps in employee engagement but also improves retention rates. Some common perks many companies provide are premium gym memberships, home office stipends, commuter benefits and equity packages. Modern companies like Razorpay have renamed sick leaves to ‘wellness leaves’ to encourage employee well-being.

6. Create a strong onboarding process 

New employees’ initial experiences decide whether they would want to continue working at a place. Companies should connect new employees with their leader and other team members to help them understand the value of their work. This is an effective way to facilitate long-lasting employee engagement.

[Suggested Read: Employee Onboarding Process–Why it Matters And How Automation Helps]

Employee engagement activities example

Here are some real-life examples of employee engagement programs that tech giants like Apple and Salesforce have adopted: 

• Apple has offered free stock shares to its employees since 2015. The company also focuses on maintaining the wellness of its employees with in-house fitness centres and provisions of sprawling nature walk near their office.
• To improve employee engagement, Salesforce provides a wellness reimbursement program. It offers employees a monthly amount for any wellness activity they prefer, such as nutrition therapies and yoga classes. 

Implement employee engagement strategies quicker with RazorpayX Payroll

Sometimes, creating employee engagement programs becomes difficult due to the lack of time. The HR team of a startup is swamped with tasks that can be easily automated. RazorpayX Payroll is an all-in-one payroll software that automates tedious HR tasks so that you can focus on more strategic work.

It helps automate manual tasks like:

• Employee onboarding
• Employee attendance & leave management
• CTC calculation
• Payroll calculation and salary disbursement
• Compliance filings such as PF, PT, TDS & ESIC
• HR Letter generation such as offer letters, appraisal letters, etc.

So that you and your team can focus on more important and strategic tasks. Sign up on RazorpayX Payroll today for free and join 5000+ leading Indian startups. We don’t even require your credit card details.

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