In the old days, companies only focused on the needs of their customers to ensure the success of their business. However, times have changed and employers are starting to realize that their employees are just as crucial to their success as their customers.
With that in mind, what are some activities you can do to improve employee engagement and performance? Read on to find out our top suggestions.
Employee performance awards
Nothing motivates an employee more than recognition for their hard work. So, at the top of our list of activities for improving employee engagement and performance
is an employee award program.
Make sure that your employees feel that you appreciate them and their contributions to the organization. Being thanked is great, but sometimes, you need to provide some token of merit to really drive the point home. Even a gift card or a grocery package would be highly appreciated by your employees.
Learning sessions
Encouraging a spirit of learning and improvement is important in any work setting. One way you can foster this kind of culture is by setting up learning sessions, preferably hosted by your own employees.
Let your employees teach each other about topics that they are experts in. This will not only improve their instructional skills but will also teach your other employees something new. It can also give departments ideas into what other departments are doing. For example, you can have your team of writers explain to other departments how content writing services work so that they'll have an idea about the general workflow and process.
Regular alignment meetings
Being lost and not having clear goals is a huge demotivating factor. As such, it's important to make sure that your employees are all aligned with the vision and goals of the company.
Arranging regular alignment meetings is an effective way to do this. How you set it up and how often you want to do it is up to you. You can have one-on-one meetings with your team members to find out any individual concerns they might have. You can also have team meetings to make sure the team is moving in alignment with other departments.
If you're outsourcing, having regular alignment meetings is crucial. Whether you're working with a small content writing agency or a large customer service agency, having alignment meetings will allow you to monitor their performance and make sure they are aligned with your needs.
Webinars
It's important to enrich your employees not only in terms of their skills at work but in all aspects of life. Hosting webinars featuring expert guest speakers can boost your team's morale and engagement, as well as make them feel like you value their growth as people.
Similar to the learning sessions, you can make these webinars available to all, giving your employees access to enrichment resources even if it's not their field of work. Who knows? A lecture about professional writing services might be useful not just to your website content writers but to your whole marketing team as well.
Team building events
No matter how much your employees love their job, having to do the same things over and over again every single day can get tedious. If there's no relief from the daily tedium, your employees are going to get burnt out really quickly. If unchecked, employee burnout could lead to lower engagement, poorer performance, and general dissatisfaction. It might even lead to resignation.
Don't just think about your in-house employees either if you have an outsourced department. You can sponsor team-building events for them internally or you can host events that include both your team and theirs. This will foster a sense of camaraderie between your in-house and outsourced teams.
Here are some common team-building methods you can try:
Team meals - Invite your team to lunch together to give them the chance to get to know each other on a personal level.
Company outings - Give your employees a well-deserved vacation together. Add in some exercises or sports activities that will improve their teamwork and cooperation to strengthen your employees’ bonds with each other.
Contests and showcases - Do you have high-quality content writers on your team? What about singers? Let them showcase their talents in fun events and contests.
Your Employee Matters
At the end of the day, the best way to improve employee engagement and performance is to simply think of the needs of your employees. And by that, we don't mean just financial needs. You also need to take into account their need for growth, enrichment, enjoyment, and sense of belongingness.
It's going to take more than just a few activities to create an employee-driven company culture. It would take a massive overhaul in the mission and vision of your company as a whole. However, we can guarantee that it will be all worth it in the end. A happy employee is a productive employee.