Here's how to engage and retain your workforce.
Are you struggling to engage your employees, or perhaps you have a high employee turnover? Engaged employees have 41% fewer sick days, 40% fewer quality defects in work output, and up to 21% higher profitability, says Gallup.
So, how do you create an engaged workforce so you can start seeing the above benefits? That’s what this article is about.
In this article, we cover:
What employee engagement is
What employee retention is and why it’s important
How to improve employee engagement at work with actionable tips
What is employee engagement?
The Harvard Business Review outlines four key elements of employee engagement, in which the employee:
Feels committed to an organization
Identifies to an organization
Feels satisfied with their work
Feels energized at work
Aim to strive and achieve the above to create an engaged workforce.
When employees are engaged, they are more likely to go above and beyond. For these employees, it’s not just about the paycheck—they enjoy their work, want to be a part of the company vision, and work on behalf of the company's goals.
What is employee retention?
Employee retention is how well a company can keep its employees from leaving. A high retention rate is desirable—it reduces hiring and training costs and creates a great workplace.
So, what affects employee retention, and what causes employees to leave?
It’s a mix of potential factors, but common reasons employees look for new job opportunities include:
No growth opportunities
A lack of or a poor company culture
No employee perks or benefits
A lack of compensation at work
Poor communication
These are just a few possible reasons. If you’re experiencing high turnover, put your workplace under the magnifying glass and be brutally honest—what is your workplace culture like?
5 ways to improve employee engagement
Employees who are more engaged at work are more likely to stay at your company. They also produce better quality work, are more productive, and make excellent co-workers.
Below, we’ve provided you with five tips to improve employee engagement.
1. Provide development and training opportunities
When you provide learning and development opportunities for employees, they get better at their jobs.
A 2024 LinkedIn workplace report found that 7 in 10 workers say learning improves their sense of connection to their organization. Also, 8 in 10 workers said learning adds purpose to their work—it makes their work more meaningful.
If you want to create an engaged workforce, give your employees a reason to be engaged. Provide training days, learning opportunities, shadowing, and more. You’re helping your team improve work quality while also improving employee engagement and satisfaction.
2. Support employee health and wellbeing
Your employees want more than a paycheck.
Employee health and wellbeing have taken the spotlight now, more than ever. More companies offer wellness programs consisting of employee challenges where employees compete for prizes, initiatives to support healthy habits, and benefits such as remote and flexible work options.
Wellness programs are even more important if you want to attract AND retain top talent. The job market is competitive, and the best employees want the best perks.
3. Reduce stress at work
While stress is impossible to eliminate, you can do your best to reduce stress at work.
For example, stress prevention and reduction initiatives include:
Setting clear and healthy work-life boundaries
Managing workloads effectively
Introducing a wellness program to improve physical activity and other wellness initiatives
Educating employees on burnout
Encouraging employees to take regular breaks
Some stress is okay. That’s a part of life! If we didn’t experience stress, you likely don’t care enough. But doing your best to reduce stress at work for you and your employees is worthwhile.
4. Give your employees the perks they want
No two companies are the same. Therefore, no two wellness programs should be the same. However, this is a mistake many companies make—they see a program doing well for one company, so they copy the program only to experience lackluster results.
For the best results, which include improved employee engagement, you need to tailor your program to your employees. That means giving them what they want in their wellness programs.
For example, while perks like yoga and meditation may work well for one organization, aerobic or strength and conditioning sessions may work better for another.
So, how do you find out what perks to give your employees? You ask them! You can give surveys to collect employee feedback and input, allowing you to tailor your wellness program to your employees.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel here—you just need to collect data!
5. Create a thriving culture of wellness
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says, “Promoting wellbeing at work can help prevent stress and create positive working environments where individuals and organizations can thrive.”
But how do you create a culture of wellness at work?
I’ve already talked about the benefits of a wellness program, but I have a few other tips for you:
Personalize your wellness program to the needs of your employees
Upskill managers and leaders to support employee wellbeing
Increase education on mental health and burnout at work
Support work-life balance and support healthy working boundaries
Lead by example
Create a healthy and productive work environment
Looking for more? Contact a Wellbeing Manager to discuss your organizational wellbeing needs.
We provide workplace teams with mindful practices, personal and professional wellbeing growth, fitness instruction, and opportunities for social connection. We aim to inspire the highest potential in people at work, in life, every day, so they can show up healthy and at their best.