How to Engage Employees: Tips for Improving Employee Motivation and Engagement

Millennials currently make up about 75 percent of the workforce. Because the majority of workers are in that generation, it doesn’t bode well that they are the least engaged generation at work. Only 29 percent of these workers say that they feel engaged in their jobs, 55 percent say they’re not engaged, and 16 percent are actively disengaged.

Not only does this lead to unhappy and stressed workers, it also can severely decrease productivity.

The good news is there are very simple and actionable steps that you can take in order to improve this situation for your business and for your employees. Worker productivity is obviously important for a company, but you also want to make sure that your employees are happy and healthy.

This article is going to discuss 4 simple steps that can help you and your employees thrive at work.

1. Go Green

While it’s definitely encouraged to implement sustainable and environmentally friendly practices at your company, we mean this point very literally. Office plants and interior plantscapes have been shown to greatly reduce stress levels, in some cases a reduction in stress by 60 percent was reported!

Employee productivity has also been shown to increase when there are plants in the office by as much as 15 percent. This increase in productivity combined with a huge decrease in stress levels leads to engaged and happy employees and employers.

Whether you add a few plants around the office or use an interior plant service to plan your office plant design, you’ll be helping employees feel and work better.

2. Encourage and Allow Remote Work

Studies predict that by 2020, about 30 percent of the entire workforce will be working from home a great majority of the time. There’s a reason for this: 66 percent of companies allow workers to follow a flexible schedule with remote work.

And while many people have the preconceived notion that working from home yields less work and distracted employees, the opposite is true. 90 percent of remote workers say that they get more work done when the work at home vs work in the office and 66 percent of non-remote employees say that they think they would be more productive and engaged if they worked from home.

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to have all employees work remotely all the time. Simply allowing employees the option, even if it’s just one day per week, gives employees control over their work life and allows them to get work done in a way that works best for them. This will increase engagement, motivation, and productivity.

3. Mentor and Teach Employees Essential Skills

Boredom is one of the top reasons why people don’t feel engaged at work. The average employee is bored for more than 10 hours per week at their job. That’s more than one-fourth of the entire work week!

It’s no wonder people feel disengaged when they’re not interested or stimulated by their work. To keep employees engaged and stimulated, offer mentoring, coaching, and skill-building training and coaching. Allow employees to choose what they learn more about or what they train in as well.

This does a few things. First, it allows employees to build skills and learn about things they’re interested in, which automatically means they’re engaged as a rule. Fostering an environment that encourages learning and growth gives employees new challenges and information to keep them from getting bored or in a rut in their position.

All of this also benefits employers and businesses as you’ll be getting more highly skilled and trained workers. It’s a win-win!

4. Give Each Employee Individual Attention

This is a good point to stop and clarify that not all of these tips are going to work for each and every employee. While they generally work for most people, each person is unique. Their working style, what motivates them, how they learn, how they interact, etc.

All of these things are going to be entirely different from person to person. What might help one person become more engaged might make someone else less engaged. That’s why it’s so important to get employee feedback and listen to individuals.

Make sure managers and supervisors are speaking with employees individually and really getting to know them and understand how they work best. This helps you shape your business to engage each individual employee.

It also helps employees feel heard and seen by their company, which can increase productivity, engagement, and loyalty.

Sources

https://dynamicsignal.com/2018/10/09/key-statistics-millennials-in-the-workplace/

https://www.gardenstreets.com/

https://www.greenlifeindustry.com.au/Attachment?Action=Download&Attachment_id=1430

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/aug/31/plants-offices-workers-productiveminimalist-employees

https://recruitloop.com/blog/8-benefits-allowing-employees-work-remotely/

https://www.talentlms.com/blog/remote-work-statistics-survey/

https://parade.com/619279/beckyhughes/bored-at-work-so-is-the-average-worker-formore-than-10-hours-a-week/