Workforce Productivity 101:
How to Get Employees Engaged

In fact, a study found that only one in five (21%) employees would describe themselves as very engaged at work, and it’s estimated that this disengagement can cost US businesses up to $550 billion per year.

So as you can see, this is a big problem. But how do you go about fixing this issue, and why should you put in the effort?

The benefits of employee engagement

There are so many reasons why you should work hard to get your employees engaged. Engaged employees are more productive and happy, and this creates a more pleasant working environment.

Not only this, but satisfied and engaged employees will create a higher quality of work. Studies also show they’re more likely to stay loyal to the company, reducing staff turnover rates and encouraging positivity and innovation.

So as you can see, it’s definitely worth prioritizing employee engagement, but if you’re not sure how to do that, follow our tips below.

1. Encourage communication

One of the most important ways to engage your workforce is to encourage employees to speak up. This might be to share their ideas or offer new ways of tackling a problem. Alternatively, it might be speaking to management about any issues they’re facing or giving them ideas for ways they can improve the company culture.

But one of the key communication challenges with deskless workers is that they aren’t on email, intranets, or any other communication platform regularly throughout the day.

Tools such as Connect can send alerts and company announcements, as well as allowing for private chats between team members. This can help to encourage communication, make staff feel as if they can always speak out, get involved, and have their voice heard.

2. Set goals and responsibilities

It’s impossible for employees to be engaged if they don’t understand their job or what’s expected of them, how they’re contributing towards the overall business, or what their personal goals are.

So in order to keep them fully engaged, you need to outline targets or goals early on and review these regularly. It’s also important that every time a new project comes in or they must take on a new responsibility, that this is explained in detail to them to ensure they understand what they’re doing.

3. Reward employees

It’s important that you recognize employees for their hard work, especially when they go above and beyond or achieve outstanding results. The Connect tool from Payactiv is a great way to share rewards, kudos, and team communications.

You could also reward your employees with bonuses, team lunches, or gifts on special occasions. When using tools like Payactiv, these payments can be made easily and directly, sending the money straight to their card.

And finally, another way to keep your workforce engaged is to run employee of the month programs, giving them something to aim for each month.

4. Offer opportunities for development

No one wants to feel like they’re stuck in a rut or that they’ve got all they can from a job. Because of this, offering opportunities for development is important, as is encouraging employees to take on new responsibilities as they progress.

This might mean speaking with individuals to find out more about their career aspirations, as well as running workshops, team building, and training days for larger groups.

Your teams are more likely to be engaged if you recognize that they have career aspirations and help them to work towards these. It’s also good to help them grow and develop in their job, as this means they’ll want to stay in it for longer.

5. Run wellness programs

Did you know that one in five (24%) workers have taken time off work because of stress, and 45% have considered leaving a job due to the stress it caused them?

In fact, when it comes to the mental and physical wellness of employees, the statistics don’t make for great reading.

But it’s also well documented that staff who are happy and healthy are more likely to be engaged at work. For this reason, wellness programs and initiatives can be one of the most important tools under an organization’s metaphorical belt.

These wellness programs could include access to financial counseling, mental health days, and financial wellness tools such as Earned Wage Access.

Whatever your preferred methods, encouraging wellness across the business helps your employees to stay productive and engaged.

6. Encourage mentoring

Every employee will encounter both professional and personal challenges in their careers, and having a mentor can make all the difference when the time comes.

Whether it’s a manager, senior manager, or colleague, encouraging a culture where mentoring and supporting one another is praised can really help to keep your workforce more driven and engaged.

What’s more, adopting tools like Connect can give mentors a great way to share training materials with their mentees – making it even easier to support and guide one another.

7. Organize social events

An important way to keep employees happy and to allow them to build relationships with one another is to organize and encourage socialization. This is because it allows them to relax, blow off some steam, and remember that it’s not all about work.

Plus, this helps teams to bond and build relationships outside of the work environment. This can foster a better culture and a happier workplace, which, in turn, can lead to a more engaged workforce.

These could be events such as happy hour, team-building exercises, fundraisers, or company outings.

8. Celebrate important events and milestones

Finally, celebrating birthdays, marriages, babies, promotions, and a certain length of service, and prioritizing these big events shows that you value your employee’s lives even outside of work.

Quinyx’s The State of the Deskless Workforce claims 70% of employees miss holidays and social events due to inflexible schedules. Therefore, embracing tools like Connect not only allows you to make important announcements like these quickly and easily, but it also allows employees to communicate with one another to ask colleagues to cover their shifts or let management know of upcoming events, so they can get the time off to attend and celebrate these milestones.

How you mark these events within the business will differ, but bonuses, balloons, team lunches, cakes, and cards always go a very long way to showing employees they are more than just a worker.

It’s these small touches and recognitions that can make a huge difference to someone’s overall happiness and engagement within your business.

If you’re considering a tool for engaging your employees, you can get started with Payactiv right away. Contact us to schedule a demo today.