Effective Human Resources (HR) practice can make significant improvements to your business.  One aspect where HR can help make such improvements is in the areas of ‘employee engagement’.  No matter what size of business you have, having engaged employees are a key element of your success.  So how do you get engaged employees?  Here are 5 key drivers in achieving this.

• • Allowing staff the opportunity to provide their views and ideas – this is the single most important driver of engagement and also innovation. This allows for staff to feel they are an integral part of the business and make a contribution;
  • Keeping staff informed of what is happening within the business – keeping staff informed of what you are trying to achieve and how they contribute to that in what they do;
  • The relationship between staff and their Manager – essential elements include:
    • Do staff value their relationship with their Manager?
    • Can staff see the Managers commitment?
    • How well do Managers communicate and ‘walk the talk’?
    • Does the manager provide help and support?
  • Having a fair and just management process – staff will see how they and their colleagues are dealt with. Consistency of approach is key;
  • Providing opportunities to develop / progress – providing opportunities to continue to grow and develop is one of the most important factors in staff motivation. Staff who get the chance to grow their skills and expertise not only take more pride in their jobs, but they also become much more motivated because they feel that their employers care about their personal career development.

There is clear evidence that high levels of employee engagement correlates to individual and organisation performance in areas such as:

• Increased motivation;
• Increased staff retention rates;
• Increased productivity ;
• Increased customer service;
• Increased profitability.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking money is the answer to everything i.e. simply paying your staff more.  Of course everyone wants to earn a decent wage and very few are likely to turn down an increase.  However, this is a short-term gain only, and if a member of staff was generally unhappy with things before any pay increase you can guarantee they will be again!

If you would like to know more or discuss how we can help you engage with your employees, please contact our HR consultants at info@connectivebusiness.co.uk