Engaged employees provide better customer service, leaving your customers feeling good about their experience with your company/brand. Staff engagement also improves profitability, productivity, creativity, and morale, while decreasing turnover.
"Companies with high employee engagement scores had twice the customer loyalty (repeat purchases, recommendations to friends) than companies with average employee engagement levels" - Kevin Kruse, Author of Employee Engagement 2.0 and Employee Engagement for Everyone
If you're not sure how engaged your staff members are, you may consider issuing a survey in which they can complete anonymously (you'll get much more valuable feedback if you don't ask them to include their names). A rating scale can help you determine their feedback in areas such as:
- How would they rate their job satisfaction
- What is the likelihood that they would change jobs
- Would they recommend your company's products or services
- Would they recommend your company to their peers as a great place to work
- Do they feel that their work is valued?
- How satisfied are they with company benefits, manager's expectations, etc.
Do you have mainly Millennials working at your company? Or a majority of Boomers? Different generations tend to have different motivators. For example, Millennials may be more driven by freedom, flexibility, and perks, while boomers may seek out job security and pay increase rewards. Discover what motivates your employees so you can better understand their needs in the workplace. Here are a couple of thoughts to keep in mind when working towards increased employee engagement:
Treat them with respect
Communicate with your staff. Give them responsibility and trust them.
Make them feel involved in your company's success
Ask their opinion on a new product. What customer feedback are they hearing regarding a new service and what suggestions may they have to create a better customer experience?
Recognize their contributions
Praising staff will make them feel good and doing it publicly (for other staff to see) will help others realize that they can also receive positive feedback for their small successes. Consider creating a scoring system or implement an employee recognition program to highlight the top three employees based on their performance each month.