Five Ways to Engage Employees and Promote Growth

An organization’s greatest asset is its human capital. That’s why many organizations invest a lot of resources in hiring good employees. But good employees can deteriorate over time, especially when they feel demotivated and stagnant.

 

An organization’s responsibility to its employees doesn’t stop with providing monetary compensation and mandated benefits. Organizations have the responsibility to meet employees’ other needs—job satisfaction, career growth, fringe benefits, etc.―to ensure that they remain engaged and continue to grow.

 

Every organization needs engaged employees to thrive. Engaged employees are driven, and they perform exceptionally in any task. Read further to learn how you can engage employees and promote growth.

 

Set Specific and Challenging Goals

 

In a study done by psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, they found that setting specific and challenging goals resulted in more effective performance. Organizations that have clear goals have more employees who are focused and engaged.

 

Setting goals lets employees know how they can be involved in the organization. Moreover, goals are benchmarks to measure employee performance and the success of the organization.

 

Employees who know their role in the organization take more meaning from their work and are essentially more involved in the organization.

Give Timely, Constructive Feedback

Goal-setting is only effective when there is timely, constructive feedback. The current and future generation of workers, the millennials, puts high priority in getting feedback. For them, effective feedback includes the opportunities they need to address and how they can work on them. More importantly, they also like to be appreciated for their strengths and hard work.

Feedback sessions are also prime opportunities to listen to employees and their plans, their needs, what they think of the organization and its goals. Open communication should be established between the organization and its employees during these sessions.

Lead with Compassion and Transparency

Employees quit for many reasons, the most common of all is their boss. Managers who think of their employees as automatons will face high turnover rates and dissatisfied workers. On the other hand, compassionate and transparent leaders create loyal employees who are willing to go beyond what is required of them.

A good manager listens to their employees and meets their needs. She is open-minded and understanding yet firm. She treats her employees with dignity and respects their opinion. Her employees can identify with her and even see her as someone they can emulate.

Establish a Positive Work Environment

According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, humans are motivated by needs that direct their behavior, needs that he classified into five levels. The first level consists of the physical body (e.g., air, water, food, shelter, etc.). The next levels consist of abstract needs, namely, safety, love and belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization.

Where does a positive work environment fit into this? Most workers spend forty hours a week or more in their job. Their work life is just as huge a part of them as their personal lives are. From their job, they seek meaning, belongingness, fulfillment, and safety. Having a positive work environment allows for these needs to be met.

Employees who are in a positive work environment flourish. They are engaged and invested in what’s going on around them because they find meaning and contentment in their work.

Embrace Work-Life Balance

As the times change, organizations must learn to adapt, to meet not only the needs of their clients, but also those of their employees. While lines have been drawn between work and personal lives, these boundaries are gradually blurring.

More and more people desire the same fulfillment they get from their personal lives in their work lives and vice versa. This calls for organizations to actively promote work-life balance in their institutions.

Some organizations are embracing special arrangements, such as flex-time and work-from-home days. Workplaces have also expanded to include spaces where employees can take short breaks from work, bask in natural sights, play games, pursue creative hobbies, to name a few.

Promoting work-life balance also includes launching fitness initiatives for employees. Most organizations have free yearly medical examination to ensure that employees have a clean bill of health and pass mandatory blood, urine, or hair drug tests. They also give fringe benefits like free gym memberships, yoga classes, and sports activities.

Final Thoughts

More than seeking monetary compensation, employees seek meaning and fulfillment in their work. Employees who get these are highly motivated and engaged in their work. To do this, organizations must meet the needs of their employees—whether they be for challenging goals, constant feedback, competent and compassionate leaders, and work-life balance.