Employee engagement is a hot buzzword, but is it really important when it comes to increasing your staff’s productivity and your organisation’s profitability?

The answer is yes – keeping employees engaged and enmeshed in your own unique corporate culture will not only increase productivity and improve your business efficiency, it also has a direct correlation on your bottom-line. With engaged staff you get motivated staff that turn up for work everyday, put the effort in, and would take some serious persuasion to work elsewhere.

Retention is significant. More than ever, employee retention is key to turning a profit and staying in the black by the end of the year. Recruitment, hiring and training are all incredibly costly, and successful companies know that keeping staff members engaged and feeling valued is integral when it comes to overall profit and success.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement includes a whole host of approaches and programmes that are designed to ensure that employees remain committed to their employers’ corporate goals, business values and bottom line strategies. These approaches are designed to keep staff members motivated, committed to organisational success and ensure they have everything they need to perform their jobs to their upmost ability.

While employee engagement may be a tool for business success, the knock on effect on staff’s wellbeing, health and happiness should not be underestimated.

Feeling valued encourages loyalty, loyalty creates a desire to do their best, achieving success leads to a greater satisfaction in workplace accomplishments and a feeling of wellbeing.

This wellbeing will often spill over into people’s personal lives and the circle of striving to do their job to the best of their ability continues.

Simple ways to keep your employees feeling engaged

Strategies for employee engagement range from complex, costly initiatives to simple no cost solutions – anything that helps to build the team dynamic, add value to the work place and keep people engaged are all considered great approaches.

Saying thank you: Perhaps the most overlooked method of rewarding your staff is to acknowledge and thank them for their effort and achievements. All managers should remember to give praise where it’s due and take the time to recognise their staff for their commitment and hard work.

Dress down Fridays: If uniform is not a consideration in your workplace, allowing your team to dress down for one day per week won’t cost you anything. Amazingly, informal work attire can have a huge impact on staff morale and workplace relationships, creating a more harmonious team and a better place to work.

Remember birthdays: Little details such as remembering birthdays make people feel valued. Make a record of your team’s significant dates and other personal details (children’s names etc.) so you can demonstrate an interest in their lives. A birthday cake doesn’t cost much but can make staff feel really appreciated.

Empower your workplace: Surprisingly some employees are struggling to give their jobs 100% because they lack the tools and skills to do so. Without these your staff are on a course for failure. Employees will feel more valued, happier in their jobs and will perform better overall if they have the necessary equipment and training.

Help to buy tech products: As we increasingly spend more time online at work and play, tech products feature highly on our personal wish lists. Introducing a scheme that allows you as the employer to help your team buy desirable tech products such as discounted tablets, laptops and smartphones through monthly payroll deductions, sends a clear message to your staff that you value them. Not only that these gadgets may even help them to do their job better!

Childcare vouchers: Childcare can be a constant stress for working parents, both the cost and finding reliable providers. Unless you have a nursery onsite you won’t be able to provide the childcare, however you can help with the costs by introducing childcare voucher schemes. With their children well cared for, and the costs reduced, your employees will be able to focus on their jobs.

Health and wellbeing initiatives: A fit and healthy workforce means less sick leave and increased productivity. Providing fruit and healthy snacks in your staffroom, a weekly yoga session in the boardroom or subsidised gym memberships can all improve wellbeing, and staff retention.

There are many ways employers can improve employee engagement without a huge investment. Small measures that improve the quality of your staff’s lives, both at work and at home, can have a significant impact on your organisation’s business goals.

What do you do in your workplace?