Employee engagement is the key to improving employee productivity and loyalty in the workplace. Organizations with high employee engagement level are 22% more profitable and have 18% higher retention rates. But most of the organizations barely take actions to improve employee engagement. According to Achievers’ study, 20.8% of employees say that they are actively engaged at work, while 16.3% are fully disengaged, and 31.3% feel that they’re engaged but their organization should do more to enhance employee experience.
If you really want to improve employee engagement at your organization, you need to create a culture of positivity. Positive corporate culture has a great impact on employee motivation, while poor corporate culture drags their morale down in the workplace, ultimately leading to poor employee engagement levels.
Successful organizations understand that engaged employees put their heart and soul into their job and have the energy to give more than is required from them. However, disengaged employees have a negative effect on the work environment and ultimately harms the customer experience.
It’s critical to understand that creating a culture of positivity is not only about the behavior of organizational leaders towards their employees but also about the values an organization believes in. It is how people engage with each other and work together in an organization when no one is looking at them.
How can organizations create a positive culture to build employee engagement?
Organizations can create a culture of positivity to boost employee engagement levels and motivate their highly disengaged employees.
Establish a clear philosophy and values
It’s important to communicate and discuss your organizational values with employees so that they feel part of it. It is the commitment that a company makes to certain policies and action, such as “social change” or “going green”. Stating this in your mission is not just enough, you must take demonstrable actions so that employees feel an individual responsibility towards these values. This will ensure that the employees can evaluate their attitude towards these positive core values and take pride in them. Positive actions and positive attitude make for a positive workplace culture.
Promote transparency by creating open employee communication
Your employees feel more confident when you create an open employee communication and cheer them to share their stories. It gives a sense of pride to your employee, helping them feel invested in their work. Creating an open employee communication also leads to a virtuous circle of engagement and advocacy. Employees buying into the culture of transparency and authenticity are more willing to advocate for their brand.
Express appreciation
According to TINYpulse report, 21.5% of workers who don’t feel recognized for their hard work in an organization have been looking for a new job in the past three months, as opposed to 12.4% of workers who do feel recognized. A corporate culture of appreciation is critical for organizational success. You can achieve it by:
- Using internal communication channels to express appreciation for team achievements and individual hard work.
- Giving constructive feedback to employees while motivating them to improve.
- Celebrating business successes with entire workforce.
- Finding ways to develop your employees’ strengths.
Employees who know that their efforts will be rewarded and appreciated tend to innovate more often and work harder. Feeling a direct link between business success and their work adds meaning to what they are doing. Everyone feels engaged when they feel their hard work is recognized.
Foster collaboration and communication
Leadership encouraging teamwork, open and honest communication is vital to create a positive feeling in the workplace. Open and honest communication also means that regular audits are done to evaluate how people are interacting with each other, feedback is welcomed and accepted, and opportunities for some social interactions are enabled. This might include coffee mornings, family weekends, team getaways and more. It helps the team members to nurture connections outside work. Also, there must be strict no tolerance open door policies and complaint procedure against workplace bullying to create a positive collaborative environment.
Support your employees
Employees who feel supported, cared and trusted are more engaged and they naturally bring their best to the business. That’s why organizations need a corporate culture where employees feel cared for. You can cultivate a culture of support by:
- Setting up internal support systems like workshops, career mentoring and company gift baskets for employees who are going transitions at work or in their personal lives.
- Keeping people accountable and available for helping each other to get complex tasks done smoothly.
- Encouraging managers to schedule face-to-face meetings and prioritizing activities to strengthen human connections with employees.
- Implementing internal communication channels where employees can announce their individual and team achievements.
Create clear goals and rewards for employees
A survey from Deloitte showed that 83% of executives and 84% of employees rank having engaged and motivated employees as the top factor contributing to the company’s success. Motivated and engaged employees are made if they are treated equally and have clear goals that they can work towards. Having a clear transparent policy for promotion offer staff an opportunity to evaluate and measure their performance. Measurable performance indicators will promote healthy competition and will help avoid negative feelings amongst team members towards each other. Further, it will lead employees feeling valued which in turn creates a positive workplace environment.
The Bottom Line
A positive culture in the workplace is required for fostering a sense of pride and ownership amongst the employees. People taking pride invest their future in the organization and work hard to create opportunities to benefit the organization. By rewarding those employees, a positive workplace culture can be created, and other employees can be encouraged to achieve the same feat, which in turn benefits the organization.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.
