The state of the workforce has dramatically changed over the past several years. Once an employer-driven industry in which the bosses of the world held all power, employees are now taking over. Attracting top talent is a highly competitive space and as a result, companies are reading into the analytics on why employees stay with a company and constantly adapting to employees’ needs in order to retain them.
Happy and engaged employees are retainable employees. Holding onto top talent is key in any competitive market. Keep reading for a few major tips on keeping employees happy and engaged.
Encourage And Foster Creativity
The thing about top talent is that the best employees come from all kinds of backgrounds. If the ideas they bring differ from the ideas currently in place and their thoughts are stifled, it can really push them away.
People want to bring new ideas to the table and have those ideas heard. That is, employees want to feel they have a hand in the company’s current and future goals. This can also be beneficial to the company since new ideas from fresh minds can be extremely impactful.
Encouraging employees to bring their ideas forward through incentive and rewards will make them more comfortable doing so. Not only will creativity help advance an employee’s professional development, but also make space for more personal investment into a company. Employees will start taking more initiative and responsibility in response.
Google, a company known for its creative employee culture, gives a few tips on this. Inspiring employees by following these five key elements can help foster an innovative workplace:
- Shared vision
- Autonomy
- Intrinsic motivation
- Risk-taking
- Connection & collaboration
- Competitive Wages
This tip might seem obvious, but inadequate pay is the number one reason employees leave an organisation. Right now, employees are better positioned to demand higher wages due to the improvement of the job market. If they don’t feel they’re being compensated fairly, they are likely to walk away from the position. While engagement and job satisfaction can be raised in other ways, reviewing salaries is usually a good place to start.
In a survey conducted by Payscale, it was discovered that two-thirds of those being paid at market value believed they were being underpaid. The one-third being paid above market value also believed they were being underpaid. Pay transparency can improve the employee-employer relationship. The conclusion of this survey was that open communication regarding pay increased employee happiness.
That being said, employees that are actually underpaid can understandably be upset. Hard-working employees want to be recognized for their achievements and fairly compensated for their efforts. This is more common in gig-economy positions such as driving for DoorDash and other similar companies.
Provide Tools And Resources
Employees that feel like their job is fulfilling will perform better and have a stronger attachment to the company. Providing tools and resources to support personal growth and professional development will help employees feel like the company is investing in them and will help this feeling of fulfillment grow.
Tools and resources can mean many different things to people. It could be anything from flexible work arrangements or to workshops or mentorship programmes to promote the development of soft skills.
Soft skills can be described as non-technical skills that impact how an employee works. Some of the most popular ones to work on are:
- Time Management
- Networking
- Public Speaking
- Creative Thinking
- Conflict Resolution
Developing a mentorship programme amongst your employees can help with these skills employees might need to improve. Mentorship programmes can have a major impact on turnover rates, diversity issues, engagement, and retention.
General Electric is a great example of a company with an incredible mentorship program. The company incorporates many different mentorship styles in an effort to keep all employees sharp. One of these styles is called “reverse mentoring.” This style of mentoring has newer employees working with older employees to help them keep their skills up to date. This helps attract new and top talent to the company as well as retain younger employees.
Listen To Employee Feedback
Aside from providing opportunities for employees to expand their skill set, companies should also listen to their team members. Part of keeping employees engaged with their job is hearing out their complaints. It may seem like everything is running smoothly in the office, but meeting one-on-one with employees will allow them time to gather their thoughts and feedback. It’s important not only for current employees, but future ones as well, to schedule regular sessions each quarter to discuss areas of improvement.
It’s not just individual feedback sessions leadership needs to think about for employee success. Giving positive feedback to employees is another way that businesses can keep employees motivated. This type of feedback keeps your team on the right track and re-directs them when necessary. For the disengaged employee, hearing that they’re doing something right can sometimes be the motivation they need to get back into their job.
There are many different things that can keep employees happy and engaged at work. Retention, attraction, and many other important aspects of the employee life cycle are completely reliant on engagement and happiness. With the job market changing and becoming completely employee-driven, it’s important to become aware of where changes can be made to improve workforces and become employee-focused.
Companies that are unsure of where they should begin should get a feel of what their workforce is thinking and saying and feeling. This can be done through conducting surveys, requesting feedback from employees or supervisors, and encouraging a trustworthy and open relationship. Through this process, it will become evident where changes need to be made.
Author bio: Brian Thomas is a regular contributor to Enlightened Digital. When he’s not looking up the latest technology and business trends, he’s out for a ride on his bike.
Photo Credits: Pixabay
