Unlocking the potential of your workforce starts with fostering a culture of engagement. Discover how companies can immediately enhance employee involvement, boosting productivity and morale, while cultivating a positive work environment that encourages growth and innovation.
The Employee Engagement Checklist
The three most important levers managers have at their disposal to boost their employees’ engagement are to:
- Help employees connect what they do to what they care about
- Make the work itself less stressful and more enjoyable
- Reward employees with additional time off
Make the work itself less stressful and more enjoyable
Offer employees the flexibility to try new work tasks so they can discover their intrinsic interests
- Grant employees more autonomy
- Netflix employees operate in an environment of “no rules,” characterized by a high degree of employee freedom and responsibility
- Boost employees’ sense of confidence
- Consider a mentorship program
Create time affluence
Reward employees with time in addition to money
- Working hours for college-educated professionals have been increasing for the last 30 years
- The pandemic increased the length of the average workday, reducing time for nonwork leisure activities
- Encourage employees to invest in time-saving purchases
- Implement tools that discourage after-hours emails
- Managers to must take proactive steps to increase employee engagement
Translating Science into Practice
Employee engagement includes four elements
- Feels committed to the organization
- Identifies the company
- Fulfillment with the job
- Empowered at work
- These are measured by asking employees to complete a self-report scale (e.g., “How committed are you to your organization?”)
Connect what employees do to what they care about
Revise your mission statement to connect with employee values
- Show how an employee’s work is related to the organization’s purpose
- Encourage and fund employee resource groups (ERGs) that represent diverse interests and goals
