A recent article by Ivey Business Journal identified issues surrounding engagement levels in the workplace. We’ll condense those findings below and suggest how your intranet can foster and boost engagement.
The Gallup Management Journal’s Employee Engagement Index revealing the following:
- Only 29 percent of employees are actively engaged in their jobs. These employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. People who are actively engaged help move the organization forward.
- More than half (54 percent) of employees are not engaged. These employees have essentially “checked out,” sleepwalking through their workday and putting time—but not passion—into their work.
- One-sixth (17 percent) of employees are actively disengaged. They act out their unhappiness, undermining what their engaged co-workers are trying to accomplish.
On the plus side, a Towers Perrin Employee Engagement Survey extracted these statistics:
- Five out of six (84 percent) highly engaged employees believe they can enhance their organization’s products, compared with only 31 percent of the disengaged.
- Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of highly engaged employees feel they can improve customer service, versus 27 percent of the disengaged.
- More than two-thirds (68 percent) of highly engaged employees believe they can have a positive impact on costs in their job or unit, as opposed to 19 percent of the disengaged.
So, how can you reap the benefits of an engaged workforce? Make the most of your intranet by applying the 10 C’s of employee engagement. Employees are the heart of your company; ensure they have the right tools to be engaged with your organization and brand.
1. Connect
For employees to feel connected to an organization, leaders must show that they value those employees. Employee-focused initiatives such as work/life balance are important, but any fractured relationships with management can reduce engagement.
Consider this example: WestJet’s CEO, Clive Beddoe, arrived late to a speaking arrangement. He explained that a discussion with WestJet employees had taken longer than expected. He took the time to answer questions and explain the corporate strategy.
All in all, employees felt connected to the top boss and rewarded him with engagement. An internal blog on your intranet can help executives communicate the company vision and build company culture.
2. Career
A good leader can find the balance between challenging employees and instilling confidence that career challenges can be met. If a company doesn’t provide the knowledge or the right tools to reach (or exceed) their goals, employees can lose motivation, decreasing engagement.
By having an e-learning and onboarding site on your intranet, you can empower employees to gain the knowledge and confidence to do their jobs and overcome challenges.
3. Clarity
An organization must enunciate a clear vision so employees can understand how their personal goals can help achieve the company’s objectives. Why put players in the game if they don’t know what their playing for?
You invest heavily in your employees and provide the tools to succeed, such as your intranet, so make sure those tools include the proper instructions. Create a site on your intranet dedicated to communicating company values.
4. Convey
It’s important to convey expectations about employees and provide feedback along the way. A good leader will work with employees daily, analyze strengths and celebrate small advances that inspire ongoing improvement.
As employees grow, they learn more and more. Online tests reinforce workers’ expanding knowledge; any unanswered questions or wrong answers become a learning opportunity.
5. Congratulate
Employees feel they receive poor feedback often and almost immediately, whereas praise or recognition for strong performances is less common. As the Ivey Business Journal article states: “Exceptional leaders give recognition, and they do so a lot; they coach and convey.”
A post in an employee recognition section can deliver immediate kudos. Within moments it can be created and promoted on the home page or team/department sites of your intranet.
6. Contribute
A study found the following:
- When employees understand the connection between their work and the goals of the company, it improves job performance.
- An employee’s attitude toward the organization affects customer service.
- When employees have a positive attitude, they improve at doing their jobs.
Those factors result in better customer satisfaction and revenue growth. So, how can you use your intranet to help employees understand their impact on the company? Add a company news application on your intranet’s home page, and have top leaders manage it. There they can celebrate milestones and achievements.
For major company announcements, use the company news feature on your home page. For localized achievements use that feature on your team/department sites.
7. Control
Company decisions that affect the way people do their jobs can make them feel they are losing control over their work. Letting staffers participate in making decisions bolsters engagement, increases trust and results in employees’ taking ownership of problems and solutions.
Create an online survey about changes that may affect day-to-day work; for big-picture items, solicit staffers’ opinions with an idea share exchange.
8. Collaborate
Teamwork builds trust and cooperation and enables employees to outperform their disengaged counterparts. Team/department sites on your intranet foster a community, and employees gain access to information, team members and project updates, helping them achieve key goals.
9. Credibility
Employees want to work for an organization they are proud of—one that is credible, has a good reputation and maintains high ethical standards.
How can you convey your company’s credibility to those who helped build it? Use your intranet as a brand building tool. A company works hard to build a brand for its customers. A simple design builder makes it easy to incorporate brand-focused colors, logos, language and more.
10. Confidence
Confidence needn’t be applied; it’s more a result of implementing the points above. When you have engaged employees, clear company goals, a method to convey appreciation and the credibility of a brand, a sense of confidence will follow.
A version of this article originally appeared on the Intranet Connections website.from Ragan.com http://ift.tt/1X2Y5uq via video company
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