Employee Engagement: Is It Easy or Hard?
There are a billion books, countless consultants and many managers concerned by (or a lack of) employee engagement.
This could lead you to believe that the subject is very hard.
Time and time again, we hear from hard-working employees that are really engaged in their work – and from this, we believe it’s really straightforward.
Spotting An Engaged Employee
An engaged employee always comes across as grateful. They seem happy for what they have.
Objectively, they may work for less salary than other people who are not as happy. Also, they may work in more challenging conditions and for longer hours.
However, they’re grateful.
Grateful For What?
If the key to engaged employees is that they are grateful, give them more to be grateful about.
This doesn’t have to cost your business money.
- People like it when people say “thank you”, so just create a real or virtual place for people to publicly thank one another.
- People like it when they feel heard, so just put in a digital or real-world suggestion box.
- People like to feel they’re doing something worthwhile. Reminding them about the company mission doesn’t cost anything, but adds enormous value.
Getting engagement doesn’t seem hard. You just have to show people that you care.
Care: It’s The Simple Solution
The most simple and cost effective way to have engaged employees is to care.
- Tell your employees you care;
- Demonstrate you care by managing like you do;
- Enable your employees to show each other that they care;
- Bring the customer results back to everyone so that they see the customers care;
- Care enough to listen, say “thank you”; and
- Be grateful that they are there.