Employee engagement plays a crucial role in the success of an organization. Employers need to create an environment where employees can thrive both professionally and in their personal lives. A favorable environment will keep them motivated to work diligently and add value to the organization.
There are different ways PR employees can show engagement. For instance:
- Establishing new partnerships
- Offering new ideas
- Challenging the status quo
When most of your employees start losing their psyche in the job space, probably it’s time to rethink engagement. But how do you do this? Read on for the nitty-gritty details.
What Is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is the level of enthusiasm or dedication an employee feels towards their job or organization. According to Management Statistics, only 62 percent of the employees are likely to be clear on hitting their employers’ goals.
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These employees are motivated to work towards the success of the organization. They are positive in their approach to work and creative in solving problems. Also, they are self-driven and take their roles seriously.
Employee engagement can be categorized into four major groups. They include:
- Highly engaged employees – Emotionally feel connected to their job. They talk positively of the organizations to friends and family. Also, they encourage their co-workers to do their best. They care about the organizations and feel their contribution can make a difference.
- Moderately engaged employees – Hold a relatively favorable opinion concerning their workplace. They like the organization and may seek opportunities where to improve. They are unlikely to take on new responsibilities.
- Barely engaged employees – Lack the motivation to do their work. They are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities in new organizations.
- Disengaged employees – These employees have negative opinions about their workplace. They don’t connect with the mission, goals, and vision of the organization. Majorly, they stay for the paycheck.
How can employers in PR foster engagement?
To encourage employee engagement, you have to make efforts to make them feel valued, understood, and respected. Their ideas and opinions should matter. Always keep employees informed about the company’s performance. Also, you should foster:
- Effective communication among employers and employees.
- Discuss career advancements.
Here are some of the things employers can do to rethink employee engagement.
1. Offer more training to employees
Excellent training is a recipe for the success of your organization. Training helps them perfect their current skills and develop new ones. Investing in employees is a risk you should take as an employer. Although, your employees can leave any time and invest their talents and education in other organizations.
Fortunately, investing in your employees comes with its advantages. They become creative, more efficient, and highly productive.
Train your PR employees in different aspects like:
- How to represent your brand
- Negotiation skills
- Social media as a PR marketing strategy
- How to build important connections
Caring for your employees’ development can build trust and increase their loyalty to your organization. Apart from the training, you need to provide the necessary equipment to do the job, for instance, computers and research materials.
Employees thrive best in places that focus on making them valuable assets. Provide proper training for the different roles and ensure they are constantly perfecting their skills. Set various training facilities, programs, and workshops to enhance engagement.
2. Regular feedback is necessary
Regular feedback ensures that the employees are doing the work correctly. In the process, correct any issues that may pop out. It’s necessary for you and your employees to always be on the same page.
Use both formal and informal strategies to obtain feedback. It can be daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. The more time it occurs, the better. An example of a great channel is a feedback survey. It’s important to let your employees know their opinion matters.
You also get to learn what motivates your employees.
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3. Engage employees in company decisions
Employers should be open with their employees. Engaged employees have a great interest in what’s going on within the organization. Constant communication is necessary for this.
You can hold meetings and discuss everything about the workplace. For instance, how the company is doing financially. They should know how you achieve corporate goals and the ways their contribution impacts the organization.
How do they feel working in the organization? Ask them how to improve your shortcomings. Ensure you engage everyone while holding the meetings.
4. Assign roles to the right people
Get the right people to work on particular roles. Every individual you employ should be useful and help you achieve your goals. They should be aware of their responsibilities and perform each task assigned to them.
Also, they should understand how they contribute to the company’s mission, purpose, and strategic objectives. The work they do needs to be meaningful.
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5. Help employees to learn the organizational culture
Organizational culture is the driving force for employee engagement. Your company’s culture needs to motivate your employees and keep them inspired to work hard towards their duties. It should stem from your mission, vision, goals, and core values.
Your mission statement should say a lot about the work ethics or behavior styles you wish your employees to adopt. It should guide you into hiring people who align with your culture. All employees should be on good terms with their co-workers and, if possible, develop friendships.
You need to incorporate these values into the daily lives of your employees to keep them engaged. Your culture should encourage individuals to work as a team.
Have a clear vision regarding the objectives you wish to achieve as a team. Evaluating and rewarding different team members should be part of the culture.
Lastly, your culture should welcome different ideas and perspectives into the company. Don’t forget to provide training to new recruits and acknowledge the efforts of your employees.
Wrapping up
Employee engagement is vital for a company’s success. It gives you an advantage over your competitors. There are other advantages like increased financial returns and high employee and customer retention.
Engaged employees put lots of effort into their work. Thus, employers need to create an environment and culture where employees’ voices and opinions matter.
